Enhanced dye treatment and bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cells: the role of magnetite-inoculated anode and cosubstrates.

This study investigated the influence of cosubstrate complexity and magnetite-inoculated anodes on microbial fuel cells (MFCs) treating synthetic dyeing wastewater (500 mgCOD/L, 50 mg/L Reactive Black 5). Two MFCs types were constructed: one with magnetite pre-inoculated anodes (MFCM) and another with sludge-only inoculated anodes (MFCS). Both MFCs were operated with either starch or ethanol as the cosubstrate, and in both cases, MFCM consistently outperformed MFCS.