Dehalogenation of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid by means of bioelectrochemical systems

In this work, the dehalogenation of 2,4-D, was studied by using two novel treatments based on Bioelectrochemical Systems (BES): the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) and the Microbial Electrolysis cell (MEC). Both technologies demonstrated the feasibility of the dehalogenation of the 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) molecule on an abiotic cathode. From the results, once achieved the steady state, different performances at the two different BESs were observed. The MFC spontaneously operated generating a current density of around 0.4 A m−2 and a dechlorination of 10.14% in 4 days. However, a better performance was obtained operating the MEC, in which 0.6 V were applied between anode and cathode, attaining a far higher dechlorination of 85.99% of 2,4-D in 4 days and a higher current density of around 1.6 A m−2