Bacterial–fungal interactions enhance power generation in microbial fuel cells and drive dye decolourisation by an ex situ and in situ electro-Fenton process María Ángeles Fernández de Dios a , Araceli González del Campo b , Francisco Jesús Fernández b , Manuel Rodrigo b , Marta Pazos a , María Ángeles Sanromán a,⇑ a Chemical Engineering Department, University of Vigo, Isaac Newton Building, Campus As Lagoas Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain b ITQUIMA, Chemical Engineering Department, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Avenida Camilo José Cela S/N, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain highlights  Bacteria are capable of use the infrastructure of the fungi to transport electrons.  The power density was increased by 40% when in situ MFC electro-Fenton was developed.  Dual benefits of MFC electro-Fenton: dye decolourisation and electricity generation.  MFC can be used to drive ex situ electro-Fenton process in batch and continuous mode. graphical abstract Microbial fuel cells (MFC) H 2 O 2 synthesized In situ MFC-electro-Fenton Fungus+Bacterium Ex situ electro-Fenton process Dye treatment: batch and continuous Time Voltage (mV) article info Article history: Received 28 June 2013 Received in revised form 10 August 2013 Accepted 14 August 2013 Available online 22 August 2013 Keywords: Advanced oxidation technology Electro-Fenton Decolourisation Dye MFC abstract In this work, the potential for sustainable energy production from wastes has been exploited using a com- bination fungus–bacterium in microbial fuel cell (MFC) and electro-Fenton technology. The fungus Tra- metes versicolor was grown with Shewanella oneidensis so that the bacterium would use the networks of the fungus to transport the electrons to the anode. This system generated stable electricity that was enhanced when the electro-Fenton reactions occurred in the cathode chamber. This configuration reached a stable voltage of approximately 1000 mV. Thus, the dual benefits of the in situ-designed MFC electro-Fenton, the simultaneous dye decolourisation and the electricity generation, were demon- strated. Moreover, the generated power was effectively used to drive an ex situ electro-Fenton process in batch and continuous mode. This newly developed MFC fungus–bacterium with an in situ electro-Fen- ton system can ensure a high power output and a continuous degradation of organic pollutants. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer the possibility to efficiently convert organic compounds into electricity (Logan et al., 2006). Similar to the conventional fuel cell, the MFC consists of an anode, a cathode and an ion-exchange membrane. The main difference is that the anode in MFCs uses microorganisms rather than noble metals as catalysts to convert chemical energy into electricity. The microorganisms combine multiple enzymes to catalyse the oxidation of the substrate, such as glucose or acetate in the anode, and pass electrons through an external circuit to the cathode, where electron acceptors accept electrons and protons are consumed. The microorganisms can self-regenerate, and thus the cost of this type of catalyst is much lower than that of a conven- tional chemical catalyst. Furthermore, no pollutants, such as metal ions, toxic gases or organic wastes, are generated during the operation of MFCs, thus rendering them environmentally friendly energy systems (Gong et al., 2011). 0960-8524/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2013.08.084 ⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Department of Chemical Engineering, Lagoas Marcosende s/n, 36310 Vigo, Spain. Tel.: +34 986 812383; fax: +34 986 812380. E-mail address: sanroman@uvigo.es (M.Á. Sanromán). Bioresource Technology 148 (2013) 39–46 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Bioresource Technology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech