Efficient production of acetate from inorganic carbon (HCO3–) in microbial electrosynthesis systems incorporating Ag3PO4/g-C3N4 anaerobic photo-assisted biocathodes

The efficient production of acetate from HCO3? by the nonphotosynthetic bacterium Serratia marcescens Q1 is demonstrated in an anaerobic, photo-assisted, microbial electrosynthesis (MES) system incorporating a Ag3PO4/g-C3N4 biocathode. formed Z-scheme photocatalytic heterojunction structure with enhanced redox capacity. photocorrosion Ag3PO4 was inhibited H2O2 in-situ, through water oxidation driven photogenerated holes on valence band. photoinduced electrons conduction band g-C3N4 instead produced H2, which metabolized electrotroph to produce at rate 5.4 mM/d CEacetate 93 % current density 3.3 A/m2. MES accumulated up 81.0 mM 89 over 16 days continuous operation. This study provides sustainable and feasible strategy for inhibiting thus achieve photo-assisted MESs biocathodes.