Enhancing anaerobic digestion of waste activated sludge with iron modified tea-based biochar via improving electron transfer and metabolic activity

Zisheng Zhao, Hongxin Wu, Yu An, Long Huang and Guangyi Zhang

Renewable Energy, 2025, vol. 242, issue C

Abstract: Iron modified biochar (IMBC) derived from the discarded tea leaves was added into waste activated sludge anaerobic digester to improve methane production. Results showed that biochar modified with iron could effectively increase the number of functional groups (e.g., C=O), which contributed to enhancing the electroactivity of the biochar. During anaerobic digestion, IMBC added reactor exhibited highest methane production (145.4 mL/g VS), which was 21.9 % and 9.1 % higher than that in control and BC added reactor, respectively. Mechanisms exploration indicated that the addition of IMBC could significantly enhance the activity of enzyme related to hydrolysis, acidification and methanogenesis, and improve the electron transfer efficiency. Furthermore, the analysis of gene frequency for metabolic pathways (based on the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)) indicated that genes related to functional metabolism pathways were improved with addition of IMBC. These results demonstrated that IMBC could enhance microbial activity and the expression of related functional genes, thereby improving methane production.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Waste activated sludge; Iron modified biochar; Electron transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:242:y:2025:i:c:s096014812500120x

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.122458

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