Advances in Electricity-Steering Organic Waste Bio-Valorization for Medium Chain Carboxylic Acids Production

Chao Liu, Yue Yin, Chuang Chen, Xuemeng Zhang, Jing Zhou, Qingran Zhang () and Yinguang Chen ()
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Chao Liu: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Yue Yin: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Chuang Chen: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Xuemeng Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Jing Zhou: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Qingran Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China
Yinguang Chen: State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resources Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-22

Abstract: Medium chain carboxylic acids (MCCAs, e.g., caproic acid, caprylic acid, etc.) with 6–12 carbon atoms are valuable platform chemicals produced from organic waste via microbial chain elongation metabolism named as reversed β-oxidation and fatty acid-biosynthesis cyclical pathway. Recently, many articles reported that electricity could not only serve as the external electron donor and provide the reduction equivalent required for chain elongation but also regulate the microbiome structure and metabolic behaviors to promote MCCAs formation. Electricity-steering MCCAs bioproduction has become an appealing technique to valorize low-value organic waste, paving an alternative pathway for net-zero carbon emission energy systems and sustainable socio-economic development. However, the MCCAs’ bioproduction from organic waste steered by electric field has not been comprehensively reviewed. From a systematical analysis of publicly available literature, we first covered the basic working principle, fermentation architecture, functional microflora, and metabolic pathway of MCCAs production driven by electricity. The strategies of substrate modulation, applied voltage/current regulation, electrode optimization, and microbial cooperation and stimulation for boosting electricity-driven MCCAs bioproduction are then scrutinized and extensively discussed. Ultimately, the pressing knowledge gaps and the potential path forward are proposed to provide pointers for consistently higher MCCAs yield and the transition from laboratory to market.

Keywords: electrofermentation; medium chain carboxylic acids; organic waste; valorization; bioproduction; anaerobic treatment; operation regulation; sustainable energy technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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