The role of NiFe_(2)O_(4)nanoparticle in the anaerobic digestion(AD)of waste activated sludge(WAS)

Anaerobic digestion(AD)is a promising technology for the treatment of waste activated sludge(WAS)with energy recovery.However,the low methane yield and slow methanogenesis limit its broad application.In this study,the NiFe_(2)O_(4)nanoparticles(NPs)were fabricated and applied as a conductive material to enhance the AD via promoting the direct interspecies electron transfer(DIET).The crystal structure,specific surface area,morphology and elemental composition of the as-prepared NiFe_(2)O_(4)NPs were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD),Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET),scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and energy dispersive spectroscopy(EDS).The biochemical methane potential(BMP)test was performed(lasting for 35 days)to evaluate the energy recovery in AD with the addition of the NiFe_(2)O_(4)NPs.The results illustrate that NiFe_(2)O_(4)NPs could accelerate both the hydrolysis,acidogenesis and methanogenesis,i.e.,the cumulative methane production and daily methane yield increased from 96.76±1.70 mL/gVS and 8.24±1.26 mL gVS^(-1)d^(-1)in the absence of NiFe_(2)O_(4)NPs(Group A)to 123.69±3.20 mL/gVS and 9.71±0.77 mL gVS^(-1)d^(-1)in the presence of NiFe_(2)O_(4)NPs(Group B).The model simulation results showed that both the first-order kinetic model and the modified Gompertz model can well simulate the experimental results.The hydrolysis rate constant k increased from 0.04±0.01 d^(-1)in Group A to 0.06±0.01 d^(-1)in Group B.And the maximum methane production potential and activity were both improved after adding NiFe_(2)O_(4).The microbial community analysis revealed that the microorganisms associated with hydrolysis and acidogenesis were more abundant in the presence of NiFe_(2)O_(4).And the methanogenic archaea were enriched to a larger extent,resulted in the higher methanogenesis activities via dosing NiFe_(2)O_(4).