Background: Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology is used in various applications such as wastewater treatment with the production of electrical energy. The objective of this study was to estimate the biodepuration of oils and fats, the elimination of blue dye brl and bioelectro-characterization in MFCs with Chlorella vulgaris and bacterial community. Results: The operation of MFCs at 32 d showed an increase in bioelectrogenic activity (from 23.17 to 327.67 mW/m2) and in the potential (from 200 to 954 mV), with biodepuration of fats and oils (95%) in the microalgal cathode, and a removal of the chemical oxygen demand COD (anode, 71%, cathode, 78.6%) and the blue dye brl (73%) at the anode, here biofilms were formed by the bacterial community consisting of Actinobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria. Conclusions: These findings suggest that MFCs with C. vulgaris and bacterial community have a simultaneous efficiency in the production of bioelectricity and bioremediation processes, becoming an important source of bioenergy in the future

In this study, bioleaching was carried out for the recovery of metals (copper, zinc, tin, lead, gold and silver) from printed circuit boards residues (PCBs), one of the most important wastes from electrical and electronic equipment, using an acidophilic iron-oxidizing bacterial consortium enriched with minerals from a gold mine in the Arequipa region, Peru. High-throughput sequencing and analysis of the 16S rRNA biomarker revealed that this consortium was predominantly composed of Tissierella, Acidiphilium and Leptospirillum bacteria, from which the latter is known to grow by chemolithotrophy through iron oxidation. After the enrichment process, the acidophilic iron-oxidizing consortium was first tested for its tolerance to different PCBs concentrations, showing best growth up to 10 g/L of PCBs and a tolerance index of 0.383. Based on these results, the bioleaching efficiency of the consortium was investigated for 10 g/L of PCBs in stirred tank reactors coupled to an aeration system, for 18 days. High bioleaching efficiencies were achieved for copper and zinc (69% and 91%, respectively), indicating that these two metals can be easily extracted in this leaching system. Lower extraction efficiencies were achieved for tin (16%) and gold (28%), while for lead and silver only a residual recovery (<0.25%) was detected. These results indicate that the enriched bacterial consortium originating from the Arequipa region, Peru, has a high capacity to recover different metals of economic importance.