Simultaneous removal of tetrathionate and copper from simulated acidic mining water in bioelectrochemical and electrochemical systems

This study demonstrates (bio)electrochemical tetrathionate (S4O62 −) degradation with simultaneous elemental copper recovery from simulated acidic mining water. The effect of applied external voltage on anodic tetrathionate removal, cathodic copper removal and current density was studied using two-chamber flow-through bioelectrochemical (MEC) and abiotic electrochemical (EC) systems. At low applied cell voltages (≤ 0.5 V), the highest...