Core-shell structured polyaniline/polypyrrole composites promoted methane production from anaerobic sludge

The core-shell structured polypyrrole/polyaniline (PPy@PANI) were synthesized by in-situ polymerization method and were used as the conductive medium to enhance methane production from the anaerobic wastewater treatment. It was found that the PPy@PANI has a good performance on methane production from the anaerobic wastewater treatment, and it composites can improve the methane production rate and yield by 70.2% and 28.3% in the initial 4 h compared with the control group. A high methane production rate was achieved when the dosage of PPy@PANI was 0.6 g/L, which suggested that 0.6 g/L was the optimal dosage. Finally, the mechanisms involved in the improved methane production rate by the PPy@PANI were disclosed. The PPy@PANI can enrich the functional microorganisms to enhance both the degradation of organics and the electron transfer, which contributed to the improved methane production rate from the anaerobic wastewater treatment.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated that the core-shell structured PPy@PANI has good performance in enhancing methane production from anaerobic wastewater treatment, with significant improvements in methane production rate and yield. The optimal dosage was found to be 0.6 g/L, which resulted in a high methane production rate. The mechanisms behind the enhanced methane production rate were attributed to PPy@PANI enriching functional microorganisms and enhancing organic degradation and electron transfer.