Najah Fadilah Putri, Rita Arbianti, Ibnu Maulana Hidayatullah, Tania Surya Utami, Fauzi Yusupandi, Fatimah Azizah Riyadi, Ramaraj Boopathy
Amoxicillin, a widely utilized antibiotic, has raised environmental concerns due to its potential to induce antibiotic resistance, genotoxicity, and ecological disruption if present in aquatic environments. In this study, we investigated the degradation potential of amoxicillin using a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) housing a native microbial community from sewage sludge without prior acclimatization. Our research delved into the degradation profile and energy production of the process. A substantial reduction in amoxicillin concentration was achieved within 72 hours-operation period. Comparative assessments involving MFCs with both cultured and non-cultured (raw sludge) consortium revealed intriguing findings. Non-cultured MFC demonstrated consistent amoxicillin degradation capabilities. Nonetheless, cultured bacteria displayed superior degradation and electrical performance, degrading 66±0.47% of the initial amoxicillin concentration and generating an average power density of 172 μW/m2. In contrast, the MFC with non-cultured bacteria degraded 51±5.73% of the initial amoxicillin concentration, yielding an average power density of 0.87 μW/m2. This study underscores the promising potential of MFCs employing native microbial communities for amoxicillin degradation, offering valuable insights for the advancement of MFC-based pharmaceutical waste degradation technologies. The imperative to address the environmental risks associated with amoxicillin contamination is thus met with sustainable solutions grounded in cutting-edge microbial fuel cell technology. © 2025 Author(s).
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, West Java, Depok, 16424, Indonesia; Bioprocess Engineering Study Program, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, West Java, Depok, 16424, Indonesia; Research Center for Biomass Valorization, Universitas Indonesia, West Java, Depok, 16424, Indonesia; Department of Chemical Engineering, Institut Teknologi Sumatera, Lampung, Lampung Selatan, 35365, Indonesia; Department of Biological Sciences, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, 70310, LA, United States