Environmental monitoring is essential to protect public health and the ecosystem. In this field, the researchers of the MP4MNP group stand out for the study and creation of customized sensors dedicated to the in-situ detection of pollutants and the development of MFC-based biosensors that act as early warning systems for the evaluation of the toxicity of water.
The sensors for detecting pollutants exploit the electrochemical principles of voltammetry, which measures the current as a function of the applied potential, to measure heavy metal ions, such as arsenic, in marine, groundwater and drinking water. This technique is extremely sensitive, detecting pollutant concentrations down to ppb (μg/L) levels, and selective, distinguishing between different oxidation states of electro-active species. For the monitoring of other heavy metals, such as Chromium (VI), in high concentrations of grams per liter (g/L), the sensors can also be configured according to colorimetric UV-Vis spectrophotometry methodologies and implemented with different systems for identification of basic chemical-physical parameters (temperature, pH, conductivity, ORP potential, etc.). Finally, thanks to the development of advanced sensor platforms, such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV), which synergistically integrate the sensors described, it is possible to carry out a complete evaluation of water quality.
MFCs use electrogenic microorganisms capable of directly transducing chemical energy, contained within organic species (fuel) into electrical energy. These bacteria, capable of proliferating on the anode electrode, in fact, perform the function of catalysts of the fuel oxidation reaction, releasing the electrons produced to the electrode itself, integrating the detection and transduction of the signal together, without the aid of external transducers or power sources. The electrons flow into the cathode compartment where oxygen and the electron acceptor (TEA) for the cathodic reduction reaction. MFCs, therefore, guarantee the production of bioelectricity which can be correlated to the monitoring of environmental parameters, being able to correlate the change in output potential with the presence of toxic agents capable of altering microbial metabolism.
The research and innovation of these systems allow a global vision of the health of the waters, providing crucial data for timely and targeted interventions.
