This study presents the inaugural demonstration of a microbial electrochemical cell (MXC)-based biosensor for naphthenic acids (NAs) detection in oil sands process water (OSPW) from a mining site. During the calibration process, different operating parameters were evaluated, including standing times (3 – 12 hours) and charging durations (5 – 20 minutes) within the charging-discharging cycles. The observations ascertained that a combination of a 12-hour standing period followed by a 15-minute charging period yielded the optimal current output when measuring NA concentrations ranging from 4.98 to 24.9 mg/L in real OSPW samples (diluted to concentrations of 20–100 %). Subsequently, incorporating diverse inoculum sources from MXCs led to significant signal output improvements, with one sustained on a mixture of cyclohexane carboxylic acids, commercial naphthenic acids, and real OSPW, and another exposed to acetate medium for over four years. Moreover, integrating quorum sensing (QS) autoinducers (10 μM) increased the current generation, highlighting the potential for more sensitive detection capabilities. Ultimately, our MXC biosensor could enable a cost-effective and rapid detection of OSPW NAs, offering a potential alternative for environmental surveillance.

中文翻译：

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用微生物电化学传感器检测油砂工艺水中的环烷酸：接种源和群体感应自诱导器的影响


这项研究首次展示了基于微生物电化学电池 (MXC) 的生物传感器，用于检测采矿现场油砂工艺水 (OSPW) 中的环烷酸 (NA)。在校准过程中，评估了不同的操作参数，包括充电-放电循环内的静置时间（3-12小时）和充电持续时间（5-20​​分钟）。观察结果表明，在测量真实 OSPW 样品中 4.98 至 24.9 mg/L 的 NA 浓度（稀释至 20-100 浓度）时，12 小时静置期和 15 分钟充电期的组合可产生最佳电流输出。 %）。随后，纳入来自 MXC 的多种接种源导致信号输出显着改善，其中一种在环己烷羧酸、商业环烷酸和真正的 OSPW 的混合物中持续存在，另一种则暴露于醋酸盐介质超过四年。此外，集成群体感应 (QS) 自诱导剂 (10 μM) 增加了当前的生成，凸显了更灵敏检测能力的潜力。最终，我们的 MXC 生物传感器可以实现经济有效且快速的 OSPW NA 检测，为环境监测提供潜在的替代方案。