Bioelectricity-driven forward osmosis for energy-neutral nutrient and water recovery.

Jinyu Liu, Xiong Bi, Zefang Huang, Bingxin Li, Yichuan Zhu, Lijie Zhang, Wen Zhang, Heyang Yuan

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science and ecotechnology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Jinyu LiuDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States.

Xiong BiDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States.

Zefang HuangDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States.

Bingxin LiDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States.

Yichuan ZhuDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States.

Lijie ZhangDepartment of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, United States.

Wen ZhangDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07102, United States.

Heyang YuanDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Wastewater treatment is shifting from simply removing pollutants to recovering valuable resources. Although membrane and bioelectrochemical technologies are promising tools for this transition, they typically operate independently and rely heavily on external power, limiting their scalability. Here we develop an energy-neutral system that couples electrically assisted forward osmosis (eFO) with a microbial desalination cell (MDC) to autonomously extract nutrients and water recovery from wastewater. Bioelectricity generated from organic oxidation in the MDC (>7.0 mW) directly powers the eFO module (<1.0 mW). This internal energy transfer drives magnesium ion migration to trigger struvite precipitation, boosting nutrient recovery by 184% and water flux by 57% compared to standalone operations. Using a hybrid model to optimize these complex dynamics, our closed-loop design sustains ideal concentration gradients and improves total desalination efficiency by 45%. By eliminating the need for external grids, this self-powered framework offers a practical and scalable blueprint for zero-energy wastewater refineries.

Indexed as

Electrically assisted forward osmosisHybrid modelingMicrobial desalination cellReverse salt fluxStruvite

Identifiers

PMID42473599

DOI10.1016/j.ese.2026.100730

PMCPMC13380776

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY-NC-ND

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.