Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41660040›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science and ecotechnology2026

Iron redox cycling drives enhanced methanogenesis in magnetic biochar-mediated anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge.

Qing-Bin Meng, Zhang-Wei He, Zhi-Hua Li, Cong-Cong Tang, Ai-Juan Zhou, Bin Liang, Wenzong Liu, Yong-Xiang Ren, Aijie Wang

Abstract read
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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

9 authors.

Qing-Bin MengKey Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China.
Zhang-Wei HeKey Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China.
Zhi-Hua LiKey Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China.
Cong-Cong TangKey Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China.
Ai-Juan ZhouDepartment of Water Supply and Drainage, Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, 030024, China.
Bin LiangState Key Laboratory of Urban-rural Water Resource and Environment, School of Eco-Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
Wenzong LiuState Key Laboratory of Urban-rural Water Resource and Environment, School of Eco-Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.
Yong-Xiang RenKey Laboratory of Northwest Water Resource, Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, 710055, China.
Aijie WangState Key Laboratory of Urban-rural Water Resource and Environment, School of Eco-Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion provides an essential pathway for reducing organic waste while simultaneously recovering bioenergy. To enhance this process, magnetic biochars are frequently employed as conductive additives to promote direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET) among syntrophic microorganisms. However, the fundamental mechanisms regarding how iron species leached from these materials influence iron transformation and electron flux remain poorly understood. Here we show that the leaching of iron species from magnetic biochar establishes a stable Fe(III)/Fe(II) redox cycle that accelerates the hydrolysis, acidogenesis, and methanogenesis of waste-activated sludge. We find that cumulative methane production increases by 17 % as leached Fe(III) facilitates dissimilatory iron reduction, followed by secondary mineralization into high-crystalline iron species. This process selectively enriches electroactive taxa, including

Indexed as

Anaerobic digestionFe(III)/Fe(II) redox cycleIron species leaching behaviorMagnetic biocharWaste-activated sludge

Identifiers

PMID41660040
PMCPMC12873596

What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.