Performance of air-cathode stacked microbial fuel cells systems for wastewater treatment and electricity production.

PubMed

Estrada-Arriaga, Edson Baltazar; Guillen-Alonso, Yvonne; Morales-Morales, Cornelio; García-Sánchez, Liliana; Bahena-Bahena, Erick Obed; Guadarrama-Pérez, Oscar; Loyola-Morales, Félix

2017-07-01

Two different air-cathode stacked microbial fuel cell (MFC) configurations were evaluated under continuous flow during the treatment of municipal wastewater and electricity production at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 3, 1, and 0.5 d. Stacked MFC 1 was formed by 20 individual air-cathode MFC units. The second stacked MFC (stacked MFC 2) consisted of 40 air-cathode MFC units placed in a shared reactor. The maximum voltages produced at closed circuit (1,000 Ω) were 170 mV for stacked MFC 1 and 94 mV for stacked MFC 2. Different power densities in each MFC unit were obtained due to a potential drop phenomenon and to a change in chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentrations inside reactors. The maximum power densities from individual MFC units were up to 1,107 mW/m 2 for stacked MFC 1 and up to 472 mW/m 2 for stacked MFC 2. The maximum power densities in stacked MFC 1 and MFC 2 connected in series were 79 mW/m 2 and 4 mW/m 2 , respectively. Electricity generation and COD removal efficiencies were reduced when the HRT was decreased. High removal efficiencies of 84% of COD, 47% of total nitrogen, and 30% of total phosphorus were obtained during municipal wastewater treatment.

Microbial fuel cells as pollutant treatment units: Research updates.

PubMed

Zhang, Quanguo; Hu, Jianjun; Lee, Duu-Jong

2016-10-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are a device that can convert chemical energy in influent substances to electricity via biological pathways. Based on the consent that MFC technology should be applied as a waste/wastewater treatment unit rather than a renewable energy source, this mini-review discussed recent R&D efforts on MFC technologies for pollutant treatments and highlighted the challenges and research and development needs. Owing to the low power density levels achievable by larger-scale MFC, the MFC should be used as a device other than energy source such as being a pollutant treatment unit. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A low complexity wireless microbial fuel cell monitor using piezoresistive sensors and impulse-radio ultra-wide-band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crepaldi, M.; Chiolerio, A.; Tommasi, T.; Hidalgo, D.; Canavese, G.; Stassi, S.; Demarchi, D.; Pirri, F. C.

2013-05-01

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are energy sources which generate electrical charge thanks to bacteria metabolism. Although functionally similar to chemical fuel cells (both including reactants and two electrodes, and anode and cathode), they have substantial advantages, e.g. 1) operation at ambient temperature and pressure; 2) use of neutral electrolytes and avoidance of expensive catalysts (e.g. platinum); 3) operation using organic wastes. An MFC can be effectively used in environments where ubiquitous networking requires the wireless monitoring of energy sources. We then report on a simple monitoring system for MFC comprising an ultra-low-power Impulse-Radio Ultra-Wide-Band Transmitter (TX) operating in the low 0-960MHz band and a nanostructured piezoresistive pressure sensor connected to a discrete component digital read-out circuit. The sensor comprises an insulating matrix of polydimethylsiloxane and nanostructured multi-branched copper microparticles as conductive filler. Applied mechanical stress induces a sample deformation that modulates the mean distance between particles, i.e. the current flow. The read-out circuit encodes pressure as a pulse rate variation, with an absolute sensitivity to the generated MFC voltage. Pulses with variable repetition frequency can encode battery health: the pressure sensor can be directly connected to the cells membrane to read excessive pressure. A prototype system comprises two MFCs connected in series to power both the UWB transmitter which consumes 40μW and the read-out circuit. The two MFC generate an open circuit voltage of 1.0+/-0.1V. Each MFC prototype has a total volume of 0.34L and is formed by two circular Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) chambers (anode and cathode) separated by a cation exchange membrane. The paper reports on the prototype and measurements towards a final solution which embeds all functionalities within a MFC cell. Our solution is conceived to provide energy sources integrating energy management and health monitoring capabilities to sensor nodes which are not connected to the energy grid.

An innovative miniature microbial fuel cell fabricated using photolithography.

PubMed

Chen, You-Peng; Zhao, Yue; Qiu, Ke-Qiang; Chu, Jian; Lu, Rui; Sun, Min; Liu, Xian-Wei; Sheng, Guo-Ping; Yu, Han-Qing; Chen, Jie; Li, Wen-Jie; Liu, Gang; Tian, Yang-Chao; Xiong, Ying

2011-02-15

Recently microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have attracted increasing interests in both environmental and energy fields. Among the various MFC configurations, miniature microbial fuel cell (mini-MFC) has a great potential for the application in medical, communication and other areas because of its miniature volume and high output power density. In this work, a 25-μL single-chamber mini-MFC was fabricated using the photolithography technique. The plate-shaped gold anodic electrode in the mini-MFC showed a higher electrochemical activity than the stripe-shaped one. A biofilm of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was formed on the surface of gold electrode in this micro-liter-scale MFCs. As a result, a maximum power density of 29 mW/m(2) and a maximum current density of 2148 mA/m(2) were achieved by this single-chamber mini-MFC. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy sustainability of Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC): A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tommasi, Tonia; Lombardelli, Giorgia

2017-07-01

Energy sustainability analysis and durability of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) as energy source are necessary in order to move from the laboratory scale to full-scale application. This paper focus on these two aspects by considering the energy performances of an original experimental test with MFC conducted for six months under an external load of 1000 Ω. Energy sustainability is quantified using Energy Payback Time, the time necessary to produce the energy already spent to construct the MFC device. The results of experiment reveal that the energy sustainability of this specific MFC is never reached due to energy expenditure (i.e. for pumping) and to the low amount of energy produced. Hence, different MFC materials and architectures were analysed to find guidelines for future MFC development. Among these, only sedimentary fuel cells (Benthic MFCs) seem sustainable from an energetic point of view, with a minimum duration of 2.7 years. An energy balance approach highlights the importance of energy calculation. However, this is very often not taken into account in literature. This study outlines promising methodology for the design of an alternative layout of energy sustainable MFC and wastewater management systems.

A comparison of bioelectricity in microbial fuel cells with aerobic and anaerobic anodes.

PubMed

Chen, Chih-Yu; Chen, Tzu-Yu; Chung, Ying-Chien

2014-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can, besides running on wastewater, also derive energy directly from certain aquatic plants. However, few studies have focussed on electricity generation using aerobic anodes. This study presents a comparison of the MFC performances of an anaerobic-anode MFC (ana-MFC) and an aerobic-anode MFC (aa-MFC), and shows their individual conditions for optimal operation. Results show that the maximum power density of 7.07 +/- 0.45 mW/m2 for the ana-MFC occurred at 500 omega, whereas the aa-MFC had a maximum power density of 2.34 +/- 0.16 mW/m2 at 2200 omega. The ana-MFC generally achieved high electricity generation, and the aa-MFC achieved relatively high electricity generation when fed with a diluted substrate. In the ana-MFC, the optimal substrate for electricity generation was glucose (fermentable substrate); however, glucose and acetic acid (non-fermentable substrate) were both suitable substrates for the aa-MFC. The optimal gas retention times of the ana-MFC and the aa-MFC were 9 and 120 s, respectively. This retention time is an important limiting factor of electricity generation for the ana-MFC. The aa-MFCs fed with different substrates exhibited non-significant differences between bacterial communities. We observed the relative diversities of bacterial communities in the ana-MFC fed with various substrates. The results of denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis suggest that Ochrobactrum intermedium, Delftia acidovorans, and Citrobacterfreundii may be potential electrogenic bacteria. To our knowledge, this is the first study comparing the MFC performances of anaerobic and aerobic anodes.

Water Quality Monitoring in Developing Countries; Can Microbial Fuel Cells be the Answer?

PubMed Central

Chouler, Jon; Di Lorenzo, Mirella

2015-01-01

The provision of safe water and adequate sanitation in developing countries is a must. A range of chemical and biological methods are currently used to ensure the safety of water for consumption. These methods however suffer from high costs, complexity of use and inability to function onsite and in real time. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has great potential for the rapid and simple testing of the quality of water sources. MFCs have the advantages of high simplicity and possibility for onsite and real time monitoring. Depending on the choice of manufacturing materials, this technology can also be highly cost effective. This review covers the state-of-the-art research on MFC sensors for water quality monitoring, and explores enabling factors for their use in developing countries. PMID:26193327

Water Quality Monitoring in Developing Countries; Can Microbial Fuel Cells be the Answer?

PubMed

Chouler, Jon; Di Lorenzo, Mirella

2015-07-16

The provision of safe water and adequate sanitation in developing countries is a must. A range of chemical and biological methods are currently used to ensure the safety of water for consumption. These methods however suffer from high costs, complexity of use and inability to function onsite and in real time. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has great potential for the rapid and simple testing of the quality of water sources. MFCs have the advantages of high simplicity and possibility for onsite and real time monitoring. Depending on the choice of manufacturing materials, this technology can also be highly cost effective. This review covers the state-of-the-art research on MFC sensors for water quality monitoring, and explores enabling factors for their use in developing countries.

First study to explore the feasibility of applying microbial fuel cells into constructed wetlands for COD monitoring.

PubMed

Xu, Lei; Zhao, Yaqian; Fan, Chuang; Fan, Zhiren; Zhao, Fangchao

2017-11-01

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is one of the major targets to remove in constructed wetlands (CWs) system. Traditional method for COD measurement is a complex, time-consuming and highly toxic reagents participated procedure. In this study, microbial fuel cell (MFC) was successfully integrated into CW for indicating COD concentration. Results showed that there are two linear correlations between bioelectrical signals (output voltage from MFC) and COD concentration (acetate), which are COD from 0 to 500mg/L (101.99±7.42 to 631.74±7.41mV, R 2 =0.9710) and then from 500 to 1000mg/L (631.74±7.41 to 668.46±0.01mV, R 2 =0.9245). Furthermore, results also revealed the specificity of the system in terms of different types of carbon source. Overall, this work presented the feasibility of using CW-MFC for in-situ sensing COD during the wastewater treatment process, which will be a promising technique for water quality monitoring within CWs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Power generation from furfural using the microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Yong; Liu, Guangli; Zhang, Renduo; Zhang, Cuiping

Furfural is a typical inhibitor in the ethanol fermentation process using lignocellulosic hydrolysates as raw materials. In the literature, no report has shown that furfural can be utilized as the fuel to produce electricity in the microbial fuel cell (MFC), a device that uses microbes to convert organic compounds to generate electricity. In this study, we demonstrated that electricity was successfully generated using furfural as the sole fuel in both the ferricyanide-cathode MFC and the air-cathode MFC. In the ferricyanide-cathode MFC, the maximum power densities reached 45.4, 81.4, and 103 W m -3, respectively, when 1000 mg L -1 glucose, a mixture of 200 mg L -1 glucose and 5 mM furfural, and 6.68 mM furfural were used as the fuels in the anode solution. The corresponding Coulombic efficiencies (CE) were 4.0, 7.1, and 10.2% for the three treatments, respectively. For pure furfural as the fuel, the removal efficiency of furfural reached up to 95% within 12 h. In the air-cathode MFC using 6.68 mM furfural as the fuel, the maximum values of power density and CE were 361 mW m -2 (18 W m -3) and 30.3%, respectively, and the COD removal was about 68% at the end of the experiment (about 30 h). Increase in furfural concentrations from 6.68 to 20 mM resulted in increase in the maximum power densities from 361 to 368 mW m -2, and decrease in CEs from 30.3 to 20.6%. These results indicated that some toxic and biorefractory organics such as furfural might still be suitable resources for electricity generation using the MFC technology.

A paper-based microbial fuel cell: instant battery for disposable diagnostic devices.

PubMed

Fraiwan, Arwa; Mukherjee, Sayantika; Sundermier, Steven; Lee, Hyung-Sool; Choi, Seokheun

2013-11-15

We present a microfabricated paper-based microbial fuel cell (MFC) generating a maximum power of 5.5 μW/cm(2). The MFC features (1) a paper-based proton exchange membrane by infiltrating sulfonated sodium polystyrene sulfonate and (2) micro-fabricated paper chambers by patterning hydrophobic barriers of photoresist. Once inoculum and catholyte were added to the MFC, a current of 74 μA was generated immediately. This paper-based MFC has the advantages of ease of use, low production cost, and high portability. The voltage produced was increased by 1.9 × when two MFC devices were stacked in series, while operating lifetime was significantly enhanced in parallel. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anolyte recirculation effects in buffered and unbuffered single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Liang; Zhu, Xun; Kashima, Hiroyuki; Li, Jun; Ye, Ding-Ding; Liao, Qiang; Regan, John M

2015-03-01

Two identical microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with a floating air-cathode were operated under either buffered (MFC-B) or bufferless (MFC-BL) conditions to investigate anolyte recirculation effects on enhancing proton transfer. With an external resistance of 50 Ω and recirculation rate of 1.0 ml/min, MFC-BL had a 27% lower voltage (9.7% lower maximal power density) but a 64% higher Coulombic efficiency (CE) than MFC-B. MFC-B had a decreased voltage output, batch time, and CE with increasing recirculation rate resulting from more oxygen transfer into the anode. However, increasing the recirculation rate within a low range significantly enhanced proton transfer in MFC-BL, resulting in a higher voltage output, a longer batch time, and a higher CE. A further increase in recirculation rate decreased the batch time and CE of MFC-BL due to excess oxygen transfer into anode outweighing the proton-transfer benefits. The unbuffered MFC had an optimal recirculation rate of 0.35 ml/min. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance assessment of aeration and radial oxygen loss assisted cathode based integrated constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell systems.

PubMed

Srivastava, Pratiksha; Dwivedi, Saurabh; Kumar, Naresh; Abbassi, Rouzbeh; Garaniya, Vikram; Yadav, Asheesh Kumar

2017-11-01

The present study explores low-cost cathode development possibility using radial oxygen loss (ROL) of Canna indica plants and intermittent aeration (IA) for wastewater treatment and electricity generation in constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) system. Two CW-MFC microcosms were developed. Amongst them, one microcosm was planted with Canna indica plants for evaluating the ROL dependent cathode reaction (CW-MFC dependent on ROL) and another microcosm was equipped with intermittent aeration for evaluating the intermittent aeration dependent cathode reaction (CW-MFC with additional IA). The CW-MFC with additional IA has achieved 78.71% and 53.23%, and CW-MFC dependent on ROL has achieved 72.17% and 46.77% COD removal from synthetic wastewater containing glucose loads of 0.7gL -1 and 2.0gL -1 , respectively. The maximum power density of 31.04mWm -3 and 19.60mWm -3 was achieved in CW-MFC with additional IA and CW-MFC dependent on ROL, respectively. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An integrated aerobic-anaerobic strategy for performance enhancement of Pseudomonas aeruginosa-inoculated microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Yong, Xiao-Yu; Yan, Zhi-Ying; Shen, Hai-Bo; Zhou, Jun; Wu, Xia-Yuan; Zhang, Li-Juan; Zheng, Tao; Jiang, Min; Wei, Ping; Jia, Hong-Hua; Yong, Yang-Chun

2017-10-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising device for energy generation and organic waste treatment simultaneously by electrochemically active bacteria (EAB). In this study, an integrated aerobic-anaerobic strategy was developed to improve the performance of P. aeruginosa-inoculated MFC. With an aerobic start-up and following an anaerobic discharge process, the current density of MFC reached a maximum of 99.80µA/cm 2 , which was 91.6% higher than the MFC with conventional constant-anaerobic operation. Cyclic voltammetry and HPLC analysis showed that aerobic start-up significantly increased electron shuttle (pyocyanin) production (76% higher than the constant-anaerobic MFC). Additionally, enhanced anode biofilm formation was also observed in the integrated aerobic-anaerobic MFC. The increased pyocyanin production and biofilm formation promoted extracellular electron transfer from EAB to the anode and were the underlying mechanism for the MFC performance enhancement. This work demonstrated the integrated aerobic-anaerobic strategy would be a practical strategy to enhance the electricity generation of MFC. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation from food wastes and characteristics of organic matters in microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Li, Hui; Tian, Yu; Zuo, Wei; Zhang, Jun; Pan, Xiaoyue; Li, Lipin; Su, Xinying

2016-04-01

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) was evaluated as an alternative way to recover electricity from canteen based food waste. Characteristics of the organics in food waste before and after the MFC treatment were analyzed to investigate how the organic matters were biodegraded and transformed during the MFC treatment. A maximum power density of 5.6W/m(3) and an average output voltage of 0.51V were obtained. During the MFC operation, the hydrophilic and acidic fractions were more readily degraded, compared to the neutral fractions. Additionally, aromatic compounds in the hydrophilic fraction were more preferentially removed than non-aromatic compounds. The MFC could easily remove the tryptophan protein-like substances in all fractions and aromatic proteins in hydrophilic and hydrophobic neutral fractions. Additionally, the hydrophobic amide-1 proteins and aliphatic components were readily hydrolyzed and biodegraded in the MFC. These findings may facilitate the pretreatment and posttreatment choices for MFC system fed with food waste. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sustainable green technology on wastewater treatment: The evaluation of enhanced single chambered up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Thung, Wei-Eng; Ong, Soon-An; Ho, Li-Ngee; Wong, Yee-Shian; Ridwan, Fahmi; Oon, Yoong-Ling; Oon, Yoong-Sin; Lehl, Harvinder Kaur

2018-04-01

This study demonstrated the potential of single chamber up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell (UFML-MFC) in wastewater treatment and power generation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and enhance the performance under different operational conditions which affect the chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and power generation, including the increase of KCl concentration (MFC1) and COD concentration (MFC2). The results showed that the increase of KCl concentration is an important factor in up-flow membrane-less MFC to enhance the ease of electron transfer from anode to cathode. The increase of COD concentration in MFC2 could led to the drop of voltage output due to the prompt of biofilm growth in MFC2 cathode which could increase the internal resistance. It also showed that the COD concentration is a vital issue in up-flow membrane-less MFC. Despite the COD reduction was up to 96%, the power output remained constrained. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Harvest and utilization of chemical energy in wastes by microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Sun, Min; Zhai, Lin-Feng; Li, Wen-Wei; Yu, Han-Qing

2016-05-21

Organic wastes are now increasingly viewed as a resource of energy that can be harvested by suitable biotechnologies. One promising technology is microbial fuel cells (MFC), which can generate electricity from the degradation of organic pollutants. While the environmental benefits of MFC in waste treatment have been recognized, their potential as an energy producer is not fully understood. Although progresses in material and engineering have greatly improved the power output from MFC, how to efficiently utilize the MFC's energy in real-world scenario remains a challenge. In this review, fundamental understandings on the energy-generating capacity of MFC from real waste treatment are provided and the challenges and opportunities are discussed. The limiting factors restricting the energy output and impairing the long-term reliability of MFC are also analyzed. Several energy storage and in situ utilization strategies for the management of MFC's energy are proposed, and future research needs for real-world application of this approach are explored.

Microbial fuel cells as an alternative energy source: current status.

PubMed

Javed, Muhammad Mohsin; Nisar, Muhammad Azhar; Ahmad, Muhammad Usman; Yasmeen, Nighat; Zahoor, Sana

2018-06-22

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is an emerging area for alternative renewable energy generation and it offers additional opportunities for environmental bioremediation. Recent scientific studies have focused on MFC reactor design as well as reactor operations to increase energy output. The advancement in alternative MFC models and their performance in recent years reflect the interests of scientific community to exploit this technology for wider practical applications and environmental benefit. This is reflected in the diversity of the substrates available for use in MFCs at an economically viable level. This review provides an overview of the commonly used MFC designs and materials along with the basic operating parameters that have been developed in recent years. Still, many limitations and challenges exist for MFC development that needs to be further addressed to make them economically feasible for general use. These include continued improvements in fuel cell design and efficiency as well scale-up with economically practical applications tailored to local needs.

Archaea-based microbial fuel cell operating at high ionic strength conditions.

PubMed

Abrevaya, Ximena C; Sacco, Natalia; Mauas, Pablo J D; Cortón, Eduardo

2011-11-01

In this work, two archaea microorganisms (Haloferax volcanii and Natrialba magadii) used as biocatalyst at a microbial fuel cell (MFC) anode were evaluated. Both archaea are able to grow at high salt concentrations. By increasing the media conductivity, the internal resistance was diminished, improving the MFC's performance. Without any added redox mediator, maximum power (P (max)) and current at P (max) were 11.87/4.57/0.12 μW cm(-2) and 49.67/22.03/0.59 μA cm(-2) for H. volcanii, N. magadii and E. coli, respectively. When neutral red was used as the redox mediator, P (max) was 50.98 and 5.39 μW cm(-2) for H. volcanii and N. magadii, respectively. In this paper, an archaea MFC is described and compared with other MFC systems; the high salt concentration assayed here, comparable with that used in Pt-catalyzed alkaline hydrogen fuel cells, will open new options when MFC scaling up is the objective necessary for practical applications.

Influences of dissolved oxygen concentration on biocathodic microbial communities in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Rago, Laura; Cristiani, Pierangela; Villa, Federica; Zecchin, Sarah; Colombo, Alessandra; Cavalca, Lucia; Schievano, Andrea

2017-08-01

Dissolved oxygen (DO) at cathodic interface is a critical factor influencing microbial fuel cells (MFC) performance. In this work, three MFCs were operated with cathode under different DO conditions: i) air-breathing (A-MFC); ii) water-submerged (W-MFC) and iii) assisted by photosynthetic microorganisms (P-MFC). A plateau of maximum current was reached at 1.06±0.03mA, 1.48±0.06mA and 1.66±0.04mA, increasing respectively for W-MFC, P-MFC and A-MFC. Electrochemical and microbiological tools (Illumina sequencing, confocal microscopy and biofilm cryosectioning) were used to explore anodic and cathodic biofilm in each MFC type. In all cases, biocathodes improved oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as compared to abiotic condition and A-MFC was the best performing system. Photosynthetic cultures in the cathodic chamber supplied high DO level, up to 16mg O2 L -1 , which sustained aerobic microbial community in P-MFC biocathode. Halomonas, Pseudomonas and other microaerophilic genera reached >50% of the total OTUs. The presence of sulfur reducing bacteria (Desulfuromonas) and purple non-sulfur bacteria in A-MFC biocathode suggested that the recirculation of sulfur compounds could shuttle electrons to sustain the reduction of oxygen as final electron acceptor. The low DO concentration limited the cathode in W-MFC. A model of two different possible microbial mechanisms is proposed which can drive predominantly cathodic ORR. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recycled water reuse permit renewal application for the materials and fuels complex industrial waste ditch and industrial waste pond

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Name, No

This renewal application for the Industrial Wastewater Reuse Permit (IWRP) WRU-I-0160-01 at Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) Industrial Waste Ditch (IWD) and Industrial Waste Pond (IWP) is being submitted to the State of Idaho, Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). This application has been prepared in compliance with the requirements in IDAPA 58.01.17, Recycled Water Rules. Information in this application is consistent with the IDAPA 58.01.17 rules, pre-application meeting, and the Guidance for Reclamation and Reuse of Municipal and Industrial Wastewater (September 2007). This application is being submitted using much of the same information contained in themore » initial permit application, submitted in 2007, and modification, in 2012. There have been no significant changes to the information and operations covered in the existing IWRP. Summary of the monitoring results and operation activity that has occurred since the issuance of the WRP has been included. MFC has operated the IWP and IWD as regulated wastewater land treatment facilities in compliance with the IDAPA 58.01.17 regulations and the IWRP. Industrial wastewater, consisting primarily of continuous discharges of nonhazardous, nonradioactive, routinely discharged noncontact cooling water and steam condensate, periodic discharges of industrial wastewater from the MFC facility process holdup tanks, and precipitation runoff, are discharged to the IWP and IWD system from various MFC facilities. Wastewater goes to the IWP and IWD with a permitted annual flow of up to 17 million gallons/year. All requirements of the IWRP are being met. The Operations and Maintenance Manual for the Industrial Wastewater System will be updated to include any new requirements.« less

A microfluidic direct formate fuel cell on paper.

PubMed

Copenhaver, Thomas S; Purohit, Krutarth H; Domalaon, Kryls; Pham, Linda; Burgess, Brianna J; Manorothkul, Natalie; Galvan, Vicente; Sotez, Samantha; Gomez, Frank A; Haan, John L

2015-08-01

We describe the first direct formate fuel cell on a paper microfluidic platform. In traditional membrane-less microfluidic fuel cells (MFCs), external pumping consumes power produced by the fuel cell in order to maintain co-laminar flow of the anode stream and oxidant stream to prevent mixing. However, in paper microfluidics, capillary action drives flow while minimizing stream mixing. In this work, we demonstrate a paper MFC that uses formate and hydrogen peroxide as the anode fuel and cathode oxidant, respectively. Using these materials we achieve a maximum power density of nearly 2.5 mW/mg Pd. In a series configuration, our MFC achieves an open circuit voltage just over 1 V, and in a parallel configuration, short circuit of 20 mA absolute current. We also demonstrate that the MFC does not require continuous flow of fuel and oxidant to produce power. We found that we can pre-saturate the materials on the paper, stop the electrolyte flow, and still produce approximately 0.5 V for 15 min. This type of paper MFC has potential applications in point-of-care diagnostic devices and other electrochemical sensors. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Electricity generation in low cost microbial fuel cell made up of earthenware of different thickness.

PubMed

Behera, M; Ghangrekar, M M

2011-01-01

Performance of four microbial fuel cells (MFC-1, MFC-2, MFC-3 and MFC-4) made up of earthen pots with wall thicknesses of 3, 5, 7 and 8.5 mm, respectively, was evaluated. The MFCs were operated in fed batch mode with synthetic wastewater having sucrose as the carbon source. The power generation decreased with increase in the thickness of the earthen pot which was used to make the anode chamber. MFC-1 generated highest sustainable power density of 24.32 mW/m(2) and volumetric power of 1.04 W/m(3) (1.91 mA, 0.191 V) at 100 Ω external resistance. The maximum Coulombic efficiencies obtained in MFC-1, MFC-2, MFC-3 and MFC-4 were 7.7, 7.1, 6.8 and 6.1%, respectively. The oxygen mass transfer and oxygen diffusion coefficients measured for earthen plate of 3 mm thickness were 1.79 × 10(-5) and 5.38 × 10(-6) cm(2)/s, respectively, which implies that earthen plate is permeable to oxygen as other polymeric membranes. The internal resistance increased with increase in thickness of the earthen pot MFCs. The thickness of the earthen material affected the overall performance of MFCs.

Bacterial communities adapted to higher external resistance can reduce the onset potential of anode in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Suzuki, Kei; Kato, Yutaka; Yui, Arashi; Yamamoto, Shuji; Ando, Syota; Rubaba, Owen; Tashiro, Yosuke; Futamata, Hiroyuki

2018-05-01

We investigated how bacterial communities adapted to external resistances and exhibited the performance of electricity production in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with external resistance of 10 Ω (LR-MFC) and 1000 Ω (HR-MFC). The HR-MFC exhibited better performance than the LR-MFC. The power densities of the LR-MFC and the HR-MFC were 5.2 ± 1.6 mW m -2 and 28 ± 9.6 mW m -2 after day 197, respectively. Low-scan cyclic voltammetry analyses indicated that the onset potential of the HR-MFC was more negative than that of the LR-MFC, suggesting that the higher external resistance led to enrichment of the highly current producing bacteria on the anode surface. All clones of Geobacter retrieved from the LR-MFC and the HR-MFC were members of the Geobacter metallireducens clade. Although the population density of Geobacter decreased from days 366-427 in the HR-MFC, the current density was almost maintained. Multidimensional scaling analyses based on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles indicated that the dynamics of the biofilm and anolytic communities changed synchronously in the two MFCs, but the dynamics of the bacterial communities in the LR-MFC and the HR-MFC were different from each other, reflecting different processes in adaptation to the different external resistances. The results suggest that the microbial community structure was formed by adapting to higher external resistance, exhibiting more negative onset potential and higher performance of the HR-MFC through collaborating with anode-respiring bacteria and fermenters. Copyright © 2017 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cadmium recovery by coupling double microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Choi, Chansoo; Hu, Naixu; Lim, Bongsu

2014-10-01

Cr(VI)-MFC of the double microbial fuel cell (d-MFC) arrangement could successfully complement the insufficient voltage and power needed to recover cadmium metal from Cd(II)-MFC, which operated as a redox-flow battery. It was also possible to drain electrical energy from the d-MFC by an additional passage. The highest maximum utilization power density (22.5Wm(-2)) of Cr(VI)-MFC, with the cathode optimized with sulfate buffer, was 11.3times higher than the highest power density directly supplied to Cd(II)-MFC (2.0Wm(-2)). Cr(VI)-MFC could generate 3times higher power with the additional passage than without it; and the current density for the former was 4.2times higher than the latter at the same maximum power point (38.0Am(-2) vs. 9.0Am(-2)). This boosting phenomenon could be explained by the Le Chatelier's principle, which addresses the rate of electron-hole pair formation that can be accelerated by quickly removing electrons generated by microorganisms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon source and energy harvesting optimization in solid anolyte microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Adekunle, Ademola; Raghavan, Vijaya; Tartakovsky, Boris

2017-07-01

This work investigates the application of a solid anolyte microbial fuel cell (saMFC) as a long-lasting source of electricity for powering electronic devices. Broadly available biodegradable materials such as humus, cattle manure, peat moss, and sawdust are evaluated as solid anolytes. The initial comparison shows significantly higher power production in the saMFC operated using humus as compared to other solid anolytes. At the same time, power production in the humus-based saMFC is found to decline after about 40 days of operation, while the sawdust MFC demonstrates stable performance over the test period. Following this initial comparison, a combined humus - sawdust anolyte is developed to increase saMFC life span. The optimized saMFC demonstrates stable power production for over nine months. Furthermore, power production in the saMFC is maximized by using an intermittent connection to an electrical load (on/off operation) and optimizing the connection/disconnection times. These results demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing solid anolytes for developing inexpensive and long-lasting biobatteries operated on renewable carbon sources.

Comparative analysis of microbial community between different cathode systems of microbial fuel cells for denitrification.

PubMed

Li, Chao; Xu, Ming; Lu, Yi; Fang, Fang; Cao, Jiashun

2016-01-01

Two types of cathodic biofilm in microbial fuel cells (MFC) were established for comparison on their performance and microbial communities. Complete autotrophic simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) without organics addition was achieved in nitrifying-MFC (N-MFC) with a total nitrogen (TN) removal rate of 0.35 mg/(L·h), which was even higher than that in denitrifying-MFC (D-MFC) at same TN level. Integrated denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis based on both 16S rRNA and nirK genes showed that Alpha-, Gammaproteobacteria were the main denitrifier communities. Some potential autotrophic denitrifying bacteria which can use electrons and reducing power from cathodes, such as Shewanella oneidensis, Shewanella loihica, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Starkeya novella and Rhodopseudomonas palustris were identified and selectively enriched on cathode biofilms. Further, relative abundance of denitrifying bacteria characterized by nirK/16S ratios was much higher in biofilm than suspended sludge according to real-time polymerase chain reaction. The highest enrichment efficiency for denitrifiers was obtained in N-MFC cathode biofilms, which confirmed autotrophic denitrifying bacteria enrichment is the key factor for a D-MFC system.

[Electricity generation from sweet potato fuel ethanol wastewater using microbial fuel cell technology].

PubMed

Cai, Xiao-Bo; Yang, Yi; Sun, Yan-Ping; Zhang, Liang; Xiao, Yao; Zhao, Hai

2010-10-01

Air cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) were investigated for electricity production from sweet potato fuel ethanol wastewater containing 5000 mg/L of chemical oxygen demand (COD). Maximum power density of 334.1 mW/m2, coulombic efficiency (CE) of 10.1% and COD removal efficiency of 92.2% were approached. The effect of phosphate buffer solution (PBS) and COD concentration on the performance of MFC was further examined. The addition of PBS from 50 mmol/L to 200 mmol/L increased the maximum power density and CE by 33.4% and 26.0%, respectively. However, the COD removal efficiency was not relative to PBS concentration in the wastewater. When the COD increased from 625 mg/L to 10 000 mg/L, the maximum value of COD removal efficiency and the maximum power density were gained at the wastewater strength of 5 000 mg/L. But the CE ranged from 28.9% to 10.3% with a decreasing trend. These results demonstrate that sweet potato fuel ethanol wastewater can be used for electricity generation in MFC while at the same time achieving wastewater treatment. The increasing of PBS concentration can improve the power generation of MFC. The maximum power density of MFC increases with the rise of COD concentration, but the electricity generation will decrease for the acidification of high wastewater concentration.

Open external circuit for microbial fuel cell sensor to monitor the nitrate in aquatic environment.

PubMed

Wang, Donglin; Liang, Peng; Jiang, Yong; Liu, Panpan; Miao, Bo; Hao, Wen; Huang, Xia

2018-07-15

This study employed an open external circuit, rather than a closed circuit applied in previous studies, to operate an microbial fuel cell (MFC) sensor for real-time nitrate monitoring, and achieved surprisingly greater sensitivity (4.42 ± 0.3-6.66 ± 0.4 mV/(mg/L)) when the nitrate was at a concentration of 10-40 mg/L, compared to that of the MFC sensor with a closed circuit (0.8 ± 0.05-1.6 ± 0.1 mV/(mg/L)). The MFC sensor operated in open circuit (O-MFC sensor) delivered much more stable performance than that operated in closed circuit (C-MFC sensor) when affected by organic matter (NaAc). The sensitivity of O-MFC sensor was twice that of C-MFC sensor at a low background concentration of organic matter. When organic matter reached a high concentration, the sensitivity of O-MFC sensor remained at an acceptable level, while that of C-MFC sensor dropped to almost zero. Challenged by a combined shock of organic matter and nitrate, O-MFC sensor delivered evident electrical signals for nitrate warning, while C-MFC failed. Another novel feature of this study lies in a new mathematical model to examine the bioanode process of nitrate monitoring. It revealed that lower capacitance of the bioanode in O-MFC was the major contributor to the improved sensitivity of the device. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Using live algae at the anode of a microbial fuel cell to generate electricity.

PubMed

Xu, Chang; Poon, Karen; Choi, Martin M F; Wang, Ruihua

2015-10-01

Live green microalgae Chlorella pyrenoidosa was introduced in the anode of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) to act as an electron donor. By controlling the oxygen content, light intensity, and algal cell density at the anode, microalgae would generate electricity without requiring externally added substrates. Two models of algal microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were constructed with graphite/carbon electrodes and no mediator. Model 1 algal MFC has live microalgae grown at the anode and potassium ferricyanide at the cathode, while model 2 algal MFC had live microalgae in both the anode and cathode in different growth conditions. Results indicated that a higher current produced in model 1 algal MFC was obtained at low light intensity of 2500 lx and algal cell density of 5 × 10(6) cells/ml, in which high algal density would limit the electricity generation, probably by increasing oxygen level and mass transfer problem. The maximum power density per unit anode volume obtained in model 1 algal MFC was relatively high at 6030 mW/m(2), while the maximum power density at 30.15 mW/m(2) was comparable with that of previous reported bacteria-driven MFC with graphite/carbon electrodes. A much smaller power density at 2.5 mW/m(2) was observed in model 2 algal MFC. Increasing the algal cell permeability by 4-nitroaniline would increase the open circuit voltage, while the mitochondrial acting and proton leak promoting agents resveratrol and 2,4-dinitrophenol would increase the electric current production in algal MFC.

Microbial fuel cells: Their application and microbiology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Zhen

The energy crisis is an urgent global issue due to the increased consumption of the finite amount of fossil fuel. As a result, looking for alternative energy sources is of critical importance. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology can extract electric energy from wastewater, and thus is a sustainable approach to supply energy to our electricity-based society. My research focuses on the development of a suitable MFC reactor for wastewater treatment and the understanding of the microbial function in the MFC process. First, together with colleagues, I have developed a novel MFC reactor, named upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC), by combining upflow and MFC technologies. The power output from the UMFC was improved by 10-fold after it was modified with a U-shape cathode. The UMFC appears to be a practical reactor for continuous operation, though the output of electric power requires further improvement. In addition, a sediment MFC with a rotating cathode was also developed and its performance was examined. Second, I have adopted a human distal gut anaerobe, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, as the model organism to study the role of fermentative bacterium in electricity generation. When B. thetaiotaomicron grew under an applied electric potential, an electric current was generated. GeneChip data indicated that this bacterium did not alter its metabolism during this process. Although B. thetaiotaomicron may not be capable of respiration with an electrode as the electron acceptor, the experiment has demonstrated that fermentative bacteria may play an important role in electricity generation.

The power of glove: Soft microbial fuel cell for low-power electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Winfield, Jonathan; Chambers, Lily D.; Stinchcombe, Andrew; Rossiter, Jonathan; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

2014-03-01

A novel, soft microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been constructed using the finger-piece of a standard laboratory natural rubber latex glove. The natural rubber serves as structural and proton exchange material whilst untreated carbon veil is used for the anode. A soft, conductive, synthetic latex cathode is developed that coats the outside of the glove. This inexpensive, lightweight reactor can without any external power supply, start up and energise a power management system (PMS), which steps-up the MFC output (0.06-0.17 V) to practical levels for operating electronic devices (>3 V). The MFC is able to operate for up to 4 days on just 2 mL of feedstock (synthetic tryptone yeast extract) without any cathode hydration. The MFC responds immediately to changes in fuel-type when the introduction of urine accelerates the cycling times (35 vs. 50 min for charge/discharge) of the MFC and PMS. Following starvation periods of up to 60 h at 0 mV the MFC is able to cold start the PMS simply with the addition of 2 mL fresh feedstock. These findings demonstrate that cheap MFCs can be developed as sole power sources and in conjunction with advancements in ultra-low power electronics, can practically operate small electrical devices.

Applications of Graphene-Modified Electrodes in Microbial Fuel Cells

PubMed Central

Yu, Fei; Wang, Chengxian; Ma, Jie

2016-01-01

Graphene-modified materials have captured increasing attention for energy applications due to their superior physical and chemical properties, which can significantly enhance the electricity generation performance of microbial fuel cells (MFC). In this review, several typical synthesis methods of graphene-modified electrodes, such as graphite oxide reduction methods, self-assembly methods, and chemical vapor deposition, are summarized. According to the different functions of the graphene-modified materials in the MFC anode and cathode chambers, a series of design concepts for MFC electrodes are assembled, e.g., enhancing the biocompatibility and improving the extracellular electron transfer efficiency for anode electrodes and increasing the active sites and strengthening the reduction pathway for cathode electrodes. In spite of the challenges of MFC electrodes, graphene-modified electrodes are promising for MFC development to address the reduction in efficiency brought about by organic waste by converting it into electrical energy. PMID:28773929

Microbial fuel cells for direct electrical energy recovery from urban wastewaters.

PubMed

Capodaglio, A G; Molognoni, D; Dallago, E; Liberale, A; Cella, R; Longoni, P; Pantaleoni, L

2013-01-01

Application of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to wastewater treatment for direct recovery of electric energy appears to provide a potentially attractive alternative to traditional treatment processes, in an optic of costs reduction, and tapping of sustainable energy sources that characterizes current trends in technology. This work focuses on a laboratory-scale, air-cathode, and single-chamber MFC, with internal volume of 6.9 L, operating in batch mode. The MFC was fed with different types of substrates. This study evaluates the MFC behaviour, in terms of organic matter removal efficiency, which reached 86% (on average) with a hydraulic retention time of 150 hours. The MFC produced an average power density of 13.2 mW/m(3), with a Coulombic efficiency ranging from 0.8 to 1.9%. The amount of data collected allowed an accurate analysis of the repeatability of MFC electrochemical behaviour, with regards to both COD removal kinetics and electric energy production.

Electricity generation from bio-treatment of sewage sludge with microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Jiang, Junqiu; Zhao, Qingliang; Zhang, Jinna; Zhang, Guodong; Lee, Duu-Jong

2009-12-01

A two-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) with potassium ferricyanide as its electron acceptor was utilized to degrade excess sewage sludge and to generate electricity. Stable electrical power was produced continuously during operation for 250 h. Total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) of sludge was reduced by 46.4% when an initial TCOD was 10,850 mg/l. The MFC power output did not significantly depend on process parameters such as substrate concentration, cathode catholyte concentration, and anodic pH. However, the MFC produced power was in close correlation with the soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) of sludge. Furthermore, ultrasonic pretreatment of sludge accelerated organic matter dissolution and, hence, TCOD removal rate in the MFC was increased, but power output was insignificantly enhanced. This study demonstrates that this MFC can generate electricity from sewage sludge over a wide range of process parameters.

Microbial fuel cells and microbial electrolysis cells for the production of bioelectricity and biomaterials.

PubMed

Zhou, Minghua; Yang, Jie; Wang, Hongyu; Jin, Tao; Xu, Dake; Gu, Tingyue

2013-01-01

Today's global energy crisis requires a multifaceted solution. Bioenergy is an important part of the solution. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology stands out as an attractive potential technology in bioenergy. MFCs can convert energy stored in organic matter directly into bioelectricity. MFCs can also be operated in the electrolysis mode as microbial electrolysis cells to produce bioproducts such as hydrogen and ethanol. Various wastewaters containing low-grade organic carbons that are otherwise unutilized can be used as feed streams for MFCs. Despite major advances in the past decade, further improvements in MFC power output and cost reduction are needed for MFCs to be practical. This paper analysed MFC operating principles using bioenergetics and bioelectrochemistry. Several major issues were explored to improve the MFC performance. An emphasis was placed on the use of catalytic materials for MFC electrodes. Recent advances in the production of various biomaterials using MFCs were also investigated.

Simulation and resolution of voltage reversal in microbial fuel cell stack.

PubMed

Sugnaux, Marc; Savy, Cyrille; Cachelin, Christian Pierre; Hugenin, Gérald; Fischer, Fabian

2017-08-01

To understand the biotic and non-biotic contributions of voltage reversals in microbial fuel cell stacks (MFC) they were simulated with an electronic MFC-Stack mimic. The simulation was then compared with results from a real 3L triple MFC-Stack with shared anolyte. It showed that voltage reversals originate from the variability of biofilms, but also the external load plays a role. When similar biofilm properties were created on all anodes the likelihood of voltage reversals was largely reduced. Homogenous biofilms on all anodes were created by electrical circuit alternation and electrostimulation. Conversely, anolyte recirculation, or increased nutriment supply, postponed reversals and unfavourable voltage asymmetries on anodes persisted. In conclusion, voltage reversals are often a negative event but occur also in close to best MFC-Stack performance. They were manageable and this with a simplified MFC architecture in which multiple anodes share the same anolyte. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aerobic granular sludge inoculated microbial fuel cells for enhanced epoxy reactive diluent wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Cheng, Kai; Hu, Jingping; Hou, Huijie; Liu, Bingchuan; Chen, Qin; Pan, Keliang; Pu, Wenhong; Yang, Jiakuan; Wu, Xu; Yang, Changzhu

2017-04-01

Microbial consortiums aggregated on the anode surface of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are critical factors for electricity generation as well as biodegradation efficiencies of organic compounds. Here in this study, aerobic granular sludge (AGS) was assembled on the surface of the MFC anode to form an AGS-MFC system with superior performance on epoxy reactive diluent (ERD) wastewater treatment. AGS-MFCs successfully shortened the startup time from 13d to 7d compared to the ones inoculated with domestic wastewater. Enhanced toxicity tolerance as well as higher COD removal (77.8% vs. 63.6%) were achieved. The higher ERD wastewater treatment efficiency of AGS-MFC is possibly attributed to the diverse microbial population on MFC biofilm, as well as the synergic degradation of contaminants by both the MFC anode biofilm and AGS granules. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Construction and performance evaluation of mediator-less microbial fuel cell using carbon nanotubes as an anode material.

PubMed

Roh, Sung-Hee; Kim, Sun-Il

2012-05-01

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that converts chemical energy to electrical energy using the catalytic reaction of microorganisms. We investigated the performance of mediator-less MFC with carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/graphite felt composite electrodes. The addition of CNTs to a graphite felt electrode increases the specific surface area of the electrode and enhances the charge transfer capability so as to cause considerable improvement of the electrochemical activity for the anode reaction in a MFC. The performance of the MFC using CNTs/graphite felt electrode has been compared against a plain graphite felt electrode based MFC. A CNTs/graphite felt electrode showed as high as 15% increase in the power density (252 mW/m2) compared to graphite felt electrode (214 mW/m2). The CNTs/graphite felt anode therefore offers good prospects for application in MFCs.

Evaluating the performance of microbial fuel cells powering electronic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewan, Alim; Donovan, Conrad; Heo, Deukhyoun; Beyenal, Haluk

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is capable of powering an electronic device if we store the energy in an external storage device, such as a capacitor, and dispense that energy intermittently in bursts of high-power when needed. Therefore its performance needs to be evaluated using an energy-storing device such as a capacitor which can be charged and discharged rather than other evaluation techniques, such as continuous energy dissipation through a resistor. In this study, we develop a method of testing microbial fuel cell performance based on storing energy in a capacitor. When a capacitor is connected to a MFC it acts like a variable resistor and stores energy from the MFC at a variable rate. In practice the application of this method to testing microbial fuel cells is very challenging and time consuming; therefore we have custom-designed a microbial fuel cell tester (MFCT). The MFCT evaluates the performance of a MFC as a power source. It uses a capacitor as an energy storing device and waits until a desired amount of energy is stored then discharges the capacitor. The entire process is controlled using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) board controlled by a custom-written computer program. The utility of our method and the MFCT is demonstrated using a laboratory microbial fuel cell (LMFC) and a sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC). We determine (1) how frequently a MFC can charge a capacitor, (2) which electrode is current-limiting, (3) what capacitor value will allow the maximum harvested energy from a MFC, which is called the "optimum charging capacitor value," and (4) what capacitor charging potential will harvest the maximum energy from a MFC, which is called the "optimum charging potential." Using a LMFC we find that (1) the time needed to charge a 3-F capacitor from 0 to 500 mV is 108 min, (2) the optimum charging capacitor value is 3 F, and (3) the optimum charging potential is 300 mV. Using a SMFC we find that (1) the time needed to charge a 3-F capacitor from 0 to 500 mV is 5 min, (2) the optimum charging capacitor value is 3 F, and (3) the optimum charging potential is 500 mV. Our results demonstrate that the developed method and the MFCT can be used to evaluate and optimize energy harvesting when a MFC is used with a capacitor to power wireless sensors monitoring the environment.

Combustion of anaerobically digested humus as a fuel

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kayhanian, M.; Jenkins, B.M.; Baxter, L.L.

Two pilot scale combustion experiments were conducted to explore the application of an anaerobically digested humus as fuel for commercial boilers. The experiments were performed in a fluidized bed combustor (FBC) and a multifuel suspension combustor (MFC). The results obtained indicate that the humus, blended with another conventional fuel (e.g., wood), can be used as a fuel in commercial boilers. Preliminary results of ash deposit analyses from the MFC indicate that the rate of deposition was low compared to high fouling biomass fuels such as straws, and similar to deposits obtained from wood.

Viability of Existing INL Facilities for Dry Storage Cask Handling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Randy Bohachek; Charles Park; Bruce Wallace

2013-04-01

This report evaluates existing capabilities at the INL to determine if a practical and cost effective method could be developed for opening and handling full-sized dry storage casks. The Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) CPP-603, Irradiated Spent Fuel Storage Facility, provides the infrastructure to support handling and examining casks and their contents. Based on a reasonable set of assumptions, it is possible to receive, open, inspect, remove samples, close, and reseal large bolted-lid dry storage casks at the INL. The capability can also be used to open and inspect casks that were last examined at the TAN Hotmore » Shop over ten years ago. The Castor V/21 and REA-2023 casks can provide additional confirmatory information regarding the extended performance of low-burnup (<45 GWD/MTU) used nuclear fuel. Once a dry storage cask is opened inside CPP-603, used fuel retrieved from the cask can be packaged in a shipping cask, and sent to a laboratory for testing. Testing at the INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) can occur starting with shipment of samples from CPP-603 over an on-site road, avoiding the need to use public highways. This reduces cost and reduces the risk to the public. The full suite of characterization methods needed to establish the condition of the fuel exists and MFC. Many other testing capabilities also exist at MFC, but when those capabilities are not adequate, samples can be prepared and shipped to other laboratories for testing. This report discusses how the casks would be handled, what work needs to be done to ready the facilities/capabilities, and what the work will cost.« less

Viability of Existing INL Facilities for Dry Storage Cask Handling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bohachek, Randy; Wallace, Bruce; Winston, Phil

2013-04-30

This report evaluates existing capabilities at the INL to determine if a practical and cost effective method could be developed for opening and handling full-sized dry storage casks. The Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) CPP-603, Irradiated Spent Fuel Storage Facility, provides the infrastructure to support handling and examining casks and their contents. Based on a reasonable set of assumptions, it is possible to receive, open, inspect, remove samples, close, and reseal large bolted-lid dry storage casks at the INL. The capability can also be used to open and inspect casks that were last examined at the TAN Hotmore » Shop over ten years ago. The Castor V/21 and REA-2023 casks can provide additional confirmatory information regarding the extended performance of low-burnup (<45 GWD/MTU) used nuclear fuel. Once a dry storage cask is opened inside CPP-603, used fuel retrieved from the cask can be packaged in a shipping cask, and sent to a laboratory for testing. Testing at the INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) can occur starting with shipment of samples from CPP-603 over an on-site road, avoiding the need to use public highways. This reduces cost and reduces the risk to the public. The full suite of characterization methods needed to establish the condition of the fuel exists and MFC. Many other testing capabilities also exist at MFC, but when those capabilities are not adequate, samples can be prepared and shipped to other laboratories for testing. This report discusses how the casks would be handled, what work needs to be done to ready the facilities/capabilities, and what the work will cost.« less

A stackable, two-chambered, paper-based microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Fraiwan, Arwa; Choi, Seokheun

2016-09-15

We developed a stackable and integrable paper-based microbial fuel cell (MFC) for potentially powering on-chip paper-based devices. Four MFCs were prepared on a T-shaped filter paper which was eventually folded three times to connect these MFCs in series. Each MFC was fabricated by sandwiching multifunctional paper layers for two-chambered fuel cell configuration. One drop of bacteria-containing anolyte into the anodic inlet and another drop of potassium ferricyanide for cathodic reaction flowed through patterned fluidic pathways within the paper matrix, both vertically and horizontally, reaching each of the four MFCs and filling the reservoir of each device. Bacterial respiration then transferred electrons to the anode, which traveled across an external load to the cathode where they combined with protons. The MFC stack connected in series generated a high power density (1.2μW/cm(2)), which is two orders of magnitude higher than the previous report on the paper-based MFC stack. This work will represent the fusion of the art of origami and paper-based MFC technology, which could provide a paradigm shift for the architecture and design of paper-based batteries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of energy-distribution of a hybrid microbial fuel cell-membrane bioreactor (MFC-MBR) for cost-effective wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Wang, Jie; Bi, Fanghua; Ngo, Huu-Hao; Guo, Wenshan; Jia, Hui; Zhang, Hongwei; Zhang, Xinbo

2016-01-01

A low-cost hybrid system integrating a membrane-less microbial fuel cell (MFC) with an anoxic/oxic membrane bioreactor (MBR) was studied for fouling mitigation. The appended electric field in the MBR was supplied by the MFC with continuous flow. Supernatant from an anaerobic reactor with low dissolved oxygen was used as feed to the MFC in order to enhance its performance compared with that fed with synthetic wastewater. The voltage output of MFC maintained at 0.52±0.02V with 1000Ω resister. The electric field intensity could reach to 0.114Vcm(-1). Compared with the conventional MBR (CMBR), the contents rather than the components of foulants on the cake layer of fouled MFC-MBR system was significantly reduced. Although only 0.5% of the feed COD was translated into electricity and applied to MBR, the hybrid system showed great feasibility without additional consumption but extracting energy from waste water and significantly enhancing the membrane filterability. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Energy extraction from a large-scale microbial fuel cell system treating municipal wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ge, Zheng; Wu, Liao; Zhang, Fei; He, Zhen

2015-11-01

Development of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology must address the challenges associated with energy extraction from large-scale MFC systems consisting of multiple modules. Herein, energy extraction is investigated with a 200-L MFC system (effective volume of 100 L for this study) treating actual municipal wastewater. A commercially available energy harvesting device (BQ 25504) is used successfully to convert 0.8-2.4 V from the MFCs to 5 V for charging ultracapacitors and running a DC motor. Four different types of serial connection containing different numbers of MFC modules are examined for energy extraction and conversion efficiency. The connection containing three rows of the MFCs has exhibited the best performance with the highest power output of ∼114 mW and the conversion efficiency of ∼80%. The weak performance of one-row MFCs negatively affects the overall performance of the connected MFCs in terms of both energy production and conversion. Those results indicate that an MFC system with balanced performance among individual modules will be critical to energy extraction. Future work will focus on application of the extracted energy to support MFC operation.

Characterization of a microfluidic microbial fuel cell as a power generator based on a nickel electrode.

PubMed

Mardanpour, Mohammad Mahdi; Yaghmaei, Soheila

2016-05-15

This study reports the fabrication of a microfluidic microbial fuel cell (MFC) using nickel as a novel alternative for conventional electrodes and a non-phatogenic strain of Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst. The feasibility of a microfluidic MFC as an efficient power generator for production of bioelectricity from glucose and urea as organic substrates in human blood and urine for implantable medical devices (IMDs) was investigated. A maximum open circuit potential of 459 mV was achieved for the batch-fed microfluidic MFC. During continuous mode operation, a maximum power density of 104 Wm(-3) was obtained with nutrient broth. For the glucose-fed microfluidic MFC, the maximum power density of 5.2 μW cm(-2) obtained in this study is significantly greater than the power densities reported previously for microsized MFCs and glucose fuel cells. The maximum power density of 14 Wm(-3) obtained using urea indicates the successful performance of a microfluidic MFC using human excreta. It features high power density, self-regeneration, waste management and a low production cost (<$1), which suggest it as a promising alternative to conventional power supplies for IMDs. The performance of the microfluidic MFC as a power supply was characterized based on polarization behavior and cell potential in different substrates, operational modes, and concentrations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microbial fuel cells using Cellulomonas spp. with cellulose as fuel.

PubMed

Takeuchi, Yuya; Khawdas, Wichean; Aso, Yuji; Ohara, Hitomi

2017-03-01

Cellulomonas fimi, Cellulomonas biazotea, and Cellulomonas flavigena are cellulose-degrading microorganisms chosen to compare the degradation of cellulose. C. fimi degraded 2.5 g/L of cellulose within 4 days, which was the highest quantity among the three microorganisms. The electric current generation by the microbial fuel cell (MFC) using the cellulose-containing medium with C. fimi was measured over 7 days. The medium in the MFC was sampled every 24 h to quantify the degradation of cellulose, and the results showed that the electric current increased with the degradation of cellulose. The maximum electric power generated by the MFC was 38.7 mW/m 2 , and this numeric value was 63% of the electric power generated by an MFC with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, a well-known current-generating microorganism. Our results showed that C. fimi was an excellent candidate to produce the electric current from cellulose via MFCs. Copyright © 2016 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mixed cellulose ester filter as a separator for air-diffusion cathode microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Wang, Zejie; Lim, Bongsu

2017-04-01

Separator is important to prevent bio-contamination of the catalyst layer of air-diffusion cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Mixed cellulose ester filter (MCEF) was examined as a separator for an air-cathode MFC in the present study. The MCEF-MFC produced a maximum power density of 780.7 ± 18.7 mW/m 2 , which was comparable to 770.9 ± 35.9 mW/m 2 of MFC with Nafion membrane (NFM) as a separator. Long-term examination demonstrated a more stable performance of the MCEF-MFC than NFM-MFC. After 25 cycles, the maximum voltage of the MCEF-MFC decreased by only 1.3% from 425.1 ± 4.3 mV (initial 5 cycles) to 419.5 ± 2.3 mV (last 5 cycles). However, it was decreased by 9.1% from 424.8 ± 5.7 to 386 ± 2.5 mV for the NFM-MFC. The coulombic efficiency (CE) of the MCEF-MFC did not change (from 3.11 ± 0.09% to 3.13 ± 0.02%), while it decreased by 9.12% from 3.18 ± 0.04% to 2.89 ± 0.02% for the NFM-MFC. The MCEF separator was with less biofouling than the NFM separator over 60 days' operation, which might be the reason for the more table long-term performance of the MCEF-MFC. The results demonstrated that MCEF was feasible as a separator to set up good-performing and cost-effective air-diffusion cathode MFC.

Effect of short-term alkaline intervention on the performance of buffer-free single-chamber microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Yang, Na; Ren, Yueping; Li, Xiufen; Wang, Xinhua

2017-06-01

Anolyte acidification is a drawback restricting the electricity generation performance of the buffer-free microbial fuel cells (MFC). In this paper, a small amount of alkali-treated anion exchange resin (AER) was placed in front of the anode in the KCl mediated single-chamber MFC to slowly release hydroxyl ions (OH - ) and neutralize the H + ions that are generated by the anodic reaction in two running cycles. This short-term alkaline intervention to the KCl anolyte has promoted the proliferation of electroactive Geobacter sp. and enhanced the self-buffering capacity of the KCl-AER-MFC. The pH of the KCl anolyte in the KCl-AER-MFC increased and became more stable in each running cycle compared with that of the KCl-MFC after the short-term alkaline intervention. The maximum power density (P max ) of the KCl-AER-MFC increased from 307.5mW·m -2 to 542.8mW·m -2 , slightly lower than that of the PBS-MFC (640.7mW·m -2 ). The coulombic efficiency (CE) of the KCl-AER-MFC increased from 54.1% to 61.2% which is already very close to that of the PBS-MFC (61.9%). The results in this paper indicate that short-term alkaline intervention to the anolyte is an effective strategy to further promote the performance of buffer-free MFCs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bioelectrochemical analysis of a hyperthermophilic microbial fuel cell generating electricity at temperatures above 80 °C.

PubMed

Fu, Qian; Fukushima, Naoya; Maeda, Haruo; Sato, Kozo; Kobayashi, Hajime

2015-01-01

We examined whether a hyperthermophilic microbial fuel cell (MFC) would be technically feasible. Two-chamber MFC reactors were inoculated with subsurface microorganisms indigenous to formation water from a petroleum reservoir and were started up at operating temperature 80 °C. The MFC generated a maximum current of 1.3 mA 45 h after the inoculation. Performance of the MFC improved with an increase in the operating temperature; the best performance was achieved at 95 °C with the maximum power density of 165 mWm(-2), which was approximately fourfold higher than that at 75 °C. Thus, to our knowledge, our study is the first to demonstrate generation of electricity in a hyperthermophilic MFC (operating temperature as high as 95 °C). Scanning electron microscopy showed that filamentous microbial cells were attached on the anode surface. The anodic microbial consortium showed limited phylogenetic diversity and primarily consisted of hyperthermophilic bacteria closely related to Caldanaerobacter subterraneus and Thermodesulfobacterium commune.

Medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoates-carbon nanotubes composite anode enhances the performance of microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Hindatu, Y; Annuar, M S M; Subramaniam, R; Gumel, A M

2017-06-01

Insufficient power generation from a microbial fuel cell (MFC) hampers its progress towards utility-scale development. Electrode modification with biopolymeric materials could potentially address this issue. In this study, medium-chain-length poly-3-hydroxyalkanoates (PHA)/carbon nanotubes (C) composite (CPHA) was successfully applied to modify the surface of carbon cloth (CC) anode in MFC. Characterization of the functional groups on the anodic surface and its morphology was carried out. The CC-CPHA composite anode recorded maximum power density of 254 mW/m 2 , which was 15-53% higher than the MFC operated with CC-C (214 mW/m 2 ) and pristine CC (119 mW/m 2 ) as the anode in a double-chambered MFC operated with Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry showed that power enhancement was attributed to better electron transfer capability by the bacteria for the MFC setup with CC-CPHA anode.

Understanding electricity generation in osmotic microbial fuel cells through integrated experimental investigation and mathematical modeling.

PubMed

Qin, Mohan; Ping, Qingyun; Lu, Yaobin; Abu-Reesh, Ibrahim M; He, Zhen

2015-11-01

Osmotic microbial fuel cells (OsMFCs) are a new type of MFCs with integrating forward osmosis (FO). However, it is not well understood why electricity generation is improved in OsMFCs compared to regular MFCs. Herein, an approach integrating experimental investigation and mathematical model was adopted to address the question. Both an OsMFC and an MFC achieved similar organic removal efficiency, but the OsMFC generated higher current than the MFC with or without water flux, resulting from the lower resistance of FO membrane. Combining NaCl and glucose as a catholyte demonstrated that the catholyte conductivity affected the electricity generation in the OsMFC. A mathematical model of OsMFCs was developed and validated with the experimental data. The model predicated the variation of internal resistance with increasing water flux, and confirmed the importance of membrane resistance. Increasing water flux with higher catholyte conductivity could decrease the membrane resistance. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial fuel cell as power supply for implantable medical devices: a novel configuration design for simulating colonic environment.

PubMed

Dong, Kun; Jia, Boyang; Yu, Chaoling; Dong, Wenbo; Du, Fangzhou; Liu, Hong

2013-03-15

This study focused on providing power for implantable medical devices (IMDs) using a microbial fuel cell (MFC) implanted in human transverse colon. Considering the condition of colonic environment, a continuous-flow single-chamber MFC without membrane was set up. The performance of the MFC was investigated. The power output of 1.6 mW under the steady state was not rich enough for some high energy-consuming IMDs. Moreover, the parameters of the simulated colonic environment, such as pH and ORP value, varied along with the time. Hence, a new MFC configuration was developed. In this novel model, pH transducers were placed in cathodic and anodic areas, so as to regulate the reactor operation timely via external intervention. And two ORP transducers were inserted next to the pH transducers, for monitoring and adjusting the MFC operation efficiently. Besides, colonic haustra were designed in order to increase the difference between cathodic and anodic areas. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anaerobic microbial fuel cell treating combined industrial wastewater: Correlation of electricity generation with pollutants.

PubMed

Abbasi, Umara; Jin, Wang; Pervez, Arshid; Bhatti, Zulfiqar Ahmad; Tariq, Madiha; Shaheen, Shahida; Iqbal, Akhtar; Mahmood, Qaisar

2016-01-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a new technology that not only generates energy but treats wastewater as well. A dual chamber MFC was operated under laboratory conditions. Wastewater samples from vegetable oil industries, metal works, glass and marble industries, chemical industries and combined industrial effluents were collected and each was treated for 98h in MFC. The treatment efficiency for COD in MFC was in range of 85-90% at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 96h and had significant impact on wastewater treatment as well. The maximum voltage of 890mV was generated when vegetable oil industries discharge was treated with columbic efficiency of 5184.7C. The minimum voltage was produced by Glass House wastewater which was 520mV. There was positive significant co-relation between COD concentration and generated voltage. Further research should be focused on the organic contents of wastewater and various ionic species affecting voltage generation in MFC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial fuel cells for inexpensive continuous in-situ monitoring of groundwater quality.

PubMed

Velasquez-Orta, S B; Werner, D; Varia, J C; Mgana, S

2017-06-15

Online monitoring of groundwater quality in shallow wells to detect faecal or organic pollution could dramatically improve understanding of health risks in unplanned peri-urban settlements. Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are devices able to generate electricity from the organic matter content in faecal pollution making them suitable as biosensors. In this work, we evaluate the suitability of four microbial fuel cell systems placed in different regions of a groundwater well for the low-cost monitoring of a faecal pollution event. Concepts created include the use of a sediment/bulk liquid MFC (SED/BL), a sediment/sediment MFC (SED/SED), a bulk liquid/air MFC (BL/Air), and a bulk liquid/bulk liquid MFC (BL/BL). MFC electrodes assembly aimed to use inexpensive, durable, materials, which would produce a signal after a contamination event without external energy or chemical inputs. All MFC configurations were responsive to a contamination event, however SED/SED and BL/Air MFC concepts failed to deliver a reproducible output within the tested period of time. BL/BL MFC and SED/BL MFCs presented an increase in the average current after contamination from -0.75 ± 0.35 μA to -0.66 ± 0.41 μA, and 0.07 ± 0.2 mA to 0.11 ± 0.03 mA, respectively. Currents produced by the SED/BL MFC (SMFC) were considerably higher than for the BL/BL MFCs, making them more responsive, readable and graphically visible. A factorial design of experiments (DOE) was applied to evaluate which environmental and design factors had the greatest effect on current response in a contamination event. Within the ranges of variables tested, salinity, temperature and external resistance, only temperature presented a statistically significant effect (p = 0.045). This showed that the biosensor response would be sensitive to fluctuations in temperature but not to changes in salinity, or external resistances produced from placing electrodes at different distances within a groundwater well. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Microfabricated Microbial Fuel Cell Arrays Reveal Electrochemically Active Microbes

PubMed Central

Cho, Younghak; de Figueiredo, Paul; Han, Arum

2009-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are remarkable “green energy” devices that exploit microbes to generate electricity from organic compounds. MFC devices currently being used and studied do not generate sufficient power to support widespread and cost-effective applications. Hence, research has focused on strategies to enhance the power output of the MFC devices, including exploring more electrochemically active microbes to expand the few already known electricigen families. However, most of the MFC devices are not compatible with high throughput screening for finding microbes with higher electricity generation capabilities. Here, we describe the development of a microfabricated MFC array, a compact and user-friendly platform for the identification and characterization of electrochemically active microbes. The MFC array consists of 24 integrated anode and cathode chambers, which function as 24 independent miniature MFCs and support direct and parallel comparisons of microbial electrochemical activities. The electricity generation profiles of spatially distinct MFC chambers on the array loaded with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 differed by less than 8%. A screen of environmental microbes using the array identified an isolate that was related to Shewanella putrefaciens IR-1 and Shewanella sp. MR-7, and displayed 2.3-fold higher power output than the S. oneidensis MR-1 reference strain. Therefore, the utility of the MFC array was demonstrated. PMID:19668333

Facilities Condition and Hazards Assessment for Materials and Fuel Complex Facilities MFC-799, 799A, and 770C

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gary Mecham; Don Konoyer

2009-11-01

The Materials & Fuel Complex (MFC) facilities 799 Sodium Processing Facility (a single building consisting of two areas: the Sodium Process Area (SPA) and the Carbonate Process Area (CPA), 799A Caustic Storage Area, and 770C Nuclear Calibration Laboratory have been declared excess to future Department of Energy mission requirements. Transfer of these facilities from Nuclear Energy to Environmental Management, and an associated schedule for doing so, have been agreed upon by the two offices. The prerequisites for this transfer to occur are the removal of nonexcess materials and chemical inventory, deinventory of the calibration source in MFC-770C, and the reroutingmore » and/or isolation of utility and service systems. This report provides a description of the current physical condition and any hazards (material, chemical, nuclear or occupational) that may be associated with past operations of these facilities. This information will document conditions at time of transfer of the facilities from Nuclear Energy to Environmental Management and serve as the basis for disposition planning. The process used in obtaining this information included document searches, interviews and facility walk-downs. A copy of the facility walk-down checklist is included in this report as Appendix A. MFC-799/799A/770C are all structurally sound and associated hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions are well defined and well understood. All installed equipment items (tanks, filters, etc.) used to process hazardous materials remain in place and appear to have maintained their integrity. There is no evidence of leakage and all openings are properly sealed or closed off and connections are sound. The pits appear clean with no evidence of cracking or deterioration that could lead to migration of contamination. Based upon the available information/documentation reviewed and the overall conditions observed during the facilities walk-down, it is concluded that these facilities may be disposed of at minimal risk to human health, safety or the environment.« less

Utility of Ochrobactrum anthropi YC152 in a Microbial Fuel Cell as an Early Warning Device for Hexavalent Chromium Determination.

PubMed

Wang, Guey-Horng; Cheng, Chiu-Yu; Liu, Man-Hai; Chen, Tzu-Yu; Hsieh, Min-Chi; Chung, Ying-Chien

2016-08-16

Fast hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) determination is important for environmental risk and health-related considerations. We used a microbial fuel cell-based biosensor inoculated with a facultatively anaerobic, Cr(VI)-reducing, and exoelectrogenic Ochrobactrum anthropi YC152 to determine the Cr(VI) concentration in water. The results indicated that O. anthropi YC152 exhibited high adaptability to pH, temperature, salinity, and water quality under anaerobic conditions. The stable performance of the microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensor indicated its potential as a reliable biosensor system. The MFC voltage decreased as the Cr(VI) concentration in the MFC increased. Two satisfactory linear relationships were observed between the Cr(VI) concentration and voltage output for various Cr(VI) concentration ranges (0.0125-0.3 mg/L and 0.3-5 mg/L). The MFC biosensor is a simple device that can accurately measure Cr(VI) concentrations in drinking water, groundwater, and electroplating wastewater in 45 min with low deviations (<10%). The use of the biosensor can help in preventing the violation of effluent regulations and the maximum allowable concentration of Cr(VI) in water. Thus, the developed MFC biosensor has potential as an early warning detection device for Cr(VI) determination even if O. anthropi YC152 is a possible opportunistic pathogen.

Electricity generation by Rhodopseudomonas palustris DX-1.

PubMed

Xing, Defeng; Zuo, Yi; Cheng, Shaoan; Regan, John M; Logan, Bruce E

2008-06-01

Bacteria able to generate electricity in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are of great interest, but there are few strains capable of high power production in these systems. Here we report that the phototrophic purple nonsulfur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris DX-1, isolated from an MFC, produced electricity at higher power densities (2720 +/- 60 mW/m2) than mixed cultures in the same device. While Rhodopseudomonas species are known for their ability to generate hydrogen, they have not previously been shown to generate power in an MFC, and current was generated without the need for light or hydrogen production. Strain DX-1 utilizes a wide variety of substrates (volatile acids, yeast extract, and thiosulfate) for power production in different metabolic modes, making it highly useful for studying power generation in MFCs and generating power from a range of simple and complex sources of organic matter. These results demonstrate that a phototrophic purple nonsulfur bacterium can efficiently generate electricity by direct electron transfer in MFCs, providing another model microorganism for MFC investigations.

Permanent Closure of MFC Biodiesel Underground Storage Tank 99ANL00013

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kerry L. Nisson

2012-10-01

This closure package documents the site assessment and permanent closure of the Materials and Fuels Complex biodiesel underground storage tank 99ANL00013 in accordance with the regulatory requirements established in 40 CFR 280.71, “Technical Standards and Corrective Action Requirements for Owners and Operators of Underground Storage Tanks: Out-of-Service UST Systems and Closure.”

Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) by Bacterium Isolated from Rice Paddy Field Soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fakhirruddin, Fakhriah; Amid, Azura; Salim, Wan Wardatul Amani Wan; Suhaida Azmi, Azlin

2018-03-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an alternative approach in generating renewable energy by utilising bacteria that will oxidize organic or inorganic substrates, producing electrons yielded as electrical energy. Different species of exoelectrogenic bacteria capable of generating significant amount of electricity in MFC has been identified, using various organic compounds for fuel. Soil sample taken from rice paddy field is proven to contain exoelectrogenic bacteria, thus electricity generation using mixed culture originally found in the soil, and pure culture isolated from the soil is studied. This research will isolate the exoelectrogenic bacterial species in the rice paddy field soil responsible for energy generation. Growth of bacteria isolated from the MFC is observed by measuring the optical density (OD), cell density weight (CDW) and viable cell count. Mixed bacterial species found in paddy field soil generates maximum power of 77.62 μW and 0.70 mA of current. In addition, the research also shows that the pure bacterium in rice paddy field soil can produce maximum power and current at 51.32 μW and 0.28 mA respectively.

Palm oil mill effluent treatment using a two-stage microbial fuel cells system integrated with immobilized biological aerated filters.

PubMed

Cheng, Jia; Zhu, Xiuping; Ni, Jinren; Borthwick, Alistair

2010-04-01

An integrated system of two-stage microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and immobilized biological aerated filters (I-BAFs) was used to treat palm oil mill effluent (POME) at laboratory scale. By replacing the conventional two-stage up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) with a newly proposed upflow membrane-less microbial fuel cell (UML-MFC) in the integrated system, significant improvements on NH(3)-N removal were observed and direct electricity generation implemented in both MFC1 and MFC2. Moreover, the coupled iron-carbon micro-electrolysis in the cathode of MFC2 further enhanced treatment efficiency of organic compounds. The I-BAFs played a major role in further removal of NH(3)-N and COD. For influent COD and NH(3)-N of 10,000 and 125 mg/L, respectively, the final effluents COD and NH(3)-N were below 350 and 8 mg/L, with removal rates higher than 96.5% and 93.6%. The GC-MS analysis indicated that most of the contaminants were satisfactorily biodegraded by the integrated system. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Decoupling of DAMO archaea from DAMO bacteria in a methane-driven microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Ding, Jing; Lu, Yong-Ze; Fu, Liang; Ding, Zhao-Wei; Mu, Yang; Cheng, Shuk H; Zeng, Raymond J

2017-03-01

Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) contributes significantly to the global methane sink. Previously, studies of anaerobic methanotrophic (ANME) archaea have been limited as they have not been separable from their bacterial partners during the AOM process because of their dependence on the bacteria. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device capable of directly transforming chemical energy to electrical energy via electrochemical reactions involving biochemical pathways. In this study, decoupling of denitrifying anaerobic methane oxidation (DAMO) archaea and DAMO bacteria was investigated in an microbial fuel cell (MFC) using methane as the fuel. The DAMO fuel cell worked successfully but demonstrated weak electrogenic capability with around 25 mV production. After 45 days' enrichment, the sequencing and fluorescence in situ hybridization results showed the DAMO archaea percentage had increased from 26.96% (inoculum) to 65.77% (electrode biofilm), while the DAMO bacteria percentage decreased from 24.39% to 2.07%. Moreover, the amount of ANME-2d had doubled in the electrode biofilm compared with the inoculum. The sequencing results also showed substantial enrichment of the Ignavibacterium and Geobacter genera. The roles of Ignavibacterium and Geobacter in the MFC system need to be further investigated. Nevertheless, these results illustrate that an MFC device may provide a possible approach to separate DAMO archaea from DAMO bacteria. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation and microbial community analysis of alcohol powered microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Kim, Jung Rae; Jung, Sok Hee; Regan, John M; Logan, Bruce E

2007-09-01

Two different microbial fuel cell (MFC) configurations were investigated for electricity production from ethanol and methanol: a two-chambered, aqueous-cathode MFC; and a single-chamber direct-air cathode MFC. Electricity was generated in the two-chamber system at a maximum power density typical of this system (40+/-2 mW/m2) and a Coulombic efficiency (CE) ranging from 42% to 61% using ethanol. When bacteria were transferred into a single-chamber MFC known to produce higher power densities with different substrates, the maximum power density increased to 488+/-12 mW/m2 (CE = 10%) with ethanol. The voltage generated exhibited saturation kinetics as a function of ethanol concentration in the two-chambered MFC, with a half-saturation constant (Ks) of 4.86 mM. Methanol was also examined as a possible substrate, but it did not result in appreciable electricity generation. Analysis of the anode biofilm and suspension from a two-chamber MFC with ethanol using 16S rDNA-based techniques indicated that bacteria with sequences similar to Proteobacterium Core-1 (33.3% of clone library sequences), Azoarcus sp. (17.4%), and Desulfuromonas sp. M76 (15.9%) were significant members of the anode chamber community. These results indicate that ethanol can be used for sustained electricity generation at room temperature using bacteria on the anode in a MFC.

Chitin degradation and electricity generation by Aeromonas hydrophila in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Li, Shan-Wei; He, Hui; Zeng, Raymond J; Sheng, Guo-Ping

2017-02-01

Chitin is one of the most abundant biopolymers in nature and the main composition of shrimp and crab shells (usually as food wastes). Thus it is essential to investigate the potential of degrading chitin for energy recovery. This study investigated the anaerobic degradation of chitin by Aeromonas hydrophila, a chitinolytic and popular electroactive bacterium, in both fermentation and microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems. The primary chitin metabolites produced in MFC were succinate, lactate, acetate, formate, and ethanol. The total metabolite concentration from chitin degradation increased seven-fold in MFC compared to the fermentation system, as well as additional electricity generation. Moreover, A. hydrophila degraded GlcNAc (the intermediate of chitin hydrolysis) significantly faster (0.97 and 0.94 mM C/d/mM-GlcNAc) than chitin (0.13 and 0.03 mM C/d/mM-GlcNAc) in MFC and fermentation systems, indicating that extracellular hydrolysis of chitin was the rate-limiting step and this step could be accelerated in MFC. Furthermore, more chemicals produced by the addition of exogenous mediators in MFC. This study proves that the chitin could be degraded effectively by an electroactive bacterium in MFC, and our results suggest that this bioelectrochemical system might be useful for the degradation of recalcitrant biomass to recover energy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation and modeling of microbial fuel cell from continuous beer brewery wastewater.

PubMed

Wen, Qing; Wu, Ying; Cao, Dianxue; Zhao, Lixin; Sun, Qian

2009-09-01

Electricity production and modeling of microbial fuel cell (MFC) from continuous beer brewery wastewater was studied in this paper. A single air-cathode MFC was constructed, carbon fiber was used as anode and diluted brewery wastewater (COD=626.58 mg/L) as substrate. The MFC displayed an open-circuit voltage of 0.578 V and a maximum power density of 9.52 W/m(3) (264 mW/m(2)). Using the model based on polarization curve, various voltage losses were quantified. At current density of 1.79 A/m(2), reaction kinetic loss and mass transport loss both achieved to 0.248 V; while ohmic loss was 0.046 V. Results demonstrated that it was feasible and stable for producing bioelectricity from brewery wastewater; while the most important factors which influenced the performance of the MFC are reaction kinetic loss and mass transport loss.

[Application of microbial fuel cell (MFC) in solid waste composting].

PubMed

Cui, Jinxin; Wang, Xin; Tang, Jingchun

2012-03-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a new technology that can recover energy from biomass with simultaneous waste treatment. This technique has been developed fast in recent years in combining with environmental techniques such as wastewater treatment, degradation of toxic pollutants and desalination. With the increase of solid waste, applying MFC in composting is promising due to its property of waste disposal with simultaneous energy generation. In this paper, the microbial community of MFCs during composting was summarized. Four major influencing factors including electrodes, separators, oxygen supplement and configurations on the performance of composting MFCs were discussed. The characteristics of composting MFC as a new technique for reducing solid waste were as follows: high microbial biomass resulted in the high current density; adaptable to different environmental conditions; self-adjustable temperature with high energy efficiency; the transportation of proton from anode to cathode were limited by different solid substrates.

Formation of industrial mixed culture biofilm in chlorophenol cultivated medium of microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hassan, Huzairy; Jin, Bo; Dai, Sheng; Ngau, Cornelius

2016-11-01

The formation of microbial biofilm while maintaining the electricity output is a challenging topic in microbial fuel cell (MFC) studies. This MFC critical factor becomes more significant when handling with industrial wastewater which normally contains refractory and toxic compounds. This study explores the formation of industrial mixed culture biofilm in chlorophenol cultivated medium through observing and characterizing microscopically its establishment on MFC anode surface. The mixed culture was found to develop its biofilm on the anode surface in the chlorophenol environment and established its maturity and dispersal stages with concurrent electricity generation and phenolic degradation. The mixed culture biofilm engaged the electron transfer roles in MFC by generating current density of 1.4 mA/m2 and removing 53 % of 2,4-dichlorophenol. The results support further research especially on hazardous wastewater treatment using a benign and sustainable method.

Biosensoric potential of microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Schneider, György; Kovács, Tamás; Rákhely, Gábor; Czeller, Miklós

2016-08-01

Recent progress in microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has highlighted the potential of these devices to be used as biosensors. The advantages of MFC-based biosensors are that they are phenotypic and can function in either assay- or flow-through formats. These features make them appropriate for contiguous on-line monitoring in laboratories and for in-field applications. The selectivity of an MFC biosensor depends on the applied microorganisms in the anodic compartment where electron transfer (ET) between the artificial surface (anode) and bacterium occurs. This process strongly determines the internal resistance of the sensoric system and thus influences signal outcome and response time. Despite their beneficial characteristics, the number of MFC-based biosensoric applications has been limited until now. The aim of this mini-review is to turn attention to the biosensoric potential of MFCs by summarizing ET mechanisms on which recently established and future sensoric devices are based.

Microbial community structure of different electrode materials in constructed wetland incorporating microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Wang, Junfeng; Song, Xinshan; Wang, Yuhui; Abayneh, Befkadu; Ding, Yi; Yan, Denghua; Bai, Junhong

2016-12-01

The microbial fuel cell coupled with constructed wetland (CW-MFC) microcosms were operated under fed-batch mode for evaluating the effect of electrode materials on bioelectricity generation and microbial community composition. Experimental results indicated that the bioenergy output in CW-MFC increased with the substrate concentration; maximum average voltage (177mV) was observed in CW-MFC with carbon fiber felt (CFF). In addition, the four different materials resulted in the formation of significantly different microbial community distribution around the anode electrode. The relative abundance of Proteobacteria in CFF and foamed nickel (FN) was significantly higher than that in stainless steel mesh (SSM) and graphite rod (GR) samples. Notably, the findings indicate that CW-MFC utilizing FN anode electrode could apparently improve relative abundance of Dechloromonas, which has been regarded as a denitrifying and phosphate accumulating microorganism. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Self-sustaining, solar-driven bioelectricity generation in micro-sized microbial fuel cell using co-culture of heterotrophic and photosynthetic bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lin; Choi, Seokheun

2017-04-01

Among many energy harvesting techniques with great potential, microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is arguably the most underdeveloped. Even so, excitement is building, as microorganisms can harvest electrical power from any biodegradable organic source (e.g. wastewater) that is readily available in resource-limited settings. Nevertheless, the requirement for endless introduction of organic matter imposes a limiting factor to this technology, demanding an active feeding system and additional power. Here, we demonstrated self-sustaining bioelectricity generation from a microliter-scale microbial fuel cell (MFC) by using the syntrophic interaction between heterotrophic exoelectrogenic bacteria and phototrophs. The MFC continuously generated light-responsive electricity from the heterotrophic bacterial metabolic respiration with the organic substrates produced by photosynthetic bacteria. Without additional organic fuel, the mixed culture in a 90-μL-chamber MFC generated self-sustained current for more than 13 days, while the heterotrophic culture produced current that decreased dramatically within a few hours. The current from the mixed culture was about 70 times greater than that of the device with only photosynthetic bacteria. The miniaturization provided a short start-up time, a well-controlled environment, and small internal resistance. Those advantages will become the general design platform for micropower generation.

Electricity generation and brewery wastewater treatment from sequential anode-cathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Wen, Qing; Wu, Ying; Zhao, Li-xin; Sun, Qian; Kong, Fan-ying

2010-02-01

A sequential anode-cathode double-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC), in which the effluent of anode chamber was used as a continuous feed for an aerated cathode chamber, was constructed in this experiment to investigate the performance of brewery wastewater treatment in conjugation with electricity generation. Carbon fiber was used as anode and plain carbon felt with biofilm as cathode. When hydraulic retention time (HRT) was 14.7 h, a relatively high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 91.7%-95.7% was achieved under long-term stable operation. The MFC displayed an open circuit voltage of 0.434 V and a maximum power density of 830 mW/m(3) at an external resistance of 300 Omega. To estimate the electrochemical performance of the MFC, electrochemical measurements were carried out and showed that polarization resistance of anode was the major limiting factor in the MFC. Since a high COD removal efficiency was achieved, we conclude that the sequential anode-cathode MFC constructed with bio-cathode in this experiment could provide a new approach for brewery wastewater treatment.

Macroporous graphitic carbon foam decorated with polydopamine as a high-performance anode for microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Hongmei; Yang, Lu; Deng, Wenfang; Tan, Yueming; Xie, Qingji

2017-09-01

Herein, a macroporous graphitic carbon foam (MGCF) electrode decorated with polydopamine (PDA) is used as a high-performance anode for microbial fuel cell (MFC) applications. The MGCF is facilely prepared by pyrolysis of a powder mixture comprising maltose, nickel nitrate, and ammonia chloride, without using solid porous template. The MGCF is coated with PDA by self-polymerization of dopamine in a basic solution. The MGCF can provide a large surface area for bacterial attachment, and PDA coated on the MGCF electrode can further promote bacterial adhesion resulting from the improved hydrophility, so the MGCF-PDA electrode as an anode in a MFC can show ultrahigh bacterial loading capacity. Moreover, the electrochemical oxidation of flavins at the MGCF-PDA electrode is greatly accelerated, so the extracellular electron transfer mediated by flavins is improved. As a result, the MFC equipped with a MGCF-PDA anode can show a maximum power density of 1735 mW cm-2, which is 6.7 times that of a MFC equipped with a commercial carbon felt anode, indicating a promising anode for MFC applications.

Comparative analysis of microbial fuel cell based biosensors developed with a mixed culture and Shewanella loihica PV-4 and underlying biological mechanism.

PubMed

Yi, Yue; Xie, Beizhen; Zhao, Ting; Liu, Hong

2018-06-13

Microbial fuel cell based biosensors (MFC-biosensors) utilize anode biofilms as biological recognition elements to monitor biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and biotoxicity. However, the relatively poor sensitivity constrains the application of MFC-biosensors. To address this limitation, this study provided a systematic comparison of sensitivity between the MFC-biosensors constructed with two inocula. Higher biomass density and viability were both observed in the anode biofilm of the mixed culture MFC, which resulted in better sensitivity for BOD assessment. Compared with using mixed culture as inoculum, the anode biofilm developed with Shewanella loihica PV-4 presented lower content of extracellular polymeric substances and poorer ability to secrete protein under toxic shocks. Moreover, the looser structure in the S. loihica PV-4 biofilm further facilitated its susceptibilities to toxic agents. Therefore, the MFC-biosensor with a pure culture of S. loihica PV-4 delivered higher sensitivity for biotoxicity monitoring. This study proposed a new perspective to enhance sensor performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cell using natural microflora and isolated pure culture bacteria from anaerobic palm oil mill effluent sludge.

PubMed

Nor, Muhamad Hanif Md; Mubarak, Mohd Fahmi Muhammad; Elmi, Hassan Sh Abdirahman; Ibrahim, Norahim; Wahab, Mohd Firdaus Abdul; Ibrahim, Zaharah

2015-08-01

A double-chambered membrane microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed to investigate the potential use of natural microflora anaerobic palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge and pure culture bacteria isolated from anaerobic POME sludge as inoculum for electricity generation. Sterilized final discharge POME was used as the substrate with no addition of nutrients. MFC operation using natural microflora anaerobic POME sludge showed a maximum power density and current density of 85.11mW/m(2) and 91.12mA/m(2) respectively. Bacterial identification using 16S rRNA analysis of the pure culture isolated from the biofilm on the anode MFC was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain ZH1. The electricity generated in MFC using P. aeruginosa strain ZH1 showed maximum power density and current density of 451.26mW/m(2) and 654.90mA/m(2) respectively which were five times higher in power density and seven times higher in current density compared to that of MFC using anaerobic POME sludge. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation and brewery wastewater treatment from sequential anode-cathode microbial fuel cell*

PubMed Central

Wen, Qing; Wu, Ying; Zhao, Li-xin; Sun, Qian; Kong, Fan-ying

2010-01-01

A sequential anode-cathode double-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC), in which the effluent of anode chamber was used as a continuous feed for an aerated cathode chamber, was constructed in this experiment to investigate the performance of brewery wastewater treatment in conjugation with electricity generation. Carbon fiber was used as anode and plain carbon felt with biofilm as cathode. When hydraulic retention time (HRT) was 14.7 h, a relatively high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 91.7%–95.7% was achieved under long-term stable operation. The MFC displayed an open circuit voltage of 0.434 V and a maximum power density of 830 mW/m3 at an external resistance of 300 Ω. To estimate the electrochemical performance of the MFC, electrochemical measurements were carried out and showed that polarization resistance of anode was the major limiting factor in the MFC. Since a high COD removal efficiency was achieved, we conclude that the sequential anode-cathode MFC constructed with bio-cathode in this experiment could provide a new approach for brewery wastewater treatment. PMID:20104642

Cometabolic degradation of chloramphenicol via a meta-cleavage pathway in a microbial fuel cell and its microbial community.

PubMed

Zhang, Qinghua; Zhang, Yanyan; Li, Daping

2017-04-01

The performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) in terms of degradation of chloramphenicol (CAP) was investigated. Approximately 84% of 50mg/L CAP was degraded within 12h in the MFC. A significant interaction of pH, temperature, and initial CAP concentration was found on removal of CAP, and a maximum degradation rate of 96.53% could theoretically be achieved at 31.48°C, a pH of 7.12, and an initial CAP concentration of 106.37mg/L. Moreover, CAP was further degraded through a ring-cleavage pathway. The antibacterial activity of CAP towards Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was largely eliminated by MFC treatment. High-throughput sequencing analysis indicated that Azonexus, Comamonas, Nitrososphaera, Chryseobacterium, Azoarcus, Rhodococcus, and Dysgonomonas were the predominant genera in the MFC anode biofilm. In conclusion, the MFC shows potential for the treatment of antibiotic residue-containing wastewater due to its high rates of CAP removal and energy recovery. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Relation Between the Molopo Farms and Bushveld Complexes: An Analysis of Pyroxene Exsolution Lamellae

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, I.; Feineman, M. D.; Nyblade, A.

2017-12-01

The Molopo Farms Complex (MFC) is a layered igneous intrusion in Botswana, considered to be related to the nearby South African Bushveld Complex (BC) due to their similarities. The BC has been researched in depth for its economic deposits of platinum group elements (PGEs), while the under-researched MFC has no PGEs and is under 200 m of sediment. This study aims to increase knowledge about the MFC regarding the theory that the BC and MFC come from the same parental magma body by showing similar cooling history in the exsolution of pyroxenes. Using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) paired with an energy-dispersive detector (EDS), thin sections of pyroxenes with exsolution lamellae from both complexes were observed in terms of chemical composition and microtextures. MFC pyroxenes were then compared to literature data of BC pyroxenes. The pyroxenes are closely related, indicating that the MFC and the BC cooled at a similar rate and come from the same parental magma body. Further research can expand on these findings to prove that the MFC and BC are from the same magma.

Scale-up of phosphate remobilization from sewage sludge in a microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Happe, Manuel; Sugnaux, Marc; Cachelin, Christian Pierre; Stauffer, Marc; Zufferey, Géraldine; Kahoun, Thomas; Salamin, Paul-André; Egli, Thomas; Comninellis, Christos; Grogg, Alain-François; Fischer, Fabian

2016-01-01

Phosphate remobilization from digested sewage sludge containing iron phosphate was scaled-up in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). A 3litre triple chambered MFC was constructed. This reactor was operated as a microbial fuel cell and later as a microbial electrolysis cell to accelerate cathodic phosphate remobilization. Applying an additional voltage and exceeding native MFC power accelerated chemical base formation and the related phosphate remobilization rate. The electrolysis approach was extended using a platinum-RVC cathode. The pH rose to 12.6 and phosphate was recovered by 67% in 26h. This was significantly faster than using microbial fuel cell conditions. Shrinking core modelling particle fluid kinetics showed that the reaction resistance has to move inside the sewage sludge particle for considerable rate enhancement. Remobilized phosphate was subsequently precipitated as struvite and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicated low levels of cadmium, lead, and other metals as required by law for recycling fertilizers. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Solar-microbial hybrid device based on oxygen-deficient niobium pentoxide anodes for sustainable hydrogen production.

PubMed

Li, Mingyang; He, Xinjun; Zeng, Yinxiang; Chen, Meiqiong; Zhang, Ziyang; Yang, Hao; Fang, Pingping; Lu, Xihong; Tong, Yexiang

2015-12-01

Hydrogen gas is emerging as an attractive fuel with high energy density for the direction of energy resources in the future. Designing integrated devices based on a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell and a microbial fuel cell (MFC) represents a promising strategy to produce hydrogen fuel at a low price. In this work, we demonstrate a new solar-microbial (PEC-MFC) hybrid device based on the oxygen-deficient Nb 2 O 5 nanoporous (Nb 2 O 5- x NPs) anodes for sustainable hydrogen generation without external bias for the first time. Owing to the improved conductivity and porous structure, the as-prepared Nb 2 O 5- x NPs film yields a remarkable photocurrent density of 0.9 mA cm -2 at 0.6 V ( vs. SCE) in 1 M KOH aqueous solution under light irradiation, and can achieve a maximum power density of 1196 mW m -2 when used as an anode in a MFC device. More importantly, a solar-microbial hybrid system by combining a PEC cell with a MFC is designed, in which the Nb 2 O 5- x NPs electrodes function as both anodes. The as-fabricated PEC-MFC hybrid device can simultaneously realize electricity and hydrogen using organic matter and solar light at zero external bias. This novel design and attempt might provide guidance for other materials to convert and store energy.

Utility of Ochrobactrum anthropi YC152 in a Microbial Fuel Cell as an Early Warning Device for Hexavalent Chromium Determination

PubMed Central

Wang, Guey-Horng; Cheng, Chiu-Yu; Liu, Man-Hai; Chen, Tzu-Yu; Hsieh, Min-Chi; Chung, Ying-Chien

2016-01-01

Fast hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) determination is important for environmental risk and health-related considerations. We used a microbial fuel cell-based biosensor inoculated with a facultatively anaerobic, Cr(VI)-reducing, and exoelectrogenic Ochrobactrum anthropi YC152 to determine the Cr(VI) concentration in water. The results indicated that O. anthropi YC152 exhibited high adaptability to pH, temperature, salinity, and water quality under anaerobic conditions. The stable performance of the microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensor indicated its potential as a reliable biosensor system. The MFC voltage decreased as the Cr(VI) concentration in the MFC increased. Two satisfactory linear relationships were observed between the Cr(VI) concentration and voltage output for various Cr(VI) concentration ranges (0.0125–0.3 mg/L and 0.3–5 mg/L). The MFC biosensor is a simple device that can accurately measure Cr(VI) concentrations in drinking water, groundwater, and electroplating wastewater in 45 min with low deviations (<10%). The use of the biosensor can help in preventing the violation of effluent regulations and the maximum allowable concentration of Cr(VI) in water. Thus, the developed MFC biosensor has potential as an early warning detection device for Cr(VI) determination even if O. anthropi YC152 is a possible opportunistic pathogen. PMID:27537887

Microbial Fuel Cells and Microbial Ecology: Applications in Ruminant Health and Production Research

PubMed Central

Osterstock, Jason B.; Pinchak, William E.; Ishii, Shun’ichi; Nelson, Karen E.

2009-01-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems employ the catalytic activity of microbes to produce electricity from the oxidation of organic, and in some cases inorganic, substrates. MFC systems have been primarily explored for their use in bioremediation and bioenergy applications; however, these systems also offer a unique strategy for the cultivation of synergistic microbial communities. It has been hypothesized that the mechanism(s) of microbial electron transfer that enable electricity production in MFCs may be a cooperative strategy within mixed microbial consortia that is associated with, or is an alternative to, interspecies hydrogen (H2) transfer. Microbial fermentation processes and methanogenesis in ruminant animals are highly dependent on the consumption and production of H2in the rumen. Given the crucial role that H2 plays in ruminant digestion, it is desirable to understand the microbial relationships that control H2 partial pressures within the rumen; MFCs may serve as unique tools for studying this complex ecological system. Further, MFC systems offer a novel approach to studying biofilms that form under different redox conditions and may be applied to achieve a greater understanding of how microbial biofilms impact animal health. Here, we present a brief summary of the efforts made towards understanding rumen microbial ecology, microbial biofilms related to animal health, and how MFCs may be further applied in ruminant research. PMID:20024685

Performance of polyacrylonitrile-carbon nanotubes composite on carbon cloth as electrode material for microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Kim, Sun-Il; Lee, Jae-Wook; Roh, Sung-Hee

2011-02-01

The performance of carbon nanotubes composite-modified carbon cloth electrodes in two-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) was investigated. The electrode modified with polyacrylonitrile-carbon nanotubes (PAN-CNTs) composite showed better electrochemical performance than that of plain carbon cloth. The MFC with the composite-modified anode containing 5 mg/cm2 PAN-CNTs exhibited a maximum power density of 480 mW/m2.

Performance improvement of microbial fuel cell (MFC) using suitable electrode and Bioengineered organisms: A review

PubMed Central

Choudhury, Payel; Prasad Uday, Uma Shankar; Bandyopadhyay, Tarun Kanti; Ray, Rup Narayan

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT There is an urgent need to find an environment friendly and sustainable technology for alternative energy due to rapid depletion of fossil fuel and industrialization. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) have operational and functional advantages over the current technologies for energy generation from organic matter as it directly converts electricity from substrate at ambient temperature. However, MFCs are still unsuitable for high energy demands due to practical limitations. The overall performance of an MFC depends on microorganism, appropriate electrode materials, suitable MFC designs, and optimizing process parameters which would accelerate commercialization of this technology in near future. In this review, we put forth the recent developments on microorganism and electrode material that are critical for the generation of bioelectricity generation. This would give a comprehensive insight into the characteristics, options, modifications, and evaluations of these parameters and their effects on process development of MFCs. PMID:28453385

Performance improvement of microbial fuel cell (MFC) using suitable electrode and Bioengineered organisms: A review.

PubMed

Choudhury, Payel; Prasad Uday, Uma Shankar; Bandyopadhyay, Tarun Kanti; Ray, Rup Narayan; Bhunia, Biswanath

2017-09-03

There is an urgent need to find an environment friendly and sustainable technology for alternative energy due to rapid depletion of fossil fuel and industrialization. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) have operational and functional advantages over the current technologies for energy generation from organic matter as it directly converts electricity from substrate at ambient temperature. However, MFCs are still unsuitable for high energy demands due to practical limitations. The overall performance of an MFC depends on microorganism, appropriate electrode materials, suitable MFC designs, and optimizing process parameters which would accelerate commercialization of this technology in near future. In this review, we put forth the recent developments on microorganism and electrode material that are critical for the generation of bioelectricity generation. This would give a comprehensive insight into the characteristics, options, modifications, and evaluations of these parameters and their effects on process development of MFCs.

Homogeneous deposition-assisted synthesis of iron-nitrogen composites on graphene as highly efficient non-precious metal electrocatalysts for microbial fuel cell power generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yuan; Jin, Xiao-Jun; Dionysiou, Dionysios D.; Liu, Hong; Huang, Yu-Ming

2015-03-01

This work proposed a novel strategy for synthesizing highly efficient non-precious metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts. Fe complexes were homogeneously deposited (HD) on graphene oxide through in situ hydrolysis of urea, followed by two-step pyrolysis under Ar and NH3 atmospheres, resulting in formation of Fe- and N-functionalized graphene (HD-FeN/G). The morphology, crystalline structure and elemental composition of HD-FeN/G were characterized. ORR activity was evaluated by using a rotary disk electrode (RDE) electrochemical system. HD improved the loading and distribution of the Fe-Nx composites on graphene. The ORR activity of the as-prepared HD-FeN/G in neutral medium was comparable to that of the state-of-the-art commercial Pt/C and significantly superior to a FeN/G counterpart produced via traditional approach. The ORR electron transfer number of HD-FeN/G was as high as 3.83 ± 0.08, which suggested that ORR catalysis proceeds through a four-electron pathway. HD-FeN/G was used as a cathodic electrocatalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), and the resultant HD-FeN/G-MFC showed comparable voltage output and maximum power density to those of Pt/C-MFC. The HD-FeN/G-MFC achieved a maximum power density of 885 mW m-2, which was much higher than that of FeN/G-MFC (708 mW m-2). These findings demonstrate that HD-FeN/G produced through the novel synthesis strategy proposed in this work would be a good candidate as cathodic electrocatalyst in MFCs.

Effect of fed-batch vs. continuous mode of operation on microbial fuel cell performance treating biorefinery wastewater

DOE PAGES

Pannell, Tyler C.; Goud, R. Kannaiah; Schell, Daniel J.; ...

2016-05-01

Bioelectrochemical systems have been shown to treat low-value biorefinery streams while recovering energy, however, low current densities and anode conversion efficiencies (ACE) limit their application. A bioanode was developed via enrichment of electroactive biofilm under fed-batch and continuous feeding conditions using corn stover-derived waste stream. The continuously-fed MFC exhibited a current density of 5.8±0.06 A/m 2 and an ACE of 39%±4. The fed-batch MFC achieved a similar current density and an ACE of 19.2%, however, its performance dropped after 36 days of operation to 1.1 A/m 2 and 0.5%, respectively. In comparison, the ACE of the continuously-fed MFC remained stablemore » achieving an ACE of 30% ± 3 after 48 days of operation. An MFC treating a biorefinery stream post fuel separation achieved a current density of 10.7±0.1 A/m 2 and an ACE of 57% ± 9 at an organic loading of 12.5 g COD/L-day. Characterization of the microbial communities indicate higher abundance of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria and lower abundance of Bacteriodetes and a higher level of Geobacter spp. (1.4% vs. 0.2%) in continuously-fed MFC vs. fed-batch MFC. Finally, the results demonstrate that limiting substrate to the equivalent maximum current that the anode can generate, maintains MFC performance over a long term for high strength wastewaters, such as those generated in the biorefinery.« less

Effect of fed-batch vs. continuous mode of operation on microbial fuel cell performance treating biorefinery wastewater

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pannell, Tyler C.; Goud, R. Kannaiah; Schell, Daniel J.

Bioelectrochemical systems have been shown to treat low-value biorefinery streams while recovering energy, however, low current densities and anode conversion efficiencies (ACE) limit their application. A bioanode was developed via enrichment of electroactive biofilm under fed-batch and continuous feeding conditions using corn stover-derived waste stream. The continuously-fed MFC exhibited a current density of 5.8±0.06 A/m 2 and an ACE of 39%±4. The fed-batch MFC achieved a similar current density and an ACE of 19.2%, however, its performance dropped after 36 days of operation to 1.1 A/m 2 and 0.5%, respectively. In comparison, the ACE of the continuously-fed MFC remained stablemore » achieving an ACE of 30% ± 3 after 48 days of operation. An MFC treating a biorefinery stream post fuel separation achieved a current density of 10.7±0.1 A/m 2 and an ACE of 57% ± 9 at an organic loading of 12.5 g COD/L-day. Characterization of the microbial communities indicate higher abundance of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria and lower abundance of Bacteriodetes and a higher level of Geobacter spp. (1.4% vs. 0.2%) in continuously-fed MFC vs. fed-batch MFC. Finally, the results demonstrate that limiting substrate to the equivalent maximum current that the anode can generate, maintains MFC performance over a long term for high strength wastewaters, such as those generated in the biorefinery.« less

Effect of organic loading rates and proton exchange membrane surface area on the performance of an up-flow cylindrical microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Jana, Partha S; Behera, Manaswini; Ghangrekar, M M

2012-01-01

The effect of organic loading rates (OLRs) and proton exchange membrane (PEM) surface area on the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was evaluated. Three MFCs (MFC-1, MFC-2 and MFC-3) having PEM surface area of 10 cm2, 20 cm2 and 40 cm2, respectively, were used in the study. The MFCs were operated at influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 500 mg L(-1) and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 20 h, 17 h, 13 h and 6 h in experimental Run-1 to Run-4. MFC-3, with highest PEM surface area showed highest power generation throughout the study. The optimum performancewas obtained at HRT of 13 h. In Run-5 and Run-6, the influent COD was increased to 1000 mg L(-1) and 1500 mg L(-1), respectively, maintaining the HRT at 13 h. Maximum volumetric powers of 4.26 W m(-3), 9.41 W m(-3) and 17.24 W m(-3) were obtained in MFC-1, MFC-2 and MFC-3, respectively, in Run-5 under the OLR of 1.84 kg COD m(-3) d(-1). These power values are among the higher values reported in literature; MFCs with higher PEM surface area showed better electricity generation, which clearly demonstrates that proton mass transfer is the main constraint in the MFCs which limits the power output. Combined effect of influent COD and HRT was found on electricity generation.

Power production and wastewater treatment simultaneously by dual-chamber microbial fuel cell technique.

PubMed

Izadi, Paniz; Rahimnejad, Mostafa; Ghoreyshi, Ali

2015-01-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a novel technology that is able to convert the chemical energy of organic and inorganic substrates to electrical energy directly. The use of fossil fuels and recent energy crisis bring increasing attention to this technology. Besides electricity generation, wastewater treatment is another application of MFCs. Sulfide is a hazardous ion that is common in wastes. In this article, dual-chamber MFC was fabricated and a mixed culture of microorganisms was used as an active biocatalyst in an anaerobic anodic chamber to convert substrate to electricity. The obtained experimental results indicate that this MFC can successfully alter sulfide to elementary sulfur and power generation. The initial concentration of sulfide in wastewater was 1.5 g L(-1) , and it was removed after 10 days of MFC operation. Maximum produced power and current density were 48.68 mW⋅m(-2) and 231.47 mA⋅m(-2) , respectively. Besides, the influences of a biocathode were investigated and accordingly the data obtained for power and current density were increased to 372.27 mW⋅m(-2) and 1,665.15 mA⋅m(-2) , respectively. © 2015 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Understanding the degradation of Congo red and bacterial diversity in an air-cathode microbial fuel cell being evaluated for simultaneous azo dye removal from wastewater and bioelectricity generation.

PubMed

Sun, Jian; Li, Youming; Hu, Yongyou; Hou, Bin; Zhang, Yaping; Li, Sizhe

2013-04-01

We investigated the mechanism of Congo red degradation and bacterial diversity in a single-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) incorporating a microfiltration membrane and air-cathode. The MFC was operated continuously for more than 4 months using a mixture of Congo red and glucose as fuel. We demonstrated that the Congo red azo bonds were reduced at the anode to form aromatic amines. This is consistent with the known mechanism of anaerobic biodegradation of azo dyes. The MFC developed a less dense biofilm at the anode in the presence of Congo red compared to its absence indicating that Congo red degradation negatively affected biofilm formation. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and direct 16S ribosomal DNA gene nucleotide sequencing revealed that the microbial communities differed depending on whether Congo red was present in the MFC. Geobacter-like species known to generate electricity were detected in the presence or absence of Congo red. In contrast, Azospirillum, Methylobacterium, Rhodobacter, Desulfovibrio, Trichococcus, and Bacteroides species were only detected in its presence. These species were most likely responsible for degrading Congo red.

Microbial fuel cells for clogging assessment in constructed wetlands.

PubMed

Corbella, Clara; García, Joan; Puigagut, Jaume

2016-11-01

Clogging in HSSF CW may result in a reduction of system's life-span or treatment efficiency. Current available techniques to assess the degree of clogging in HSSF CW are time consuming and cannot be applied on a continuous basis. Main objective of this work was to assess the potential applicability of microbial fuel cells for continuous clogging assessment in HSSF CW. To this aim, two replicates of a membrane-less microbial fuel cell (MFC) were built up and operated under laboratory conditions for five weeks. The MFC anode was gravel-based to simulate the filter media of HSSF CW. MFC were weekly loaded with sludge that had been accumulating for several years in a pilot HSSF CW treating domestic wastewater. Sludge loading ranged from ca. 20kgTS·m(-3)CW·year(-1) at the beginning of the study period up to ca. 250kgTS·m(-3)CW·year(-1) at the end of the study period. Sludge loading applied resulted in sludge accumulated within the MFC equivalent to a clogging degree ranging from 0.2years (ca. 0.5kgTS·m(-3)CW) to ca. 5years (ca. 10kgTS·m(-3)CW). Results showed that the electric charge was negatively correlated to the amount of sludge accumulated (degree of clogging). Electron transference (expressed as electric charge) almost ceased when accumulated sludge within the MFC was equivalent to ca. 5years of clogging (ca. 10kgTS·m(-3)CW). This result suggests that, although longer study periods under more realistic conditions shall be further performed, HSSF CW operated as a MFC has great potential for clogging assessment. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Electricity production from Azo dye wastewater using a microbial fuel cell coupled constructed wetland operating under different operating conditions.

PubMed

Fang, Zhou; Song, Hai-Liang; Cang, Ning; Li, Xian-Ning

2015-06-15

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have got tremendous attention for their capability to enhance the degradation of some recalcitrant pollutants and simultaneous electricity production. A microbial fuel cell coupled constructed wetland (CW-MFC) is a new device to treat the wastewater and produce energy which has more wastewater treatment volume and more easily to maintenance than others MFCs. The studies on the performance of CW-MFCs are necessary. In this work, the effects of hydraulic residence time (HRT), reactive brilliant red X-3B (ABRX3) proportion and COD concentration on the electricity production of CW-MFC and the degradation characteristics of ABRX3 were investigated. The decolorization rate and the electricity production increased to a peak before slowing down with the elongation of HRT. The highest decolorization rate and electricity production were obtained when HRT was 3 days. The ABRX3 proportion (calculated as COD) in the wastewater played an important role in decolorization and electricity production, which may influence the distribution of electrons in the system. The power density of CW-MFC and the decolorization rate decreased concomitantly with an increasing ABRX3 proportion. The COD concentration influenced the CW-MFC performance slightly. The highest decolorization rate and power density reached 95.6% and 0.852 W/m(3), respectively, when the COD concentration was 300 mg/L while the ABRX3 proportion was 30%. The coulombic efficiency of the CW-MFC depended on glucose and ABRX3 proportions in the wastewater. ABRX3 acquired more electrons than the anode. Further investigations are needed to optimize CW-MFC performance and explain the mechanism of biorefractory compounds degradation and electron motion in CW-MFCs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Graphene/biofilm composites for enhancement of hexavalent chromium reduction and electricity production in a biocathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Song, Tian-Shun; Jin, Yuejuan; Bao, Jingjing; Kang, Dongzhou; Xie, Jingjing

2016-11-05

In this study, a simple method of biocathode fabrication in a Cr(VI)-reducing microbial fuel cell (MFC) is demonstrated. A self-assembling graphene was decorated onto the biocathode microbially, constructing a graphene/biofilm, in situ. The maximum power density of the MFC with a graphene biocathode is 5.7 times that of the MFC with a graphite felt biocathode. Cr(VI) reduction was also enhanced, resulting in 100% removal of Cr(VI) within 48h, at 40mg/L Cr(VI), compared with only 58.3% removal of Cr(VI) in the MFC with a graphite felt biocathode. Cyclic voltammogram analyses showed that the graphene biocathode had faster electron transfer kinetics than the graphite felt version. Energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) analysis revealed a possible adsorption-reduction mechanism for Cr(VI) reduction via the graphene biocathode. This study attempts to improve the efficiency of the biocathode in the Cr(VI)-reducing MFC, and provides a useful candidate method for the treatment of Cr(VI) contaminated wastewater, under neutral conditions. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A novel microbial fuel cell sensor with a gas diffusion biocathode sensing element for water and air quality monitoring.

PubMed

Jiang, Yong; Liang, Peng; Huang, Xia; Ren, Zhiyong Jason

2018-07-01

Toxicity monitoring is essential for the protection of public health and ecological safety. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) sensors demonstrated good potential in toxicity monitoring, but current MFC sensors can only be used for anaerobic water monitoring. In this study, a novel gas diffusion (GD)-biocathode sensing element was fabricated using a simple method. The GD-biocathode MFC sensor can directly be used for formaldehyde detection (from 0.0005% to 0.005%) in both aerobic and anaerobic water bodies. Electrochemical analysis indicated that the response by the sensor was caused by the toxic inhibition to the microbial activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). This study for the first time demonstrated that the GD-biocathode MFC sensor has a detection limit of 20 ppm for formaldehyde and can be used to monitor air pollution. Selective sensitivity to formaldehyde was not achieved as the result of using a mixed-culture, which confirms that it can serve as a generic biosensor for monitoring gaseous pollutants. This study expands the realm of knowledge for MFC sensor applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High performance monolithic power management system with dynamic maximum power point tracking for microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Erbay, Celal; Carreon-Bautista, Salvador; Sanchez-Sinencio, Edgar; Han, Arum

2014-12-02

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) that can directly generate electricity from organic waste or biomass is a promising renewable and clean technology. However, low power and low voltage output of MFCs typically do not allow directly operating most electrical applications, whether it is supplementing electricity to wastewater treatment plants or for powering autonomous wireless sensor networks. Power management systems (PMSs) can overcome this limitation by boosting the MFC output voltage and managing the power for maximum efficiency. We present a monolithic low-power-consuming PMS integrated circuit (IC) chip capable of dynamic maximum power point tracking (MPPT) to maximize the extracted power from MFCs, regardless of the power and voltage fluctuations from MFCs over time. The proposed PMS continuously detects the maximum power point (MPP) of the MFC and matches the load impedance of the PMS for maximum efficiency. The system also operates autonomously by directly drawing power from the MFC itself without any external power. The overall system efficiency, defined as the ratio between input energy from the MFC and output energy stored into the supercapacitor of the PMS, was 30%. As a demonstration, the PMS connected to a 240 mL two-chamber MFC (generating 0.4 V and 512 μW at MPP) successfully powered a wireless temperature sensor that requires a voltage of 2.5 V and consumes power of 85 mW each time it transmit the sensor data, and successfully transmitted a sensor reading every 7.5 min. The PMS also efficiently managed the power output of a lower-power producing MFC, demonstrating that the PMS works efficiently at various MFC power output level.

Bioelectricity generation in continuously-fed microbial fuel cell: effects of anode electrode material and hydraulic retention time.

PubMed

Akman, Dilek; Cirik, Kevser; Ozdemir, Sebnem; Ozkaya, Bestamin; Cinar, Ozer

2013-12-01

The main aim of this study is to investigate the bioelectricity production in continuously-fed dual chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC). Initially, MFC was operated with different anode electrode material at constant hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 2d to evaluate the effect of electrode material on electricity production. Pt electrode yielded about 642 mW/m(2) power density, which was 4 times higher than that of the MFC with the mixed metal oxide titanium (Ti-TiO2). Further, MFC equipped with Pt electrode was operated at varying HRT (2-0.5d). The power density generation increased with decreasing HRT, corresponding to 1313 mW/m(2) which was maximum value obtained during this study. Additionally, decreasing HRT from 2 to 0.5d resulted in increasing effluent dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration from 1.92 g/L to 2.23 g/L, corresponding to DOC removal efficiencies of 46% and 38%, respectively. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High performance spiral wound microbial fuel cell with hydraulic characterization.

PubMed

Haeger, Alexander; Forrestal, Casey; Xu, Pei; Ren, Zhiyong Jason

2014-12-01

The understanding and development of functioning systems are crucial steps for microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology advancement. In this study, a compact spiral wound MFC (swMFC) was developed and hydraulic residence time distribution (RTD) tests were conducted to investigate the flow characteristics in the systems. Results show that two-chamber swMFCs have high surface area to volume ratios of 350-700m(2)/m(3), and by using oxygen cathode without metal-catalysts, the maximum power densities were 42W/m(3) based on total volume and 170W/m(3) based on effective volume. The hydraulic step-input tracer study identified 20-67% of anodic flow dead space, which presents new opportunities for system improvement. Electrochemical tools revealed very low ohmic resistance but high charge transfer and diffusion resistance due to catalyst-free oxygen reduction. The spiral wound configuration combined with RTD tool offers a holistic approach for MFC development and optimization. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation and removal performance of a microbial fuel cell using sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) as proton exchange membrane to treat phenol/acetone wastewater.

PubMed

Wu, Hao; Fu, Yu; Guo, Chunyu; Li, Yanbo; Jiang, Nanzhe; Yin, Chengri

2018-07-01

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) has emerged as a promising technology for wastewater treatment and energy recovery, but the expensive cost of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) is a problem that need to be solved. In this study, a two-chamber MFC based on our self-made PEM sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) membrane was set up to treat phenol/acetone wastewater and synchronously generate power. The maximum output voltage was 240-250 mV. Using phenol and acetone as substrates, the power generation time in an operation cycle was 289 h. The MFC exhibited good removal performance, with no phenol or acetone detected, respectively, when the phenol concentration was lower than 50 mg/L and the acetone concentration was lower than 100 mg/L. This study provides a cheap and eco-friendly way to treat phenol/acetone wastewater and generate useful energy by MFC technology. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Development of a low-cost single chamber microbial fuel cell type BOD sensor].

PubMed

Wu, Feng; Liu, Zhi; Zhou, Ben; Zhou, Shun-gui; Rao, Li-qun; Wang, Yue-qiang

2010-07-01

The principle of the detector is based on the effect of microbial toxicity of water sample on the electricity generation in microbial fuel cell (MFC). The performance of the MFC-type biotoxicity detector was evaluated with the synthetic water containing heavy metals of Cd2+ and Cu2+. The experimental results demonstrated that: (1) relative to the conventional methods, the MFC-type detector is easy to operate, and suitable for on-line measurements with high sensitivity; (2) it only requires 4 h to complete measurements, and can get ready for next measurement within 4 h; (3) there is a significant linear correlation between the concentration of toxic metal(s) and inhibition ratios in Coulombic yields of MFC. As the IC20 (concentration causing 20% inhibition) of Cd2+, Cu2+ and mixed metals (Cd2+ and Cu2+) were 0.6, 0.8 and 0.25 mg/L, the regression coefficients were shown to be 0.9960, 0.9744 and 0.9907.

Need for optimizing catalyst loading for achieving affordable microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Singh, Inderjeet; Chandra, Amreesh

2013-08-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is a promising technology for electricity production together with simultaneous water treatment. Catalysts play an important role in deciding the MFC performance. In most reports, effect of catalyst - both type and quantity is not optimized. In this paper, synthesis of nanorods of MnO2-catalyst particles for application in Pt-free MFCs is reported. The effect of catalyst loading i.e., weight ratio, with respect to conducting element and binder has been optimized by employing large number of combinations. Using simple theoretical model, it is shown that too high (or low) concentration of catalysts result in loss of MFC performance. The operation of MFC has been investigated using domestic wastewater as source of bio-waste for obtaining real world situation. Maximum power density of ∼61 mW/m(2) was obtained when weight ratio of catalyst and conducting species was 1:1. Suitable reasons are given to explain the outcomes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recycled tire crumb rubber anodes for sustainable power production in microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Heming; Davidson, Matthew; Zuo, Yi; Ren, Zhiyong

One of the greatest challenges facing microbial fuel cells (MFCs) in large scale applications is the high cost of electrode material. We demonstrate here that recycled tire crumb rubber coated with graphite paint can be used instead of fine carbon materials as the MFC anode. The tire particles showed satisfactory conductivity after 2-4 layers of coating. The specific surface area of the coated rubber was over an order of magnitude greater than similar sized graphite granules. Power production in single chamber tire-anode air-cathode MFCs reached a maximum power density of 421 mW m -2, with a coulombic efficiency (CE) of 25.1%. The control graphite granule MFC achieved higher power density (528 mW m -2) but lower CE (15.6%). The light weight of tire particle could reduce clogging and maintenance cost but posts challenges in conductive connection. The use of recycled material as the MFC anodes brings a new perspective to MFC design and application and carries significant economic and environmental benefit potentials.

Removal and fate of trace organic compounds in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Wang, Heming; Heil, Dean; Ren, Zhiyong Jason; Xu, Pei

2015-04-01

This study focused on understanding and characterizing the removal of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) in microbial fuel cells (MFC). 26 TOrCs with broad physicochemical properties were spiked in synthetic wastewater. Single-chamber air-cathode MFC (SMFC) and double-chamber air-cathode MFC (DMFC) were constructed to provide combined or separated oxidation/reduction environments for TOrCs removal. The study showed that TOrCs removal processes involved both sorption and biodegradation. For neutral TOrCs, the removal efficiency was affected primarily by the biodegradability probability and hydrophobicity of the compounds, while electrostatic interactions played an additional role in the MFCs as the removal of positively charged TOrCs was generally higher than negatively charged TOrCs. The presence of TOrCs showed negligible impact on MFC power generation, likewise the operation of MFCs had marginal effect on TOrCs removal, except longer residence time in MFCs improved biological removal performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of Microbial Growth by Protein Assay in an Air-Cathode Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell.

PubMed

Li, Na; Kakarla, Ramesh; Moon, Jung Mi; Min, Booki

2015-07-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have gathered attention as a novel bioenergy technology to simultaneously treat wastewater with less sludge production than the conventional activated sludge system. In two different operations of the MFC and aerobic process, microbial growth was determined by the protein assay method and their biomass yields using real wastewater were compared. The biomass yield on the anode electrode of the MFC was 0.02 g-COD-cell/g- COD-substrate and the anolyte planktonic biomass was 0.14 g-COD-cell/g-COD-substrate. An MFC without anode electrode resulted in the biomass yield of 0.07 ± 0.03 g-COD-cell/g-COD-substrate, suggesting that oxygen diffusion from the cathode possibly supported the microbial growth. In a comparative test, the biomass yield under aerobic environment was 0.46 ± 0.07 g-COD-cell/g-COD-substrate, which was about 3 times higher than the total biomass value in the MFC operation.

Effect of vegetation type on treatment performance and bioelectric production of constructed wetland modules combined with microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) treating synthetic wastewater.

PubMed

Saz, Çağdaş; Türe, Cengiz; Türker, Onur Can; Yakar, Anıl

2018-03-01

An operation of microcosm-constructed wetland modules combined with microbial fuel cell device (CW-MFC) was assessed for wastewater treatment and bioelectric generation. One of the crucial aims of the present experiment is also to determine effect of vegetation on wastewater treatment process and bioelectric production in wetland matrix with microbial fuel cell. Accordingly, CW-MFC modules with vegetation had higher treatment efficiency compared to unplanted wetland module, and average COD, NH 4 + , and TP removal efficiency in vegetated wetland modules were ranged from 85 to 88%, 95 to 97%, and 95 to 97%, respectively. However, the highest NO 3 - removal (63%) was achieved by unplanted control module during the experiment period. The maximum average output voltage, power density, and Coulombic efficiency were obtained in wetland module vegetated with Typha angustifolia for 1.01 ± 0.14 V, 7.47 ± 13.7 mWatt/m 2 , and 8.28 ± 10.4%, respectively. The results suggest that the presence of Typha angustifolia vegetation in the CW-MFC matrix provides the benefits for treatment efficiency and bioelectric production; thus, it increases microbial activities which are responsible for biodegradation of organic compounds and catalyzed to electron flow from anode to cathode. Consequently, we suggest that engineers can use vegetated wetland matrix with Typha angustifolia in CW-MFC module in order to maximize treatment efficiency and bioelectric production.

Effect of electric impulse for improved energy generation in mediatorless dual chamber microbial fuel cell through electroevolution of Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Nandy, Arpita; Kumar, Vikash; Kundu, Patit P

2016-05-15

The main emphasis of this study is to understand the electroactive behavior of a microbe in microbial fuel cell (MFC) under specific selection pressure. This study explores potential of a non-electrogenic microbe for power production in a mediatorless MFC under the influence of a specific stress. Electric pulse of specific magnitude has been applied to Escherichia coli cells in a MFC and compared the results with unpulsed (control) MFC. Maximum power density of 187.77 mW/m(2) and 284.44 mW/m(2) for the control and experimental MFC has been observed at corresponding current density of 1444.44 mA/m(2) and 1777.77 mA/m(2). The results show improved performance for the pulsed (experimental) system, despite of initial downfall with respect to the control system. This suggests bacterial adaptation against electrical pulses which leads to evolution of an efficient electrogen. This observation is further confirmed by analyzing the results of Cyclic Voltammetry (CV), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Electrochemical Impedence Spectroscopy (EIS), enlightening different attributes like electrochemical property, bacterial morphology and impedance. The study is focused on development of a microbial fuel cell catalysed by E. coli, through triggering electroactive property in the microbe by exposing it to external stress. This study is unique in nature as it is mediatorless, economical and describes about a new method of natural bacterial evolution. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Characterization of the COD removal, electricity generation, and bacterial communities in microbial fuel cells treating molasses wastewater.

PubMed

Lee, Yun-Yeong; Kim, Tae G; Cho, Kyung-Suk

2016-11-09

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, electricity generation, and microbial communities were compared in 3 types of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) treating molasses wastewater. Single-chamber MFCs without and with a proton exchange membrane (PEM), and double-chamber MFC were constructed. A total of 10,000 mg L(-1) COD of molasses wastewater was continuously fed. The COD removal, electricity generation, and microbial communities in the two types of single-chamber MFCs were similar, indicating that the PEM did not enhance the reactor performance. The COD removal in the single-chamber MFCs (89-90%) was higher than that in the double-chamber MFC (50%). However, electricity generation in the double-chamber MFC was higher than that in the single-chamber MFCs. The current density (80 mA m(-2)) and power density (17 mW m(-2)) in the double-chamber MFC were 1.4- and 2.2-times higher than those in the single-chamber MFCs, respectively. The bacterial community structures in single- and double-chamber MFCs were also distinguishable. The amount of Proteobacteria in the double-chamber MFC was 2-3 times higher than those in the single-chamber MFCs. For the archaeal community, Methanothrix (96.4%) was remarkably dominant in the single-chamber MFCs, but Methanobacterium (35.1%), Methanosarcina (28.3%), and Methanothrix (16.2%) were abundant in the double-chamber MFC.

Air-cathode microbial fuel cell array: a device for identifying and characterizing electrochemically active microbes.

PubMed

Hou, Huijie; Li, Lei; de Figueiredo, Paul; Han, Arum

2011-01-15

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have generated excitement in environmental and bioenergy communities due to their potential for coupling wastewater treatment with energy generation and powering diverse devices. The pursuit of strategies such as improving microbial cultivation practices and optimizing MFC devices has increased power generating capacities of MFCs. However, surprisingly few microbial species with electrochemical activity in MFCs have been identified because current devices do not support parallel analyses or high throughput screening. We have recently demonstrated the feasibility of using advanced microfabrication methods to fabricate an MFC microarray. Here, we extend these studies by demonstrating a microfabricated air-cathode MFC array system. The system contains 24 individual air-cathode MFCs integrated onto a single chip. The device enables the direct and parallel comparison of different microbes loaded onto the array. Environmental samples were used to validate the utility of the air-cathode MFC array system and two previously identified isolates, 7Ca (Shewanella sp.) and 3C (Arthrobacter sp.), were shown to display enhanced electrochemical activities of 2.69 mW/m(2) and 1.86 mW/m(2), respectively. Experiments using a large scale conventional air-cathode MFC validated these findings. The parallel air-cathode MFC array system demonstrated here is expected to promote and accelerate the discovery and characterization of electrochemically active microbes. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simulation of Flow Through Porous Anode in Mfc at Higher Power Density

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Su, W. W.; Xu, Y. S.; Yan, W. W.; Liu, Y.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a new environmental friendly energy device which has received greatly attention due to its technology for producing electricity directly from organic or inorganic matter using bacteria as catalyst. To date, many studies have been carried out on advective flow through porous anode in a continuous flow MFC. However, the precise mechanical mechanism of flow through porous anode and the quantified relationship between porous media and MFC performance are not yet clearly understood. It has been found experimentally the power density can be increased apparently at certain spacing configuration. Based on these available experimental data, we studied the effect of spacing between electrodes and the Darcy number of porous anode on the power generation performance of MFC using lattice Boltzmann method. The simulation results indicated that the spacing between electrodes significantly influence the flow velocity profile and residence time in the MFC. Moreover, it was found that the Darcy number of porous anode could regulate the output efficiency of MFC. Our results would be helpful to optimize MFC design.

Enhancement of power production with tartaric acid doped polyaniline nanowire network modified anode in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Liao, Zhi-Hong; Sun, Jian-Zhong; Sun, De-Zhen; Si, Rong-Wei; Yong, Yang-Chun

2015-09-01

The feasibility to use tartaric acid doped PANI for MFC anode modification was determined. Uniform PANI nanowires doped with tartaric acid were synthesized and formed mesoporous networks on the carbon cloth surface. By using this tartaric acid doped PANI modified carbon cloth (PANI-TA) as the anode, the voltage output (435 ± 15 mV) and power output (490 ± 12 mW/m(2)) of MFC were enhanced by 1.6 times and 4.1 times compared to that of MFC with plain carbon cloth anode, respectively. Strikingly, the performance of PANI-TA MFC was superior to that of the MFCs with inorganic acids doped PNAI modified anode. These results substantiated that tartaric acid is a promising PANI dopant for MFC anode modification, and provided new opportunity for MFC performance improvement. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gold nanoparticles produced in situ mediate bioelectricity and hydrogen production in a microbial fuel cell by quantized capacitance charging.

PubMed

Kalathil, Shafeer; Lee, Jintae; Cho, Moo Hwan

2013-02-01

Oppan quantized style: By adding a gold precursor at its cathode, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) is demonstrated to form gold nanoparticles that can be used to simultaneously produce bioelectricity and hydrogen. By exploiting the quantized capacitance charging effect, the gold nanoparticles mediate the production of hydrogen without requiring an external power supply, while the MFC produces a stable power density. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Scaled-up dual anode/cathode microbial fuel cell stack for actual ethanolamine wastewater treatment.

PubMed

An, Byung-Min; Heo, Yoon; Maitlo, Hubdar-Ali; Park, Joo-Yang

2016-06-01

The aim of this work was to develop the scale-up microbial fuel cell technology for actual ethanolamine wastewater treatment, dual anode/cathode MFC stacks connected in series to achieve any desired current, treatment capacity, and volume capacity. However, after feeding actual wastewater into the MFC, maximum power density decreased while the corresponding internal resistance increased. With continuous electricity production, a stack of eight MFCs in series achieved 96.05% of COD removal and 97.30% of ammonia removal at a flow rate of 15.98L/d (HRT 12h). The scaled-up dual anode/cathode MFC stack system in this research was demonstrated to treat actual ETA wastewater with the added benefit of harvesting electricity energy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

POWER FIELD MONITORING EQUIPMENT FROM WETLAND DETRITUS MATERIALS USING MICROBIAL FUEL CELL

EPA Science Inventory

The data from both laboratory and field experiments will provide useful information to assist designing an in-situ MFC system that uses detritus materials to achieve constant and useable electric energy output. The in-situ MFC systems installed in the forested wetlands at Wi...

Simultaneous wastewater treatment and bioelectricity production in microbial fuel cells using cross-linked chitosan-graphene oxide mixed-matrix membranes.

PubMed

Holder, Shima L; Lee, Ching-Hwa; Popuri, Srinivasa R

2017-05-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are emerging technology for wastewater treatment by chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction and simultaneous bioelectricity production. Fabrication of an effective proton exchange membrane (PEM) is a vital component for MFC performance. In this work, green chitosan-based (CS) PEMs were fabricated with graphene oxide (GO) as filler material (CS-GO) and cross-linked with phosphoric acid (CS-GO-P(24)) or sulfuric acid (CS-GO-S(24)) to determine their effect on PEM properties. Interrogation of the physicochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the cross-linked CS-GO PEMs demonstrated that ionic cross-linking based on the incorporation of PO 4 3- groups in the CS-GO mixed-matrix composites, when compared with sulfuric acid cross-linking commonly used in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) studies, generated additional density of ionic cluster domains, rendered enhanced sorption properties, and augmented the thermal and mechanical stability of the composite structure. Consequently, bioelectricity performance analysis in MFC application showed that CS-GO-P(24) membrane produced 135% higher power density than the CS-GO-S(24) MFC system. Simultaneously, 89.52% COD removal of primary clarifier municipal wastewater was achieved in the MFC operated with the CS-GO-P(24) membrane.

Design and characterization of a microbial fuel cell for the conversion of a lignocellulosic crop residue to electricity.

PubMed

Gregoire, K P; Becker, J G

2012-09-01

Agricultural crop residues contain high amounts of biochemical energy as cellulose and lignin. A portion of this biomass could be sustainably harvested for conversion to bioenergy to help offset fossil fuel consumption. In this study, the potential for converting lignocellulosic biomass directly to electricity in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was explored. Design elements of tubular air cathode MFCs and leach-bed bioreactors were integrated to develop a new solid-substrate MFC in which cellulose hydrolysis, fermentation, and anode respiration occurred in a single chamber. Electricity was produced continuously from untreated corncob pellets for >60 d. Addition of rumen fluid increased power production, presumably by providing growth factors to anode-respiring bacteria. Periodic exposure to oxygen also increased power production, presumably by limiting the diversion of electrons to methanogenesis. In the absence of methanogenesis, bioaugmentation with Geobacter metallireducens further improved MFC performance. Under these conditions, the maximum power density was 230 mW/m(3). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Kefir as a New Anodic Biocatalyst Consortium for Microbial Fuel Cell.

PubMed

Silveira, Gustavo; Schneedorf, José Maurício

2018-02-21

Kefir, a combined consortium of bacteria and yeast encapsulated by a polymeric matrix of exopolysaccharides, was used as anodic biocatalyst in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). Fermentation was followed during 72 h and polarization curves were obtained from linear sweep voltammetry. The effect of methylene blue as charge-transfer mediator in the kefir metabolism was evaluated. UV/Vis spectrophotometry and cyclic voltammetry were applied to evaluate the redox state of the mediator and to characterize the electrochemical activity, whereas current interruption was used for internal resistance determination. Aiming to establish a relationship between the microbial development inside the anodic chamber with the generated power in the MFC, total titratable acidity, pH, viscosity, carbohydrate assimilation, and microbial counting were assayed. The kefir-based MFC demonstrated a maximum power density of 54 mW m -2 after 24 h fermentation, revealing the potential use of kefir as a biocatalyst for microbial fuel cells.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhen Li; Rishika Haynes; Eugene Sato

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) convert chemical energy to electrical energy via bioelectrochemical reactions mediated by microorganisms. We investigated the diversity of the microbial community in an air cathode single chamber MFC that utilized potato-process wastewater as substrate. Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (T-RFLP) results indicated that the bacterial communities on the anode, cathode, control electrode, and MFC bulk fluid were similar, but differed dramatically from that of the anaerobic domestic sludge and potato wastewater inoculum. The 16S rDNA sequencing results showed that microbial species detected on the anode were predominantly within the phyla of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Bacteroidetes. Fluorescent microscopymore » results indicated that there was a clear enhancement of biofilm formation on the anode. Results of this study could help improve understanding of the complexity of microbial communities and optimize the microbial composition for generating electricity by MFCs that utilize potato wastewater.« less

Microbial Fuels Cell-Based Biosensor for Toxicity Detection: A Review

PubMed Central

Zhou, Tuoyu; Han, Huawen; Liu, Pu; Xiong, Jian; Tian, Fake; Li, Xiangkai

2017-01-01

With the unprecedented deterioration of environmental quality, rapid recognition of toxic compounds is paramount for performing in situ real-time monitoring. Although several analytical techniques based on electrochemistry or biosensors have been developed for the detection of toxic compounds, most of them are time-consuming, inaccurate, or cumbersome for practical applications. More recently, microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensors have drawn increasing interest due to their sustainability and cost-effectiveness, with applications ranging from the monitoring of anaerobic digestion process parameters (VFA) to water quality detection (e.g., COD, BOD). When a MFC runs under correct conditions, the voltage generated is correlated with the amount of a given substrate. Based on this linear relationship, several studies have demonstrated that MFC-based biosensors could detect heavy metals such as copper, chromium, or zinc, as well as organic compounds, including p-nitrophenol (PNP), formaldehyde and levofloxacin. Both bacterial consortia and single strains can be used to develop MFC-based biosensors. Biosensors with single strains show several advantages over systems integrating bacterial consortia, such as selectivity and stability. One of the limitations of such sensors is that the detection range usually exceeds the actual pollution level. Therefore, improving their sensitivity is the most important for widespread application. Nonetheless, MFC-based biosensors represent a promising approach towards single pollutant detection. PMID:28956857

Microbial Fuels Cell-Based Biosensor for Toxicity Detection: A Review.

PubMed

Zhou, Tuoyu; Han, Huawen; Liu, Pu; Xiong, Jian; Tian, Fake; Li, Xiangkai

2017-09-28

With the unprecedented deterioration of environmental quality, rapid recognition of toxic compounds is paramount for performing in situ real-time monitoring. Although several analytical techniques based on electrochemistry or biosensors have been developed for the detection of toxic compounds, most of them are time-consuming, inaccurate, or cumbersome for practical applications. More recently, microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensors have drawn increasing interest due to their sustainability and cost-effectiveness, with applications ranging from the monitoring of anaerobic digestion process parameters (VFA) to water quality detection (e.g., COD, BOD). When a MFC runs under correct conditions, the voltage generated is correlated with the amount of a given substrate. Based on this linear relationship, several studies have demonstrated that MFC-based biosensors could detect heavy metals such as copper, chromium, or zinc, as well as organic compounds, including p -nitrophenol (PNP), formaldehyde and levofloxacin. Both bacterial consortia and single strains can be used to develop MFC-based biosensors. Biosensors with single strains show several advantages over systems integrating bacterial consortia, such as selectivity and stability. One of the limitations of such sensors is that the detection range usually exceeds the actual pollution level. Therefore, improving their sensitivity is the most important for widespread application. Nonetheless, MFC-based biosensors represent a promising approach towards single pollutant detection.

Comparative Metagenomic Analysis of Electrogenic Microbial Communities in Differentially Inoculated Swine Wastewater-Fed Microbial Fuel Cells

PubMed Central

Sorokin, Anatoly A.; Kiseleva, Larisa; Simpson, David J. W.; Fedorovich, V.; Sharipova, Margarita R.; Kainuma, Mami; Cohen, Michael F.; Goryanin, Igor

2017-01-01

Bioelectrochemical systems such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising new technologies for efficient removal of organic compounds from industrial wastewaters, including that generated from swine farming. We inoculated two pairs of laboratory-scale MFCs with sludge granules from a beer wastewater-treating anaerobic digester (IGBS) or from sludge taken from the bottom of a tank receiving swine wastewater (SS). The SS-inoculated MFC outperformed the IGBS-inoculated MFC with regard to COD and VFA removal and electricity production. Using a metagenomic approach, we describe the microbial diversity of the MFC planktonic and anodic communities derived from the different inocula. Proteobacteria (mostly Deltaproteobacteria) became the predominant phylum in both MFC anodic communities with amplification of the electrogenic genus Geobacter being the most pronounced. Eight dominant and three minor species of Geobacter were found in both MFC anodic communities. The anodic communities of the SS-inoculated MFCs had a higher proportion of Clostridium and Bacteroides relative to those of the IGBS-inoculated MFCs, which were enriched with Pelobacter. The archaeal populations of the SS- and IGBS-inoculated MFCs were dominated by Methanosarcina barkeri and Methanothermobacter thermautotrophicus, respectively. Our results show a long-term influence of inoculum type on the performance and microbial community composition of swine wastewater-treating MFCs. PMID:29158944

Electricity generation by Pyrococcus furiosus in microbial fuel cells operated at 90°C.

PubMed

Sekar, Narendran; Wu, Chang-Hao; Adams, Michael W W; Ramasamy, Ramaraja P

2017-07-01

Hyperthermophiles are microorganisms that thrive in extremely hot environments with temperatures near and even above 100°C. They are the most deeply rooted microorganisms on phylogenetic trees suggesting they may have evolved to survive in the early hostile earth. The simple respiratory systems of some of these hyperthermophiles make them potential candidates to develop microbial fuel cells (MFC) that can generate power at temperatures approaching the boiling point. We explored extracellular electron transfer in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus (Pf) by studying its ability to generate electricity in a two-chamber MFC. Pf growing in defined medium functioned as an anolyte in a MFC operated at 90°C, generating a maximum current density of 2 A m -2 and a peak power density of 225 mW m -2 without the addition of any external redox mediator. Electron microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of the anode with the attached Pf biofilm demonstrated bio-electrochemical behavior that led to electricity generation in the MFC via direct electron transfer. This proof of concept study reveals for the first time that a hyperthermophile such as Pf can generate electricity in MFC at extreme temperatures. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1419-1427. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Sampled-time control of a microbial fuel cell stack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boghani, Hitesh C.; Dinsdale, Richard M.; Guwy, Alan J.; Premier, Giuliano C.

2017-07-01

Research into microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has reached the point where cubic metre-scale systems and stacks are being built and tested. Apart from performance enhancement through catalysis, materials and design, an important research area for industrial applicability is stack control, which can enhance MFCs stack power output. An MFC stack is controlled using a sampled-time digital control strategy, which has the advantage of intermittent operation with consequent power saving, and when used in a hybrid series stack connectivity, can avoid voltage reversals. A MFC stack comprising four tubular MFCs was operated hydraulically in series. Each MFC was connected to an independent controller and the stack was connected electrically in series, creating a hybrid-series connectivity. The voltage of each MFC in the stack was controlled such that the overall series stack voltage generated was the algebraic sum (1.26 V) of the individual MFC voltages (0.32, 0.32, 0.32 and 0.3). The controllers were able to control the individual voltages to the point where 2.52 mA was drawn from the stack at a load of 499.9 Ω (delivering 3.18 mW). The controllers were able to reject the disturbances and perturbations caused by electrical loading, temperature and substrate concentration.

Microbial Fuel Cell Inoculated with Ochrobactrum Tritici KCC210 for Chromium (VI) Measurement in Electroplating Wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuo, Jongtar; Kuo, Juiling; Cheng, Chiuyu; Chung, Yingchien

2018-01-01

Many methods/techniques have been developed for Cr(VI) measurement, but they are often conducted offsite or/and cannot provide real-time for Cr(VI) monitoring. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a self-sustaining device and has great potential as a biosensor for in situ Cr(VI) measurement, especially for wastewater generated from different electroplating units. In this study, Ochrobactrum tritici KCC210, a facultatively anaerobic, Cr(VI)-reducing, and exoelectrogenic bacterium, was isolated and inoculated into the MFC to evaluate its feasibility as a Cr(VI) biosensor. The results indicated that O. tritici KCC210 exhibited high adaptability to pH, and temperature under anaerobic conditions. The maximum power density of the MFC biosensor was 17.5±0.9 mW/m2 at 2,000 Ω. A good linear relationship was observed between the Cr(VI) concentration (10-80 mg/L) and voltage output. The stable performance of the MFC biosensor indicated its potential as a reliable biosensor system. Moreover, the developed MFC biosensor is a simple device that can accurately measure Cr(VI) concentrations in the actual electroplating wastewater generated from different electroplating units within 15 min with low deviations (-1.8% to 7.8%) in comparison with the values determined using standard method. Thus, the MFC biosensor can measure Cr(VI) concentrations in situ in the effluents and has potential as an early warning detection device.

A novel metal organic framework-derived carbon-based catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction in a microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Lihua; Hu, Yongyou; Chen, Junfeng; Huang, Wantang; Cheng, Jianhua; Chen, Yuancai

2018-04-01

To improve the power generation of microbial fuel cell (MFC), the cathode is modified to increase its oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity by using a Cu, N-incorporated carbon-based material as catalyst, which obtained from pyrolyzing ORR active Cu (II)-based metal organic framework (MOF; Cu-bipy-BTC, bipy = 2,2‧-bipyridine, BTC = 1,3,5-tricarboxylate). MOF-800 (the product of pyrolyzing Cu-bipy-BTC at 800 °C) shows porous structure with micropores ranging from 0.5 to 1.3 nm and mesopores ranging from 27 to 46 nm. It also exhibits improved ORR electrocatalytic activity with a higher current density of -3.06 mA cm-2 compared to Cu-bipy-BTC. Moreover, the charge transfer resistance of MOF-800 cathode (1.38 Ω) is much smaller than that of Cu-bipy-BTC cathode (176.8 Ω). A maximum power density of 326 ± 11 mW m-2 is achieved by MOF-800-MFC, which is 2.6 times of that of Cu-bipy-BTC-MFC and comparable with Pt/C-MFC (402 ± 17 mW m-2). The results imply the enhancements of ORR catalytic activity and electrical conductivity of MOF-800 are due to the enhanced porous structure and abundant active sites (C-N, Cu-Nχ), which result in the improved power generation of MFC. This study provides technical and theoretical validation for the MFC performance improvement by ORR active MOF-derived catalysts modified cathodes.

Redistribution of wastewater alkalinity with a microbial fuel cell to support nitrification of reject water.

PubMed

Modin, Oskar; Fukushi, Kensuke; Rabaey, Korneel; Rozendal, René A; Yamamoto, Kazuo

2011-04-01

In wastewater treatment plants, the reject water from the sludge treatment processes typically contains high ammonium concentrations, which constitute a significant internal nitrogen load in the plant. Often, a separate nitrification reactor is used to treat the reject water before it is fed back into the plant. The nitrification reaction consumes alkalinity, which has to be replenished by dosing e.g. NaOH or Ca(OH)(2). In this study, we investigated the use of a two-compartment microbial fuel cell (MFC) to redistribute alkalinity from influent wastewater to support nitrification of reject water. In an MFC, alkalinity is consumed in the anode compartment and produced in the cathode compartment. We use this phenomenon and the fact that the influent wastewater flow is many times larger than the reject water flow to transfer alkalinity from the influent wastewater to the reject water. In a laboratory-scale system, ammonium oxidation of synthetic reject water passed through the cathode chamber of an MFC, increased from 73.8 ± 8.9 mgN/L under open-circuit conditions to 160.1 ± 4.8 mgN/L when a current of 1.96 ± 0.37 mA (15.1 mA/L total MFC liquid volume) was flowing through the MFC. These results demonstrated the positive effect of an MFC on ammonium oxidation of alkalinity-limited reject water. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A novel pilot-scale stacked microbial fuel cell for efficient electricity generation and wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Wu, Shijia; Li, Hui; Zhou, Xuechen; Liang, Peng; Zhang, Xiaoyuan; Jiang, Yong; Huang, Xia

2016-07-01

A novel stacked microbial fuel cell (MFC) which had a total volume of 72 L with granular activated carbon (GAC) packed bed electrodes was constructed and verified to present remarkable power generation and COD removal performance due to its advantageous design of stack and electrode configuration. During the fed-batch operation period, a power density of 50.9 ± 1.7 W/m(3) and a COD removal efficiency of 97% were achieved within 48 h. Because of the differences among MFC modules in the stack, reversal current occurred in parallel circuit connection with high external resistances (>100 Ω). This reversal current consequently reduced the electrochemical performance of some MFC modules and led to a lower power density in parallel circuit connection than that in independent circuit connection. While increasing the influent COD concentrations from 200 to 800 mg/L at hydraulic retention time of 1.25 h in continuous operation mode, the power density of stacked MFC increased from 25.6 ± 2.5 to 42.1 ± 1.2 W/m(3) and the COD removal rates increased from 1.3 to 5.2 kg COD/(m(3) d). This study demonstrated that this novel MFC stack configuration coupling with GAC packed bed electrode could be a feasible strategy to effectively scale up MFC systems. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Granular activated carbon based microbial fuel cell for simultaneous decolorization of real dye wastewater and electricity generation.

PubMed

Kalathil, Shafeer; Lee, Jintae; Cho, Moo Hwan

2011-12-15

Decolorization of dye wastewater before discharge is pivotal because of its immense color and toxicities. In this study, a granular activated carbon based microbial fuel cell (GACB-MFC) was used without using any expensive materials like Nafion membrane and platinum catalyst for simultaneous decolorization of real dye wastewater and bioelectricity generation. After 48 hours of GACB-MFC operation, 73% color was removed at anode and 77% color was removed at cathode. COD removal was 71% at the anode and 76% at the cathode after 48 hours. Toxicity measurements showed that cathode effluent was almost nontoxic after 24 hours. The anode effluent was threefold less toxic compared to original dye wastewater after 48 hours. The GACB-MFC produced a power density of 1.7 W/m(3) with an open circuit voltage 0.45 V. One of the advantages of the GACB-MFC system is that pH was automatically adjusted from 12.4 to 7.2 and 8.0 at the anode and cathode during 48 hours operation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous domestic wastewater treatment and renewable energy production using microbial fuel cells (MFCs).

PubMed

Puig, S; Serra, M; Coma, M; Balaguer, M D; Colprim, J

2011-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCS) can be used in wastewater treatment and to simultaneously produce electricity (renewable energy). MFC technology has already been applied successfully in lab-scale studies to treat domestic wastewater, focussing on organic matter removal and energy production. However, domestic wastewater also contains nitrogen that needs to be treated before being discharged. The goal of this paper is to assess simultaneous domestic wastewater treatment and energy production using an air-cathode MFC, paying special attention to nitrogen compound transformations. An air-cathode MFC was designed and run treating 1.39 L d(-1) of wastewater with an organic load rate of 7.2 kg COD m(-3) d(-1) (80% removal efficiency) and producing 1.42 W m(-3). In terms of nitrogen transformations, the study demonstrates that two different processes took place in the MFC: physical-chemical and biological. Nitrogen loss was observed increasing in line with the power produced. A low level of oxygen was present in the anodic compartment, and ammonium was oxidised to nitrite and nitrate.

The modeling of gold recovery from tetrachloroaurate wastewater using a microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Choi, Chansoo; Hu, Naixu

2013-04-01

In this study, tetrachloroaurate as an electron acceptor of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been studied to discover the parameters that affect the cost-effective recovery of gold. The modeling and equations for calculating the maximum actual efficiency and electrochemical impedance spectroscopic internal resistance of the MFC were also developed. The maximum power density (Pmax) of 6.58 W/m(2) with a fill factor of 0.717 was achieved for 60 mL volumes of 2000 ppm Au(III) catholyte and 12.2 mM acetate anolyte, respectively. The Pmax can also be predicted simply by measuring Rint by EIS. Additionally, the maximum actual MFC efficiency of about 57% was achieved, and the recovery efficiency of Au and the remaining concentration reached 99.89±0.00% and 0.22±0.00 ppm, respectively, for an Au(III) concentration of 200 ppm. The anodic concentration polarization quenching of the MFC strongly supports a mediator mechanism for the electron transfer from the microorganism to the anode. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of Enterobacter aerogenes fuel cells: from in situ biohydrogen oxidization to direct electroactive biofilm.

PubMed

Zhuang, Li; Zhou, Shungui; Yuan, Yong; Liu, Tinglin; Wu, Zhifeng; Cheng, Jiong

2011-01-01

This study described an Enterobacter aerogenes-catalyzed microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a carbon-based anode that exhibited a maximum power density of 2.51 W/m(3) in the absence of artificial electron mediators. The MFC was started up rapidly, within hours, and the current generation in the early stage was demonstrated to result from in situ oxidation of biohydrogen produced by E. aerogenes during glucose fermentation. Over periodic replacement of substrate, both planktonic biomass in the culture liquid and hydrogen productivity decreased, while increased power density and coulombic efficiency and decreased internal resistance were unexpectedly observed. Using scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry, it was found that the enhanced MFC performance was associated with the development of electroactive biofilm on the anodic surface, proposed to involve an acclimation and selection process of E. aerogenes cells under electrochemical tension. The significant advantage of rapid start-up and the ability to develop an electroactive biofilm identifies E. aerogenes as a suitable biocatalyst for MFC applications. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effective Control of Bioelectricity Generation from a Microbial Fuel Cell by Logical Combinations of pH and Temperature

PubMed Central

Tang, Jiahuan; Liu, Ting; Yuan, Yong

2014-01-01

In this study, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) with switchable power release is designed, which can be logically controlled by combinations of the most physiologically important parameters such as “temperature” and “pH.” Changes in voltage output in response to temperature and pH changes were significant in which voltage output decreased sharply when temperature was lowered from 30°C to 10°C or pH was decreased from 7.0 to 5.0. The switchability of the MFC comes from the microbial anode whose activity is affected by the combined medium temperature and pH. Changes in temperature and pH cause reversible activation-inactivation of the bioanode, thus affecting the activity of the entire MFC. With temperature and pH as input signals, an AND logic operation is constructed for the MFC whose power density is controlled. The developed system has the potential to meet the requirement of power supplies producing electrical power on-demand for self-powered biosensors or biomedical devices. PMID:24741343

Microbial stratification structure within cathodic biofilm of the microbial fuel cell using the freezing microtome method.

PubMed

Li, Xiao; Lu, Yaobin; Luo, Haiping; Liu, Guangli; Zhang, Renduo

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the microbial stratification structure within cathodic biofilm of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) using the freezing microtome method. Experiments were conducted in a single-chamber air-cathode MFC with 0.8g/L maltodextrin as substrate for ∼30d operation. The maximum power density was 945±10mW/m 2 in the MFC. Maltodextrin resulted in the relative abundance of Candidatus Saccharibacteria of 37.0% in the anodic biofilm. Different bacterial communities were identified in different layers within the cathodic biofilm. The relative abundance of Enterococcus was 3.7%, 10.5%, and 1.6% in the top (100-150μm), middle (50-100μm), and bottom (0-50μm) layers, respectively. Higher bacterial viability was observed within the top and bottom layers of the cathodic biofilm. Understanding the stratification of bacterial community in cathodic biofilm should be important to control the cathodic biofilm in the MFC. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Architecture engineering of hierarchically porous chitosan/vacuum-stripped graphene scaffold as bioanode for high performance microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

He, Ziming; Liu, Jing; Qiao, Yan; Li, Chang Ming; Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang

2012-09-12

The bioanode is the defining feature of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology and often limits its performance. In the current work, we report the engineering of a novel hierarchically porous architecture as an efficient bioanode, consisting of biocompatible chitosan and vacuum-stripped graphene (CHI/VSG). With the hierarchical pores and unique VSG, an optimized bioanode delivered a remarkable maximum power density of 1530 mW m(-2) in a mediator-less MFC, 78 times higher than a carbon cloth anode.

Performance evaluation of low cost microbial fuel cell fabricated using earthen pot with biotic and abiotic cathode.

PubMed

Behera, Manaswini; Jana, Partha S; Ghangrekar, M M

2010-02-01

An attempt has been made to produce low cost MFC from the commercially available earthen pots in India, without involving any costly membrane. This MFC gave a maximum power output of 16.8 W/m(3) at a Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 31.3% with graphite plate cathode. With stainless steel mesh cathode and KMnO(4) as cathodic electrolyte the power production and CE of 70.48 W/m(3) and 64.5%, respectively, was obtained. The performance of this earthen pot MFC was evaluated with biotic and abiotic cathode. Although, biofilm formation on the cathode is observed to be helpful in enhancing power out put, the thicker biofilm on the cathode showed reduction in power. This MFC demonstrated competitive performance as compared to MFC incorporated with membrane. This low cost MFC, with total production cost of less than 1.0$, as per Indian market, demonstrated its utility as a wastewater treatment and onsite power generation device.

Functionally Stable and Phylogenetically Diverse Microbial Enrichments from Microbial Fuel Cells during Wastewater Treatment

PubMed Central

Ishii, Shun'ichi; Suzuki, Shino; Norden-Krichmar, Trina M.; Nealson, Kenneth H.; Sekiguchi, Yuji; Gorby, Yuri A.; Bretschger, Orianna

2012-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that exploit microorganisms as biocatalysts to recover energy from organic matter in the form of electricity. One of the goals of MFC research is to develop the technology for cost-effective wastewater treatment. However, before practical MFC applications are implemented it is important to gain fundamental knowledge about long-term system performance, reproducibility, and the formation and maintenance of functionally-stable microbial communities. Here we report findings from a MFC operated for over 300 days using only primary clarifier effluent collected from a municipal wastewater treatment plant as the microbial resource and substrate. The system was operated in a repeat-batch mode, where the reactor solution was replaced once every two weeks with new primary effluent that consisted of different microbial and chemical compositions with every batch exchange. The turbidity of the primary clarifier effluent solution notably decreased, and 97% of biological oxygen demand (BOD) was removed after an 8–13 day residence time for each batch cycle. On average, the limiting current density was 1000 mA/m2, the maximum power density was 13 mW/m2, and coulombic efficiency was 25%. Interestingly, the electrochemical performance and BOD removal rates were very reproducible throughout MFC operation regardless of the sample variability associated with each wastewater exchange. While MFC performance was very reproducible, the phylogenetic analyses of anode-associated electricity-generating biofilms showed that the microbial populations temporally fluctuated and maintained a high biodiversity throughout the year-long experiment. These results suggest that MFC communities are both self-selecting and self-optimizing, thereby able to develop and maintain functional stability regardless of fluctuations in carbon source(s) and regular introduction of microbial competitors. These results contribute significantly toward the practical application of MFC systems for long-term wastewater treatment as well as demonstrating MFC technology as a useful device to enrich for functionally stable microbial populations. PMID:22347379

Electrical output of bryophyte microbial fuel cell systems is sufficient to power a radio or an environmental sensor.

PubMed

Bombelli, Paolo; Dennis, Ross J; Felder, Fabienne; Cooper, Matt B; Madras Rajaraman Iyer, Durgaprasad; Royles, Jessica; Harrison, Susan T L; Smith, Alison G; Harrison, C Jill; Howe, Christopher J

2016-10-01

Plant microbial fuel cells are a recently developed technology that exploits photosynthesis in vascular plants by harnessing solar energy and generating electrical power. In this study, the model moss species Physcomitrella patens , and other environmental samples of mosses, have been used to develop a non-vascular bryophyte microbial fuel cell (bryoMFC). A novel three-dimensional anodic matrix was successfully created and characterized and was further tested in a bryoMFC to determine the capacity of mosses to generate electrical power. The importance of anodophilic microorganisms in the bryoMFC was also determined. It was found that the non-sterile bryoMFCs operated with P. patens delivered over an order of magnitude higher peak power output (2.6 ± 0.6 µW m -2 ) than bryoMFCs kept in near-sterile conditions (0.2 ± 0.1 µW m -2 ). These results confirm the importance of the microbial populations for delivering electrons to the anode in a bryoMFC. When the bryoMFCs were operated with environmental samples of moss (non-sterile) the peak power output reached 6.7 ± 0.6 mW m -2 . The bryoMFCs operated with environmental samples of moss were able to power a commercial radio receiver or an environmental sensor (LCD desktop weather station).

Electrical output of bryophyte microbial fuel cell systems is sufficient to power a radio or an environmental sensor

PubMed Central

Dennis, Ross J.; Felder, Fabienne; Cooper, Matt B.; Royles, Jessica; Harrison, Susan T. L.; Smith, Alison G.; Howe, Christopher J.

2016-01-01

Plant microbial fuel cells are a recently developed technology that exploits photosynthesis in vascular plants by harnessing solar energy and generating electrical power. In this study, the model moss species Physcomitrella patens, and other environmental samples of mosses, have been used to develop a non-vascular bryophyte microbial fuel cell (bryoMFC). A novel three-dimensional anodic matrix was successfully created and characterized and was further tested in a bryoMFC to determine the capacity of mosses to generate electrical power. The importance of anodophilic microorganisms in the bryoMFC was also determined. It was found that the non-sterile bryoMFCs operated with P. patens delivered over an order of magnitude higher peak power output (2.6 ± 0.6 µW m−2) than bryoMFCs kept in near-sterile conditions (0.2 ± 0.1 µW m−2). These results confirm the importance of the microbial populations for delivering electrons to the anode in a bryoMFC. When the bryoMFCs were operated with environmental samples of moss (non-sterile) the peak power output reached 6.7 ± 0.6 mW m−2. The bryoMFCs operated with environmental samples of moss were able to power a commercial radio receiver or an environmental sensor (LCD desktop weather station). PMID:27853542

Capacitive deionization coupled with microbial fuel cells to desalinate low-concentration salt water.

PubMed

Yuan, Lulu; Yang, Xufei; Liang, Peng; Wang, Lei; Huang, Zheng-Hong; Wei, Jincheng; Huang, Xia

2012-04-01

A new technology (CDI-MFC) that combined capacitive deionization (CDI) and microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed to treat low-concentration salt water with NaCl concentration of 60mg/L. The water desalination rate was 35.6mg/(Lh), meanwhile the charge efficiency was 21.8%. Two desorption modes were investigated: discharging (DC) mode and short circuit (SC) mode. The desalination rate in the DC mode was 200.6±3.1mg/(Lh), 47.8% higher than that in the SC mode [135.7±15.3mg/(Lh)]. The average current in the DC mode was also much higher than that of the SC mode. The energy stored in the CDI cell has been reused to enhance the electron production of MFC by the discharging desorption mode (DC mode), which offers an approach to recover the electrostatic energy in the CDI cell. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced power generation and energy conversion of sewage sludge by CEA-microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Abourached, Carole; Lesnik, Keaton Larson; Liu, Hong

2014-08-01

The production of methane from sewage sludge through the use of anaerobic digestion has been able to effectively offset energy costs for wastewater treatment. However, significant energy reserves are left unrecovered and effluent standards are not met necessitating secondary processes such as aeration. In the current study a novel cloth-electrode assembly microbial fuel cell (CEA-MFC) was used to generate electricity from sewage sludge. Fermentation pretreatment of the sludge effectively increased the COD of the supernatant and improved reactor performance. Using the CEA-MFC design, a maximum power density of 1200 mW m(-2) was reached after a fermentation pre-treatment time of 96 h. This power density represents a 275% increase over those previously observed in MFC systems. Results indicate continued improvements are possible and MFCs may be a viable modification to existing wastewater treatment infrastructure. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation from carbon monoxide in a single chamber microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Mehta, P; Hussain, A; Tartakovsky, B; Neburchilov, V; Raghavan, V; Wang, H; Guiot, S R

2010-05-05

Electricity production from carbon monoxide (CO) is demonstrated in a single chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a CoTMPP-based air cathode. The MFC was inoculated with anaerobic sludge and continuously sparged with CO as a sole carbon source. Volumetric power output was maximized at a CO flow rate of 4.8LLR(-1)d(-1) reaching 6.4mWLR(-1). Several soluble and gaseous degradation products including hydrogen, methane, and acetate were detected, resulting in a relatively low apparent Coulombic efficiency of 8.7%. Tests also demonstrated electricity production from hydrogen and acetate with the highest and fastest increase in voltage exhibited after acetate injection. It is hypothesized that electricity generation in a CO-fed MFC is accomplished by a consortium of carboxydotrophic and carbon monoxide - tolerant anodophilic microorganisms. Crown Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

External Resistances Applied to MFC Affect Core Microbiome and Swine Manure Treatment Efficiencies

PubMed Central

Vilajeliu-Pons, Anna; Bañeras, Lluis; Puig, Sebastià; Molognoni, Daniele; Vilà-Rovira, Albert; Hernández-del Amo, Elena; Balaguer, Maria D.; Colprim, Jesús

2016-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be designed to combine water treatment with concomitant electricity production. Animal manure treatment has been poorly explored using MFCs, and its implementation at full-scale primarily relies on the bacterial distribution and activity within the treatment cell. This study reports the bacterial community changes at four positions within the anode of two almost identically operated MFCs fed swine manure. Changes in the microbiome structure are described according to the MFC fluid dynamics and the application of a maximum power point tracking system (MPPT) compared to a fixed resistance system (Ref-MFC). Both external resistance and cell hydrodynamics are thought to heavily influence MFC performance. The microbiome was characterised both quantitatively (qPCR) and qualitatively (454-pyrosequencing) by targeting bacterial 16S rRNA genes. The diversity of the microbial community in the MFC biofilm was reduced and differed from the influent swine manure. The adopted electric condition (MPPT vs fixed resistance) was more relevant than the fluid dynamics in shaping the MFC microbiome. MPPT control positively affected bacterial abundance and promoted the selection of putatively exoelectrogenic bacteria in the MFC core microbiome (Sedimentibacter sp. and gammaproteobacteria). These differences in the microbiome may be responsible for the two-fold increase in power production achieved by the MPPT-MFC compared to the Ref-MFC. PMID:27701451

Improving performance of MFC by design alteration and adding cathodic electrolytes.

PubMed

Jadhav, G S; Ghangrekar, M M

2008-12-01

Performance of two microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was investigated under batch and continuous mode of operation using different cathodic electrolyte. The wastewater was supplied from the bottom port provided to the anode chamber in both the MFCs and the effluent left the anode chamber from the top port in MFC-1, whereas in MFC-2, the effluent exit was provided close to membrane. Stainless steel (SS) mesh anode was used in both the MFCs with surface area of 167 and 100 cm(2) in MFC-1 and MFC-2, respectively. Under batch mode and continuous mode of operation, these MFCs gave chemical oxygen demand removal efficiency more than 85% and about 68%, respectively. Under batch mode of operation, maximum power density of 39.95 and 56.87 mW/m(2) and maximum current density of 180.83 and 295 mA/m(2) were obtained in MFC-1 and MFC-2, respectively. Under continuous mode of operation, a reduction in power and current density was observed. Even with less surface area of the anode, MFC-2 produced more current (1.77 mA) than MFC-1 (1.40 mA). Among the cathodic electrolyte tested, these can be listed in decreasing order of power density as aerated KMnO(4) solution > KMnO(4) solution without aeration > aerated tap water > aerated tap water with NaCl.

Domestic wastewater treatment and power generation in continuous flow air-cathode stacked microbial fuel cell: Effect of series and parallel configuration.

PubMed

Estrada-Arriaga, Edson Baltazar; Hernández-Romano, Jesús; García-Sánchez, Liliana; Guillén Garcés, Rosa Angélica; Bahena-Bahena, Erick Obed; Guadarrama-Pérez, Oscar; Moeller Chavez, Gabriela Eleonora

2018-05-15

In this study, a continuous flow stack consisting of 40 individual air-cathode MFC units was used to determine the performance of stacked MFC during domestic wastewater treatment operated with unconnected individual MFC and in series and parallel configuration. The voltages obtained from individual MFC units were of 0.08-1.1 V at open circuit voltage, while in series connection, the maximum power and current density were 2500 mW/m 2 and 500 mA/m 2 (4.9 V), respectively. In parallel connection, the maximum power and current density was 5.8 mW/m 2 and 24 mA/m 2 , respectively. When the cells were not connected to each other MFC unit, the main bacterial species found in the anode biofilms were Bacillus and Lysinibacillus. After switching from unconnected to series and parallel connections, the most abundant species in the stacked MFC were Pseudomonas aeruginosa, followed by different Bacilli classes. This study demonstrated that when the stacked MFC was switched from unconnected to series and parallel connections, the pollutants removal, performance electricity and microbial community changed significantly. Voltages drops were observed in the stacked MFC, which was mainly limited by the cathodes. These voltages loss indicated high resistances within the stacked MFC, generating a parasitic cross current. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A novel microbial fuel cell sensor with biocathode sensing element.

PubMed

Jiang, Yong; Liang, Peng; Liu, Panpan; Wang, Donglin; Miao, Bo; Huang, Xia

2017-08-15

The traditional microbial fuel cell (MFC) sensor with bioanode as sensing element delivers limited sensitivity to toxicity monitoring, restricted application to only anaerobic and organic rich water body, and increased potential fault warning to the combined shock of organic matter/toxicity. In this study, the biocathode for oxygen reduction reaction was employed for the first time as the sensing element in MFC sensor for toxicity monitoring. The results shown that the sensitivity of MFC sensor with biocathode sensing element (7.4±2.0 to 67.5±4.0mA% -1 cm -2 ) was much greater than that showed by bioanode sensing element (3.4±1.5 to 5.5±0.7mA% -1 cm -2 ). The biocathode sensing element achieved the lowest detection limit reported to date using MFC sensor for formaldehyde detection (0.0005%), while the bioanode was more applicable for higher concentration (>0.0025%). There was a quicker response of biocathode sensing element with the increase of conductivity and dissolved oxygen (DO). The biocathode sensing element made the MFC sensor directly applied to clean water body monitoring, e.g., drinking water and reclaimed water, without the amending of background organic matter, and it also decreased the warning failure when challenged by a combined shock of organic matter/toxicity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Selection of electrogenic bacteria for microbial fuel cell in removing Victoria blue R from wastewater.

PubMed

Chen, Chih-Yu; Tsai, Teh-Hua; Wu, Pei-Ssu; Tsao, Shuo-En; Huang, Yu-Shan; Chung, Ying-Chien

2018-01-28

This study was conducted to select electrogenic bacteria from wastewater sludge. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Proteobacteria was the dominant phylum in the microbial fuel cell (MFC) during the decomposition process of organic pollutants. Five culturable bacteria strains - namely, Bacillus subtilis, Flavobacterium sp., Aeromonas hydrophila, Citrobacter freundii, and Stenotrophomonas sp. - have a double potential in dye removal and electricity generation. We inoculated the mixed electrogenic bacteria at a specific ratio and treated them with a triphenylmethane dye, Victoria blue R (VBR), to evaluate their electricity generation ability for the artificial and real wastewater. The results of the VBR shock-loading experiment indicated that the inoculated MFC could adapt to shock loading in 1-2 days and exhibited high removal efficiency (95-100%) for 100-800 mg L -1 VBR with a power density of 8.62 ± 0.10 to 34.81 ± 0.25 mW m -2 . The selected electrogenic bacteria in the MFC could use VBR as only electron donor for power generation. The matrix effects of the real wastewater on VBR removal and electricity generation of MFC were insignificant. VBR degradation by the electrogenic bacteria involves a stepwise demethylation process to yield partially dealkylated VBR species. In addition, these results demonstrate the feasibility of inoculating culturable bacteria strains to develop an efficient MFC for purifying wastewater.

Long-term performance of a 20-L continuous flow microbial fuel cell for treatment of brewery wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Mengqian; Chen, Shing; Babanova, Sofia; Phadke, Sujal; Salvacion, Michael; Mirhosseini, Auvid; Chan, Shirley; Carpenter, Kayla; Cortese, Rachel; Bretschger, Orianna

2017-07-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been shown as a promising technology for wastewater treatment. Integration of MFCs into current wastewater treatment plant have potential to reduce the operational cost and improve the treatment performance, and scaling up MFCs will be essential. However, only a few studies have reported successful scale up attempts. Fabrication cost, treatment performance and operational lifetime are critical factors to optimize before commercialization of MFCs. To test these factors, we constructed a 20 L MFC system containing two 10 L MFC reactors and operated the system with brewery wastewater for nearly one year. Several operational conditions were tested, including different flowrates, applied external resistors, and poised anodic potentials. The condition resulting in the highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency (94.6 ± 1.0%) was a flow rate of 1 mL min-1 (HRT = 313 h) and an applied resistor of 10 Ω across each MFC circuit. Results from each of the eight stages of operation (325 days total) indicate that MFCs can sustain treatment rates over a long-term period and are robust enough to sustain performance even after system perturbations. possible ways to improve MFC performance were discussed for future studies.

Dark fermentation, anaerobic digestion and microbial fuel cells: An integrated system to valorize swine manure and rice bran.

PubMed

Schievano, Andrea; Sciarria, Tommy Pepè; Gao, Yong Chang; Scaglia, Barbara; Salati, Silvia; Zanardo, Marina; Quiao, Wei; Dong, Renjie; Adani, Fabrizio

2016-10-01

This work describes how dark fermentation (DF), anaerobic digestion (AD) and microbial fuel cells (MFC) and solid-liquid separation can be integrated to co-produce valuable biochemicals (hydrogen and methane), bioelectricity and biofertilizers. Two integrated systems (System 1: AD+MFC, and System 2: DF+AD+MFC) are described and compared to a traditional one-stage AD system in converting a mixture (COD=124±8.1gO2kg(-1)Fresh Matter) of swine manure and rice bran. System 1 gave a biomethane yield of 182 LCH4kg(-1)COD-added, while System 2 gave L yields of bio-hydrogen and bio-methane of 27.3±7.2LH2kg(-1)COD-added and 154±14LCH4kg(-1)COD-added, respectively. A solid-liquid separation (SLS) step was applied to the digested slurry, giving solid and liquid fractions. The liquid fraction was treated via the MFC-steps, showing power densities of 12-13Wm(-3) (500Ω) and average bioelectricity yields of 39.8Whkg(-1)COD to 54.2Whkg(-1)COD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A simple microbial fuel cell model for improvement of biomedical device powering times.

PubMed

Roxby, Daniel N; Tran, Nham; Nguyen, Hung T

2014-01-01

This study describes a Matlab based Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) model for a suspended microbial population, in the anode chamber for the use of the MFC in powering biomedical devices. The model contains three main sections including microbial growth, microbial chemical uptake and secretion and electrochemical modeling. The microbial growth portion is based on a Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) model for the microbial growth with substrate and electron acceptors. Microbial stoichiometry is used to determine chemical concentrations and their rates of change and transfer within the MFC. These parameters are then used in the electrochemical modeling for calculating current, voltage and power. The model was tested for typically exhibited MFC characteristics including increased electrode distances and surface areas, overpotentials and operating temperatures. Implantable biomedical devices require long term powering which is the main objective for MFCs. Towards this end, our model was tested with different initial substrate and electron acceptor concentrations, revealing a four-fold increase in concentrations decreased the power output time by 50%. Additionally, the model also predicts that for a 35.7% decrease in specific growth rate, a 50% increase in power longevity is possible.

Biotic conversion of sulphate to sulphide and abiotic conversion of sulphide to sulphur in a microbial fuel cell using cobalt oxide octahedrons as cathode catalyst.

PubMed

Chatterjee, Pritha; Ghangrekar, M M; Rao, Surampalli; Kumar, Senthil

2017-05-01

Varying chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulphate concentrations in substrate were used to determine reaction kinetics and mass balance of organic matter and sulphate transformation in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). MFC with anodic chamber volume of 1 L, fed with wastewater having COD of 500 mg/L and sulphate of 200 mg/L, could harvest power of 54.4 mW/m 2 , at a Coulombic efficiency of 14%, with respective COD and sulphate removals of 90 and 95%. Sulphide concentration, even up to 1500 mg/L, did not inhibit anodic biochemical reactions, due to instantaneous abiotic oxidation to sulphur, at high inlet sulphate. Experiments on abiotic oxidation of sulphide to sulphur revealed maximum oxidation taking place at an anodic potential of -200 mV. More than 99% sulphate removal could be achieved in a MFC with inlet COD/sulphate of 0.75, giving around 1.33 kg/m 3  day COD removal. Bioelectrochemical conversion of sulphate facilitating sulphur recovery in a MFC makes it an interesting pollution abatement technique.

Integrated membrane and microbial fuel cell technologies for enabling energy-efficient effluent Re-use in power plants.

PubMed

Shrestha, Namita; Chilkoor, Govinda; Xia, Lichao; Alvarado, Catalina; Kilduff, James E; Keating, John J; Belfort, Georges; Gadhamshetty, Venkataramana

2017-06-15

Municipal wastewater is an attractive alternative to freshwater sources to meet the cooling water needs of thermal power plants. Here we offer an energy-efficient integrated microbial fuel cell (MFC)/ultrafiltration (UF) process to purify primary clarifier effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant for use as cooling water. The microbial fuel cell was shown to significantly reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the primary settled wastewater effluent upstream of the UF module, while eliminating the energy demand required to deliver dissolved oxygen in conventional aerobic treatment. We investigated surface modification of the UF membranes to control fouling. Two promising hydrophilic monomers were identified in a high-throughput search: zwitterion (2-(Methacryloyloxy)-ethyl-dimethyl-(3-sulfopropyl ammoniumhydroxide, abbreviated BET SO 3 - ), and amine (2-(Methacryloyloxy) ethyl trimethylammonium chloride, abbreviated N(CH 3 ) 3 + ). Monomers were grafted using UV-induced polymerization on commercial poly (ether sulfone) membranes. Filtration of MFC effluent by membranes modified with BET SO 3 - and N(CH 3 ) 3 + exhibited a lower rate of resistance increase and lower energy consumption than the commercially available membrane. The MFC/UF process produced high quality cooling water that meets the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI) recommendations for COD, a suite of metals (Fe, Al, Cu, Zn, Si, Mn, S, Ca and Mg), and offered extremely low corrosion rates (<0.05 mm/yr). A series of AC and DC diagnostic tests were used to evaluate the MFC performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Investigation and Taguchi Optimization of Microbial Fuel Cell Salt Bridge Dimensional Parameters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarma, Dhrupad; Barua, Parimal Bakul; Dey, Nabendu; Nath, Sumitro; Thakuria, Mrinmay; Mallick, Synthia

2018-01-01

One major problem of two chamber salt bridge microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is the high resistance offered by the salt bridge to anion flow. Many researchers who have studied and optimized various parameters related to salt bridge MFC, have not shed much light on the effect of salt bridge dimensional parameters on the MFC performance. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to investigate the effect of length and cross sectional area of salt bridge and the effect of solar radiation and atmospheric temperature on MFC current output. An experiment has been designed using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array, taking length and cross sectional area of salt bridge as factors having three levels. Nine MFCs were fabricated as per the nine trial conditions. Trials were conducted for 3 days and output current of each of the MFCs along with solar insolation and atmospheric temperature were recorded. Analysis of variance shows that salt bridge length has significant effect both on mean (with 53.90% contribution at 95% CL) and variance (with 56.46% contribution at 87% CL), whereas the effect of cross sectional area of the salt bridge and the interaction of these two factors is significant on mean only (with 95% CL). Optimum combination was found at 260 mm salt bridge length and 506.7 mm2 cross sectional area with 4.75 mA of mean output current. The temperature and solar insolation data when correlated with each of the MFCs average output current, revealed that both external factors have significant impact on MFC current output but the correlation coefficient varies from MFC to MFC depending on salt bridge dimensional parameters.

A microbial fuel cell driven capacitive deionization technology for removal of low level dissolved ions.

PubMed

Feng, Cuijie; Hou, Chia-Hung; Chen, Shaohua; Yu, Chang-Ping

2013-04-01

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging technology, which uses exoelectrogenic microorganisms to oxidize organic matter in the wastewater to produce electricity. However, the low energy output limits its application in practice. Capacitive deionization (CDI), an electrochemically controlled method for deionization by the adsorption of ions in the electrical double layer region at an electrode-solution interface, requires a low external power supply. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the MFC driven CDI (MFC-CDI) technology to integrate deionization with wastewater treatment and electricity production. Taking advantage of the low potential requirement of CDI, voltage generated from a continuous flow MFC could be used to drive the CDI to achieve removal of the electrolyte to a stable status. The results indicated that among the three connection types of MFCs including single-, series-, and parallel-configuration, the parallel connection of two MFCs resulted in the highest potential (0.63V) applied to CDI and the conductivity removal of NaCl solution was more than 60%. The electrosorption capacities under different electrolyte concentrations of 50, 100 and 150 mg L(-1) were 150, 346 and 295 μg g(-1), respectively. These results suggest that the new MFC-CDI technology, which utilizes energy recovery from the wastewater, has great potential to be an energy saving technology to remove low level dissolved ions from aqueous solutions for the water and wastewater treatment processes. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Binder materials for the cathodes applied to self-stratifying membraneless microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Walter, Xavier Alexis; Greenman, John; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

2018-04-19

The recently developed self-stratifying membraneless microbial fuel cell (SSM-MFC) has been shown as a promising concept for urine treatment. The first prototypes employed cathodes made of activated carbon (AC) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) mixture. Here, we explored the possibility to substitute PTFE with either polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA) or PlastiDip (CPD; i.e. synthetic rubber) as binder for AC-based cathode in SSM-MFC. Sintered activated carbon (SAC) was also tested due to its ease of manufacturing and the fact that no stainless steel collector is needed. Results indicate that the SSM-MFC having PTFE cathodes were the most powerful measuring 1617 μW (11 W·m -3 or 101 mW·m -2 ). SSM-MFC with PVA and CPD as binders were producing on average the same level of power (1226 ± 90 μW), which was 24% less than the SSM-MFC having PTFE-based cathodes. When balancing the power by the cost and environmental impact, results clearly show that PVA was the best alternative. Power wise, the SAC cathodes were shown being the less performing (≈1070 μW). Nonetheless, the lower power of SAC was balanced by its inexpensiveness. Overall results indicate that (i) PTFE is yet the best binder to employ, and (ii) SAC and PVA-based cathodes are promising alternatives that would benefit from further improvements. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrating microbial fuel cells with anaerobic acidification and forward osmosis membrane for enhancing bio-electricity and water recovery from low-strength wastewater.

PubMed

Liu, Jinmeng; Wang, Xinhua; Wang, Zhiwei; Lu, Yuqin; Li, Xiufen; Ren, Yueping

2017-03-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and forward osmosis (FO) are two emerging technologies with great potential for energy-efficient wastewater treatment. In this study, anaerobic acidification and FO membrane were simultaneously integrated into an air-cathode MFC (AAFO-MFC) for enhancing bio-electricity and water recovery from low-strength wastewater. During a long-term operation of approximately 40 days, the AAFO-MFC system achieved a continuous and relatively stable power generation, and the maximum power density reached 4.38 W/m 3 . The higher bio-electricity production in the AAFO-MFC system was mainly due to the accumulation of ethanol resulted from anaerobic acidification process and the rejection of FO membrane. In addition, a proper salinity environment in the system controlled by the addition of MF membrane enhanced the electricity production. Furthermore, the AAFO-MFC system produced a high quality effluent, with the removal rates of organic matters and total phosphorus of more than 97%. However, the nitrogen removal was limited for the lower rejection of FO membrane. The combined biofouling and inorganic fouling were responsible for the lower water flux of FO membrane, and the Desulfuromonas sp. utilized the ethanol for bio-electricity production was observed in the anode. These results substantially improve the prospects for simultaneous wastewater treatment and energy recovery, and further studies are needed to optimize the system integration and operating parameters. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon fiber enhanced bioelectricity generation in soil microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Li, Xiaojing; Wang, Xin; Zhao, Qian; Wan, Lili; Li, Yongtao; Zhou, Qixing

2016-11-15

The soil microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising biotechnology for the bioelectricity recovery as well as the remediation of organics contaminated soil. However, the electricity production and the remediation efficiency of soil MFC are seriously limited by the tremendous internal resistance of soil. Conductive carbon fiber was mixed with petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soil and significantly enhanced the performance of soil MFC. The maximum current density, the maximum power density and the accumulated charge output of MFC mixed carbon fiber (MC) were 10, 22 and 16 times as high as those of closed circuit control due to the carbon fiber productively assisted the anode to collect the electron. The internal resistance of MC reduced by 58%, 83% of which owed to the charge transfer resistance, resulting in a high efficiency of electron transfer from soil to anode. The degradation rates of total petroleum hydrocarbons enhanced by 100% and 329% compared to closed and opened circuit controls without the carbon fiber respectively. The effective range of remediation and the bioelectricity recovery was extended from 6 to 20cm with the same area of air-cathode. The mixed carbon fiber apparently enhanced the bioelectricity generation and the remediation efficiency of soil MFC by means of promoting the electron transfer rate from soil to anode. The use of conductively functional materials (e.g. carbon fiber) is very meaningful for the remediation and bioelectricity recovery in the bioelectrochemical remediation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy generation by fermentation of glucose in a batch flow microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Badea, Silviu-Laurentiu; Enache, Stanica; Tamaian, Radu; Buga, Mihaela-Ramona; Pirvu, Cristian; Varlam, Mihai

2016-04-01

In the last years, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have emerged like a novel research technologies for production of sustainable and clean electricity energy through bioxidation of organic materials, representing a promising alternative to combustion energy sources. In this study, production of bioelectricity in MFC in batch system (dual chambered MFC) was investigated. A dual chambered MFC from glass was built for this purpose. Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an active biocatalyst was explored for power generation. Graphite plates were used as electrodes and glucose as substrate. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was initially grown on a period of 72h at 30 degree Celsius, on medium of modified Sabouraud liquid medium containing 30 g glucose/L. A volume of inoculated medium (80 mL) was transferred in the anode compartment of MFC together with 20 mL glucose 1M, while neutral red was used as mediator (electron shuttle) in concentration of 200 μM in anaerobic anode chamber. Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) was used as oxidizing agent in the cathode in wide concentration range (400 μM-40 000 μM). Cathodic compartment was loaded initially with 40 mM potassium permanganate, and afterwards was supplied two times more with KMnO4 of the same concentration, in order to maintain MFC functionality. The MFC was operated on a water bath heated by a combined hot-plate magnetic-stirrer device at 30 degree Celsius and mixed at 180 rpm. The maximum open circuit potential (OCV) recorded of about 0.6 V was reached after the 3rd loading with 40 milimolles of potassium permanganate. Using a potentiostat, the polarization curve was recorded by varying the potential between 0.5 V and 0.0 V, while the intensity of current increased from 0.0 to about 1.5 mA respectively, corresponding to an anodic current density of about 0.81 A/m2. In order to optimize the design and performance of the MFC, the goal of the further research is to use variously concentrations of potassium permanganate. Furthermore, a dual chambered MFC of large volume (0.5 L), a nafion membrane between anodic and cathodic compartments, and recirculation flows of glucose and potassium permanganate are planned to be used for a longer operability of the MFC.

Electrochemically exfoliated graphene anodes with enhanced biocurrent production in single-chamber air-breathing microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Najafabadi, Amin Taheri; Ng, Norvin; Gyenge, Előd

2016-07-15

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) present promising options for environmentally sustainable power generation especially in conjunction with waste water treatment. However, major challenges remain including low power density, difficult scale-up, and durability of the cell components. This study reports enhanced biocurrent production in a membrane-free MFC, using graphene microsheets (GNs) as anode and MnOx catalyzed air cathode. The GNs are produced by ionic liquid assisted simultaneous anodic and cathodic electrochemical exfoliation of iso-molded graphite electrodes. The GNs produced by anodic exfoliation increase the MFC peak power density by over 300% compared to plain carbon cloth (i.e., 2.85Wm(-2) vs 0.66Wm(-2), respectively), and by 90% compared to conventional carbon black (i.e., Vulcan XC-72) anode. These results exceed previously reported power densities for graphene-containing MFC anodes. The fuel cell polarization results are corroborated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicating three times lower charge transfer resistance for the GN anode. Material characterizations suggest that the best performing GN samples were of relatively smaller size (~500nm), with higher levels of ionic liquid induced surface functionalization during the electrochemical exfoliation process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation in a membrane-less microbial fuel cell with down-flow feeding onto the cathode.

PubMed

Zhu, Feng; Wang, Wancheng; Zhang, Xiaoyan; Tao, Guanhong

2011-08-01

A novel membrane-less microbial fuel cell (MFC) with down-flow feeding was constructed to generate electricity. Wastewater was fed directly onto the cathode which was horizontally installed in the upper part of the MFC. Oxygen could be utilized readily from the air. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in the influent wastewater had little effect on the power generation. A saturation-type relationship was observed between the initial COD and the power generation. The influent flow rate could affect greatly the power density. Fed by the synthetic glucose wastewater with a COD value of 3500 mg/L at a flow rate of 4.0 mL/min, the developed MFC could produce a maximum power density of 37.4 mW/m(2). Its applicability was further evaluated by the treatment of brewery wastewater. The system could be scaled up readily due to its simple configuration, easy operation and relatively high power density. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of electricity generation and biodegradation in tidal river sludge-used microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Touch, Narong; Hibino, Tadashi; Nagatsu, Yoshiyuki; Tachiuchi, Kouhei

2014-04-01

The electricity generation behavior of microbial fuel cell (MFC) using the sludge collected from the riverbank of a tidal river, and the biodegradation of the sludge by the electricity generation are evaluated. Although the maximum current density (150-300 mA/m(2)) was higher than that of MFC using freshwater sediment (30 mA/m(2)), the output current was greatly restricted by the mass transfer limitation. However, our results also indicate that placing the anode in different locations in the sludge could reduce the mass transfer limitation. After approximately 3 months, the removal efficiency of organic carbon was approximately 10%, demonstrated that MFC could also enhance the biodegradation of the sludge by nearly 10-fold comparing with the natural biodegradation. We also found that the biodegradation could be identified by the behavior of oxygen consumption of the sludge. Importantly, the oxygen consumption of the sludge became higher along with the electricity generation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous pollutant removal and electricity generation in denitrifying microbial fuel cell with boric acid-borate buffer solution.

PubMed

Chen, Gang; Zhang, Shaohui; Li, Meng; Wei, Yan

2015-01-01

A double-chamber denitrifying microbial fuel cell (MFC), using boric acid-borate buffer solution as an alternative to phosphate buffer solution, was set up to investigate the influence of buffer solution concentration, temperature and external resistance on electricity generation and pollutant removal efficiency. The result revealed that the denitrifying MFC with boric acid-borate buffer solution was successfully started up in 51 days, with a stable cell voltage of 205.1 ± 1.96 mV at an external resistance of 50 Ω. Higher concentration of buffer solution favored nitrogen removal and electricity generation. The maximum power density of 8.27 W/m(3) net cathodic chamber was obtained at a buffer solution concentration of 100 mmol/L. An increase in temperature benefitted electricity generation and nitrogen removal. A suitable temperature for this denitrifying MFC was suggested to be 25 °C. Decreasing the external resistance favored nitrogen removal and organic matter consumption by exoelectrogens.

Two stage bioethanol refining with multi litre stacked microbial fuel cell and microbial electrolysis cell.

PubMed

Sugnaux, Marc; Happe, Manuel; Cachelin, Christian Pierre; Gloriod, Olivier; Huguenin, Gérald; Blatter, Maxime; Fischer, Fabian

2016-12-01

Ethanol, electricity, hydrogen and methane were produced in a two stage bioethanol refinery setup based on a 10L microbial fuel cell (MFC) and a 33L microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). The MFC was a triple stack for ethanol and electricity co-generation. The stack configuration produced more ethanol with faster glucose consumption the higher the stack potential. Under electrolytic conditions ethanol productivity outperformed standard conditions and reached 96.3% of the theoretically best case. At lower external loads currents and working potentials oscillated in a self-synchronized manner over all three MFC units in the stack. In the second refining stage, fermentation waste was converted into methane, using the scale up MEC stack. The bioelectric methanisation reached 91% efficiency at room temperature with an applied voltage of 1.5V using nickel cathodes. The two stage bioethanol refining process employing bioelectrochemical reactors produces more energy vectors than is possible with today's ethanol distilleries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Treatment of seafood processing wastewater using upflow microbial fuel cell for power generation and identification of bacterial community in anodic biofilm.

PubMed

Jayashree, C; Tamilarasan, K; Rajkumar, M; Arulazhagan, P; Yogalakshmi, K N; Srikanth, M; Banu, J Rajesh

2016-09-15

Tubular upflow microbial fuel cell (MFC) utilizing sea food processing wastewater was evaluated for wastewater treatment efficiency and power generation. At an organic loading rate (OLR) of 0.6 g d(-1), the MFC accomplished total and soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 83 and 95%, respectively. A maximum power density of 105 mW m(-2) (2.21 W m(-3)) was achieved at an OLR of 2.57 g d(-1). The predominant bacterial communities of anode biofilm were identified as RB1A (LC035455), RB1B (LC035456), RB1C (LC035457) and RB1E (LC035458). All the four strains belonged to genera Stenotrophomonas. The results of the study reaffirms that the seafood processing wastewater can be treated in an upflow MFC for simultaneous power generation and wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced bioelectricity generation of air-cathode buffer-free microbial fuel cells through short-term anolyte pH adjustment.

PubMed

Ren, Yueping; Chen, Jinli; Li, Xiufen; Yang, Na; Wang, Xinhua

2018-04-01

Short-term initial anolyte pH adjustment can relieve the performance deterioration of the single-chamber air-cathode buffer-free microbial fuel cell (BFMFC) caused by anolyte acidification. Adjusting the initial anolyte pH to 9 in 5 running cycles is the optimum strategy. The relative abundance of the electrochemically active Geobacter in the KCl-pH9-MFC anode biofilm increased from 59.01% to 75.13% after the short-term adjustment. The maximum power density (P max ) of the KCl-pH9-MFC was elevated from 316.4mW·m -2 to 511.6mW·m -2 , which was comparable with that of the PBS-MFC. And, after the short-term adjusting, new equilibrium between the anolyte pH and the anode biofilm electrochemical activity has been established in the BFMFC, which ensured the sustainability of the improved bioelectricity generation performance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Carbon-Neutral Photosynthetic Microbial Fuel Cell Powered by Microcystis aeruginosa.

PubMed

Ma, Meirong; Cao, Limin; Chen, Li; Ying, Xiaofang; Deng, Zongwu

2015-07-01

A photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (m-PMFC) is developed for generating electricity by harnessing solar energy using Microcystis aeruginosa. In this m-PMFC, commensal bacteria can consume the nutrients that Microcystis aeruginosa produces to generate electricity so that no net CO₂production occurs. A b-MFC is constructed to confirm the role of commensal bacteria in electric generation. An s-PMFC is constructed to confirm the contribution of Microcystis aeruginosa as substrates. The power outputs of m-PMFCs exhibit no significant difference in terms of different inoculation amount of Microcystis aeruginosa or light/dark cycles. The power density of m-PMFC exhibits similar response to bubbling of N₂and O₂as that of b-MFC, as confirmed by cyclic voltammetry analysis of m-PMFC and b-MFC. Scanning electron microscope images demonstrate that the biofilm of m-PMFC consists mainly of commensal bacteria. These results suggest that commensal bacteria act as the main biocatalysts and Microcystis aeruginosa as the anode substrates in the m-PMFC.

Phenol-degrading anode biofilm with high coulombic efficiency in graphite electrodes microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Zhang, Dongdong; Li, Zhiling; Zhang, Chunfang; Zhou, Xue; Xiao, Zhixing; Awata, Takanori; Katayama, Arata

2017-03-01

A microbial fuel cell (MFC), with graphite electrodes as both the anode and cathode, was operated with a soil-free anaerobic consortium for phenol degradation. This phenol-degrading MFC showed high efficiency with a current density of 120 mA/m 2 and a coulombic efficiency of 22.7%, despite the lack of a platinum catalyst cathode and inoculation of sediment/soil. Removal of planktonic bacteria by renewing the anaerobic medium did not decrease the performance, suggesting that the phenol-degrading MFC was not maintained by the planktonic bacteria but by the microorganisms in the anode biofilm. Cyclic voltammetry analysis of the anode biofilm showed distinct oxidation and reduction peaks. Analysis of the microbial community structure of the anode biofilm and the planktonic bacteria based on 16S rRNA gene sequences suggested that Geobacter sp. was the phenol degrader in the anode biofilm and was responsible for current generation. Copyright © 2016 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microbial Fuel Cells for Powering Navy Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-20

specific MFC being analyzed. Figure 3 depicts simulated voltage vs. current plots (black curves) and corresponding power vs. current...Powering Navy Devices 7     Fig. 3 – Simulated voltage vs current and power vs current polarization plots for a two- chamber MFC in which membrane...the anode is generated by fermentation of glucose by other microorganisms in the sediment represented by clostridium in Fig. 4. The products of the

A paper-based microbial fuel cell array for rapid and high-throughput screening of electricity-producing bacteria.

PubMed

Choi, Gihoon; Hassett, Daniel J; Choi, Seokheun

2015-06-21

There is a large global effort to improve microbial fuel cell (MFC) techniques and advance their translational potential toward practical, real-world applications. Significant boosts in MFC performance can be achieved with the development of new techniques in synthetic biology that can regulate microbial metabolic pathways or control their gene expression. For these new directions, a high-throughput and rapid screening tool for microbial biopower production is needed. In this work, a 48-well, paper-based sensing platform was developed for the high-throughput and rapid characterization of the electricity-producing capability of microbes. 48 spatially distinct wells of a sensor array were prepared by patterning 48 hydrophilic reservoirs on paper with hydrophobic wax boundaries. This paper-based platform exploited the ability of paper to quickly wick fluid and promoted bacterial attachment to the anode pads, resulting in instant current generation upon loading of the bacterial inoculum. We validated the utility of our MFC array by studying how strategic genetic modifications impacted the electrochemical activity of various Pseudomonas aeruginosa mutant strains. Within just 20 minutes, we successfully determined the electricity generation capacity of eight isogenic mutants of P. aeruginosa. These efforts demonstrate that our MFC array displays highly comparable performance characteristics and identifies genes in P. aeruginosa that can trigger a higher power density.

Insights into the applicability of microbial fuel cells in wastewater treatment plants for a sustainable generation of electricity.

PubMed

Krieg, Thomas; Mayer, Florian; Sell, Dieter; Holtmann, Dirk

2017-11-21

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are often discussed as a part of a sustainable generation of electricity for the coming 'energy revolution'. In particular, the application of MFCs in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are often regarded as an attractive alternative to reduce costs while generating electricity. Field surveys are necessary to show the applicability of MFCs in WWTPs considering daily fluctuations and environmental effects such as rain events affecting the MFC performance remarkably. In this study, a MFC system was tested in four municipal WWTPs using different modes of operation. A correlation between current densities and sludge loading (SL) was identified. At low SLs, the activated sludge needs a large amount of the energy derived from the substrate for the maintenance metabolism resulting in quite low current densities of the MFC. At high SLs much more of the energy can be transferred from the activated sludge to the electrode, resulting in higher currents. Furthermore, the effect of environmental conditions on the current densities was evaluated. WWTPs have daily fluctuations depending on the wastewater composition, weather phenomena and population equivalents. Our data show that these daily fluctuations can only be observed in the MFC performance at WWTPs below 50,000 population equivalents.

Surface-to-surface biofilm transfer: a quick and reliable startup strategy for mixed culture microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Vogl, Andreas; Bischof, Franz; Wichern, Marc

2016-01-01

The startup of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is known to be prone to failure or result in erratic performance impeding the research. The aim of this study was to advise a quick launch strategy for laboratory-scale MFCs that ensures steady operation performance in a short period of time. Different startup strategies were investigated and compared with membraneless single chamber MFCs. A direct surface-to-surface biofilm transfer (BFT) in an operating MFC proved to be the most efficient method. It provided steady power densities of 163 ± 13 mWm(-2) 4 days after inoculation compared to 58 ± 15 mWm(-2) after 30 days following a conventional inoculation approach. The in situ BFT eliminates the need for microbial acclimation during startup and reduces performance fluctuations caused by shifts in microbial biodiversity. Anaerobic pretreatment of the substrate and addition of suspended enzymes from an operating MFC into the new MFC proved to have a beneficial effect on startup and subsequent operation. Polarization methods were applied to characterize the startup phase and the steady state operation in terms of power densities, internal resistance and power overshoot during biofilm maturation. Applying this method a well-working MFC can be multiplied into an array of identically performing MFCs.

Intelligent energy harvesting scheme for microbial fuel cells: Maximum power point tracking and voltage overshoot avoidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaraj, Muhannad; Radenkovic, Miloje; Park, Jae-Do

2017-02-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are renewable and sustainable energy sources that can be used for various applications. The MFC output power depends on its biochemical conditions as well as the terminal operating points in terms of output voltage and current. There exists one operating point that gives the maximum possible power from the MFC, maximum power point (MPP), for a given operating condition. However, this MPP may vary and needs to be tracked in order to maintain the maximum power extraction from the MFC. Furthermore, MFC reactors often develop voltage overshoots that cause drastic drops in the terminal voltage, current, and the output power. When the voltage overshoot happens, an additional control measure is necessary as conventional MPPT algorithms will fail because of the change in the voltage-current relationship. In this paper, the extremum seeking (ES) algorithm was used to track the varying MPP and a voltage overshoot avoidance (VOA) algorithm is developed to manage the voltage overshoot conditions. The proposed ES-MPPT with VOA algorithm was able to extract 197.2 mJ during 10-min operation avoiding voltage overshoot, while the ES MPPT-only scheme stopped harvesting after only 18.75 mJ because of the voltage overshoot happened at 0.4 min.

Computational investigation of the flow field contribution to improve electricity generation in granular activated carbon-assisted microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Lei; Li, Jian; Battaglia, Francine; He, Zhen

2016-11-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer an alternative approach to treat wastewater with less energy input and direct electricity generation. To optimize MFC anodic performance, adding granular activated carbon (GAC) has been proved to be an effective way, most likely due to the enlarged electrode surface for biomass attachment and improved mixing of the flow field. The impact of a flow field on the current enhancement within a porous anode medium (e.g., GAC) has not been well understood before, and thus is investigated in this study by using mathematical modeling of the multi-order Butler-Volmer equation with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques. By comparing three different CFD cases (without GAC, with GAC as a nonreactive porous medium, and with GAC as a reactive porous medium), it is demonstrated that adding GAC contributes to a uniform flow field and a total current enhancement of 17%, a factor that cannot be neglected in MFC design. However, in an actual MFC operation, this percentage could be even higher because of the microbial competition and energy loss issues within a porous medium. The results of the present study are expected to help with formulating strategies to optimize MFC with a better flow pattern design.

Construction and operation of microbial fuel cell with Chlorella vulgaris biocathode for electricity generation.

PubMed

Wu, Xia-yuan; Song, Tian-shun; Zhu, Xu-jun; Wei, Ping; Zhou, Charles C

2013-12-01

In this study, a modified microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a tubular photobioreactor (PHB) configuration as a cathode compartment was constructed by introducing Chlorella vulgaris to the cathode chamber used to generate oxygen in situ. Two types of cathode materials and light/dark cycles were used to test the effect on MFC with algae biocathode. Results showed that the use of algae is an effective approach because these organisms can act as efficient in situ oxygenators, thereby facilitating the cathodic reaction. Dissolved oxygen and voltage output displayed a clear light positive response and were drastically enhanced compared with the abiotic cathode. In particular, carbon paper-coated Pt used as a cathode electrode increased voltage output at a higher extent than carbon felt used as an electrode. The maximum power density of 24.4 mW/m2 was obtained from the MFC with algae biocathode which utilized the carbon paper-coated Pt as the cathode electrode under intermittent illumination. This density was 2.8 times higher than that of the abiotic cathode. Continuous illumination shortened the algal lifetime. These results demonstrated that intermittent illumination and cathode material-coated catalyst are beneficial to a more efficient and prolonged operation of MFC with C. vulgaris biocathode.

Construction and operation of microbial fuel cell with Chlorella vulgaris biocathode for electricity generation.

PubMed

Wu, Xia-yuan; Song, Tian-shun; Zhu, Xu-jun; Wei, Ping; Zhou, Charles C

2013-12-01

In this study, a modified microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a tubular photobioreactor (PHB) configuration as a cathode compartment was constructed by introducing Chlorella vulgaris to the cathode chamber used to generate oxygen in situ. Two types of cathode materials and light/dark cycles were used to test the effect on MFC with algae biocathode. Results showed that the use of algae is an effective approach because these organisms can act as efficient in situ oxygenators, thereby facilitating the cathodic reaction. Dissolved oxygen and voltage output displayed a clear light positive response and were drastically enhanced compared with the abiotic cathode. In particular, carbon paper-coated Pt used as a cathode electrode increased voltage output at a higher extent than carbon felt used as an electrode. The maximum power density of 24.4 mW/m(2) was obtained from the MFC with algae biocathode which utilized the carbon paper-coated Pt as the cathode electrode under intermittent illumination. This density was 2.8 times higher than that of the abiotic cathode. Continuous illumination shortened the algal lifetime. These results demonstrated that intermittent illumination and cathode material-coated catalyst are beneficial to a more efficient and prolonged operation of MFC with C. vulgaris biocathode.

Vertical redox profiles in treatment wetlands as function of hydraulic regime and macrophytes presence: surveying the optimal scenario for microbial fuel cell implementation.

PubMed

Corbella, Clara; Garfí, Marianna; Puigagut, Jaume

2014-02-01

Sediment microbial fuel cell (sMFC) represents a variation of the typical configuration of a MFC in which energy can be harvested via naturally occurring electropotential differences. Moreover, constructed wetlands show marked redox gradients along the depth which could be exploited for energy production via sMFC. In spite of the potential application of sMFC to constructed wetlands, there is almost no published work on the topic. The main objective of the present work was to define the best operational and design conditions of sub-surface flow constructed wetlands (SSF CWs) under which energy production with microbial fuel cells (MFCs) would be maximized. To this aim, a pilot plant based on SSF CW treating domestic sewage was operated during six months. Redox gradients along the depth of SSF CWs were determined as function of hydraulic regime (continuous vs discontinuous) and the presence of macrophytes in two sampling campaigns (after three and six months of plant operation). Redox potential (EH) within the wetlands was analysed at 5, 15 and 25 cm. Results obtained indicated that the maximum redox gradient was between the surface and the bottom of the bed for continuous planted wetlands (407.7 ± 73.8 mV) and, to a lesser extent, between the surface and the middle part of the wetland (356.5 ± 76.7 mV). Finally, the maximum redox gradients obtained for planted wetlands operated under continuous flow regime would lead to a power production of about 16 mW/m(2). © 2013.

Electrode Modification and Optimization in Air-Cathode Single-Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Wang, Yanhua; Wu, Jiayan; Yang, Shengke; Li, Huihui; Li, Xiaoping

2018-06-27

Due to the known problems of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), such as low electricity generation performance and high cost of operation, we modified the electrode with graphene and polyaniline (PANI) is a single-chamber air-cathode MFC and then evaluated the effects of electrode modification on MFC electricity generation performance. Carbon cloth electrodes (unmodified, CC; graphene-modified, G/CC; and polyaniline-graphene-modified, PANI-G/CC) were prepared using the impregnation method. Sulfonated cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPcS) was then introduced as a cathode catalyst. The Co-PANI-G/CC cathode showed higher catalytic activity toward oxygen reduction compared with other electrodes. The maximum power density of the MFC with Co-PANI-G/CC cathode was 32.2 mW/m², which was 1.8 and 6.1 times higher than the value obtained with Co-G/CC and Co/CC cathodes, respectively. This indicates a significant improvement in the electricity generation of single-chamber MFCs and provides a simple, effective cathode modification method. Furthermore, we constructed single-chamber MFCs using the modified anode and cathode and analyzed electricity generation and oxytetracycline (OTC) degradation with different concentrations of OTC as the fuel. With increasing added OTC concentration, the MFC performance in both electricity generation and OTC degradation gradually decreased. However, when less than 50 mg/L OTC was added, the 5-day degradation rate of OTC reached more than 90%. It is thus feasible to process OTC-containing wastewater and produce electricity using single-chamber MFCs, which provides a new concept for wastewater treatment.

AuPd/polyaniline as the anode in an ethylene glycol microfluidic fuel cell operated at room temperature.

PubMed

Arjona, N; Palacios, A; Moreno-Zuria, A; Guerra-Balcázar, M; Ledesma-García, J; Arriaga, L G

2014-08-04

AuPd/polyaniline was used for the first time, for ethylene glycol (EG) electrooxidation in a novel microfluidic fuel cell (MFC) operated at room temperature. The device exhibits high electrocatalytic performance and stability for the conversion of cheap and fully available EG as fuel.

Biodegradation of the sulfonamide antibiotic sulfamethoxazole by sulfamethoxazole acclimatized cultures in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Miran, Waheed; Jang, Jiseon; Nawaz, Mohsin; Shahzad, Asif; Lee, Dae Sung

2018-06-15

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are known for their ability to enhance the removal rate of toxins while generating power. This research presents a performance assessment of MFCs for power generation and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation using SMX acclimatized cultures. Experiments were performed in MFC batch mode using different SMX concentrations in synthetic wastewater. The experimental results showed that voltage generation was >400mV up to the SMX concentration of 0.20mM (at 400Ω external resistance). Control experiments supported the inference that biodegradation was the main process for SMX removal compared to sorption by SMX acclimatized cultures and that the process results in efficient removal of SMX in MFC mode. The specific removal rates of SMX in MFC with SMX acclimatized sludge were 0.67, 1.37, 3.43, 7.32, and 13.36μm/h at initial SMX concentrations of 0.04, 0.08, 0.20, 0.39, and 0.79mM, respectively. Moreover, the MFC was able to remove >90% of the TOC from the wastewater up to SMX concentrations of 0.08mM. However, this TOC removal produces negative effects at higher SMX concentrations due to toxic intermediates. Microbial community analysis revealed large changes in bacterial communities at the phylum, class, and genus levels after SMX acclimatization and MFC operation. Thauera, a well-known aromatic-degrading bacteria, was the most dominant genus present in post-acclimatized conditions. In summary, this study showed that acclimatized sludge can play an important role in the biodegradation of SMX in MFCs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ammonia removal via microbial fuel cell (MFC) dynamic reactor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alabiad, I.; Ali, U. F. M.; Zakarya, I. A.; Ibrahim, N.; Radzi, R. W.; Zulkurnai, N. Z.; Azmi, N. H.

2017-06-01

Landfill leachate is generally known as high-strength wastewater that is difficult to handle and contains dissolved extracts and suspended matter. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were designed to treat landfill leachate while continuously producing power (voltage output). Three different anodes were tested in MFC reactors: carbon black, activated carbon, and zinc electrodes. Movements in the MFC reactor during treatment were also a key factor for testing. Results showed a difference in ammonia levels in the three anodes used. The study compared the efficiency of static and dynamic modes of MFC in removing ammonia. Continual leachate movement in the reactor could increase the rate of removal of the ammonia components. The setup provided a viable condition for maximum removal because the reactor movement caused the sludge to disintegrate, which allowed ammonia to separate easily from the parent leachate. Ammonia removal also resulted from the transfer of ammonium through the membrane or from ammonia loss. Constant exchange of ionic content benefited the MFC performance by increasing power production and decreasing internal electrode material resistance. This paper presents the results of the analyses of leachate treatment from the solid waste landfill located in Padang Siding Landfill, Perlis. The performance of ammonia removal was enhanced using different types of electrodes. In both modes, activated carbon performed better than black carbon and zinc. The respective percentages of ammonia removal for activated carbon of dynamic over static were 96.6%, 66.6%, and 92.8% for activated carbon, zinc, and black carbon. The results provide further information on the possibility of using MFCs in landfill leachate treatment systems.

Electrochemical properties of electrodes with different shapes and diffusion kinetic analysis of microbial fuel cells on ocean floor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Yubin; Liu, Jia; Su, Jia; Zhao, Zhongkai; Liu, Yang; Xu, Qian

2012-03-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) on the ocean floor is a kind of novel energy- harvesting device that can be developed to drive small instruments to work continuously. The shape of electrode has a great effect on the performance of the MFC. In this paper, several shapes of electrode and cell structure were designed, and their performance in MFC were compared in pairs: Mesh (cell-1) vs. flat plate (cell-2), branch (cell-3) vs. cylinder (cell-4), and forest (cell-5) vs. disk (cell-6) FC. Our results showed that the maximum power densities were 16.50, 14.20, 19.30, 15.00, 14.64, and 9.95 mWm-2 for cell-1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. And the corresponding diffusion-limited currents were 7.16, 2.80, 18.86, 10.50, 18.00, and 6.900 mA. The mesh and branch anodes showed higher power densities and much higher diffusion-limited currents than the flat plate and the cylinder anodes respectively due to the low diffusion hindrance with the former anodes. The forest cathode improved by 47% of the power density and by 161% of diffusion-limited current than the disk cathode due to the former's extended solid/liquid/gas three-phase boundary. These results indicated that the shape of electrode is a major parameter that determining the diffusion-limited current of an MFC, and the differences in the electrode shape lead to the differences in cell performance. These results would be useful for MFC structure design in practical applications.

A lithotrophic microbial fuel cell operated with pseudomonads-dominated iron-oxidizing bacteria enriched at the anode

PubMed Central

Nguyen, Thuy Thu; Luong, Tha Thanh Thi; Tran, Phuong Hoang Nguyen; Bui, Ha Thi Viet; Nguyen, Huy Quang; Dinh, Hang Thuy; Kim, Byung Hong; Pham, Hai The

2015-01-01

In this study, we attempted to enrich neutrophilic iron bacteria in a microbial fuel cell (MFC)-type reactor in order to develop a lithotrophic MFC system that can utilize ferrous iron as an inorganic electron donor and operate at neutral pHs. Electrical currents were steadily generated at an average level of 0.6 mA (or 0.024 mA cm–2 of membrane area) in reactors initially inoculated with microbial sources and operated with 20 mM Fe2+ as the sole electron donor and 10 ohm external resistance; whereas in an uninoculated reactor (the control), the average current level only reached 0.2 mA (or 0.008 mA cm–2 of membrane area). In an inoculated MFC, the generation of electrical currents was correlated with increases in cell density of bacteria in the anode suspension and coupled with the oxidation of ferrous iron. Cultivation-based and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analyses both show the dominance of some Pseudomonas species in the anode communities of the MFCs. Fluorescent in-situ hybridization results revealed significant increases of neutrophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria in the anode community of an inoculated MFC. The results, altogether, prove the successful development of a lithotrophic MFC system with iron bacteria enriched at its anode and suggest a chemolithotrophic anode reaction involving some Pseudomonas species as key players in such a system. The system potentially offers unique applications, such as accelerated bioremediation or on-site biodetection of iron and/or manganese in water samples. PMID:25712332

Bioelectric production from sediment of pond fishing and molasses using microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology-base with the influence of substrate concentration variety

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Syafitri, L. M.; Saputro, Y. A.; Hana, P. N.; Hardiani, D.; Raharjo, B.

2018-03-01

Indonesia is currently faced the problem of the need for electrical energy. MFC is a technology that can be used to generate electricity by utilizing microbial activity. The aims of this study is to manage the molasses waste and sediment of fishery as a substrate in the MFC system. The research method was performed by preparing anode and cathode connected by a salt bridge forming the system of MFC Double Chamber. The result of bacteriology test using Total Plate Count (TPC) method showed that the number of bacterial colonies on the sediment substrate was 4.1 × 106 cfu/gr, while the molasses substrate was 7,1 × 104 cfu/gr. The measurement result of electricity showed that 25% sediment and 75% molasses substrate variation resulted in the highest average voltage and power density that are 0.372 V and 813.191 mW/m2. The conclusion of this research is that the mixture of sediment with molasses substrate can increase the production of electricity produced by MFC system.

Electricity generation directly using human feces wastewater for life support system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fangzhou, Du; Zhenglong, Li; Shaoqiang, Yang; Beizhen, Xie; Hong, Liu

2011-05-01

Wastewater reuse and power regeneration are key issues in the research of bioregeneration life support system (BLSS). Microbial fuel cell (MFC) can generate electricity during the process of wastewater treatment, which might be promising to solve the two problems simultaneously. We used human feces wastewater containing abundant organic compounds as the substrate of MFC to generate electricity, and the factors concerning electricity generation capacity were investigated. The removal efficiency of total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD), Soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) and NH4+ reached 71%, 88% and 44%, respectively with two-chamber MFC when it was fed with the actual human feces wastewater and operated for 190 h. And the maximum power density reached 70.8 mW/m 2, which implicated that MFC technology was feasible and appropriate for treating human feces wastewater. In order to improve the power generation of MFC further, human feces wastewater were fermented before poured into MFC, and the result showed that fermentation pretreatment could improve the MFC output obviously. The maximum power density of MFC fed with pretreated human feces wastewater was 22 mW/m 2, which was 47% higher than that of the control without pretreatment (15 mW/m 2). Furthermore, the structure of MFC was studied and it was found that both enlarging the area of electrodes and shortening the distance between electrodes could increase the electricity generation capacity. Finally, an automatic system, controlled by time switches and electromagnetic valves, was established to process one person's feces wastewater (1 L/d) while generating electricity. The main parts of this system comprised a pretreatment device and 3 one-chamber air-cathode MFCs. The total power could reach 787.1 mW and power density could reach the maximum of about 240 mW/m 2.

[Performance of Electricity Generation and Feasibility of Discontinuous Power Supply of MFC by Using Pretreated Excess Sludge as Fuel].

PubMed

Zhao, Yan-hui; Zhao, Yang-guo; Guo, Liang

2016-03-15

The feasibility of treating pretreated excess sludge and capacity of supplying continuous power of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were investigated. Two-chamber microbial fuel cells were started up and operated by using thermal pretreated excess sludge as the substrate. Potential fluctuations were achieved by changing the cathode electron acceptor. During the changes of electron acceptor, the operational stability of MFCs was assessed. The results indicated that the MFCs started successfully with oxygen as the cathode electron acceptor and reached 0.24 V after 148 hours. When the cathode electron acceptor was replaced by potassium ferricyanide, MFCs could obtain the maximum output voltage and maximum power density of 0.66 V and 4.21 W · m⁻³, respectively. When the cathode electron acceptor was changed from oxygen to potassium ferricyanide or the MFCs were closed circuit, the output power of MFCs recovered rapidly. In addition, changes of electron acceptor showed no effect on the removal of COD and ammonia nitrogen. Their removal efficiencies approached to 70% and 80%, respectively. This study concluded that MFC could treat the pretreated excess sludge and produce electricity simultaneously with a high power density. The MFC could also achieve discontinuous electricity supply during operation.

A Green Microbial Fuel Cell-Based Biosensor for In Situ Chromium (VI) Measurement in Electroplating Wastewater.

PubMed

Wu, Li-Chun; Tsai, Teh-Hua; Liu, Man-Hai; Kuo, Jui-Ling; Chang, Yung-Chu; Chung, Ying-Chien

2017-10-27

The extensive use of Cr(VI) in many industries and the disposal of Cr(VI)-containing wastes have resulted in Cr(VI)-induced environmental contamination. Cr(VI) compounds are associated with increased cancer risks; hence, the detection of toxic Cr(VI) compounds is crucial. Various methods have been developed for Cr(VI) measurement, but they are often conducted offsite and cannot provide real-time toxicity monitoring. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an eco-friendly and self-sustaining device that has great potential as a biosensor for in situ Cr(VI) measurement, especially for wastewater generated from different electroplating units. In this study, Exiguobacterium aestuarii YC211, a facultatively anaerobic, Cr(VI)-reducing, salt-tolerant, and exoelectrogenic bacterium, was isolated and inoculated into an MFC to evaluate its feasibility as a Cr(VI) biosensor. The Cr(VI) removal efficiency of E. aestuarii YC211 was not affected by the surrounding environment (pH 5-9, 20-35 °C, coexisting ions, and salinity of 0-15 g/L). The maximum power density of the MFC biosensor was 98.3 ± 1.5 mW/m² at 1500 Ω. A good linear relationship ( r ² = 0.997) was observed between the Cr(VI) concentration (2.5-60 mg/L) and the voltage output. The developed MFC biosensor is a simple device that can accurately measure Cr(VI) concentrations in the actual electroplating wastewater that is generated from different electroplating units within 30 min with low deviations (-6.1% to 2.2%). After treating the actual electroplating wastewater with the MFC, the predominant family in the biofilm was found to be Bacillaceae (95.3%) and was further identified as the originally inoculated E. aestuarii YC211 by next generation sequencing (NGS). Thus, the MFC biosensor can measure Cr(VI) concentrations in situ in the effluents from different electroplating units, and it can potentially help in preventing the violation of effluent regulations.

A Green Microbial Fuel Cell-Based Biosensor for In Situ Chromium (VI) Measurement in Electroplating Wastewater

PubMed Central

Wu, Li-Chun; Tsai, Teh-Hua; Liu, Man-Hai; Kuo, Jui-Ling; Chang, Yung-Chu

2017-01-01

The extensive use of Cr(VI) in many industries and the disposal of Cr(VI)-containing wastes have resulted in Cr(VI)-induced environmental contamination. Cr(VI) compounds are associated with increased cancer risks; hence, the detection of toxic Cr(VI) compounds is crucial. Various methods have been developed for Cr(VI) measurement, but they are often conducted offsite and cannot provide real-time toxicity monitoring. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an eco-friendly and self-sustaining device that has great potential as a biosensor for in situ Cr(VI) measurement, especially for wastewater generated from different electroplating units. In this study, Exiguobacterium aestuarii YC211, a facultatively anaerobic, Cr(VI)-reducing, salt-tolerant, and exoelectrogenic bacterium, was isolated and inoculated into an MFC to evaluate its feasibility as a Cr(VI) biosensor. The Cr(VI) removal efficiency of E. aestuarii YC211 was not affected by the surrounding environment (pH 5–9, 20–35 °C, coexisting ions, and salinity of 0–15 g/L). The maximum power density of the MFC biosensor was 98.3 ± 1.5 mW/m2 at 1500 Ω. A good linear relationship (r2 = 0.997) was observed between the Cr(VI) concentration (2.5–60 mg/L) and the voltage output. The developed MFC biosensor is a simple device that can accurately measure Cr(VI) concentrations in the actual electroplating wastewater that is generated from different electroplating units within 30 min with low deviations (−6.1% to 2.2%). After treating the actual electroplating wastewater with the MFC, the predominant family in the biofilm was found to be Bacillaceae (95.3%) and was further identified as the originally inoculated E. aestuarii YC211 by next generation sequencing (NGS). Thus, the MFC biosensor can measure Cr(VI) concentrations in situ in the effluents from different electroplating units, and it can potentially help in preventing the violation of effluent regulations. PMID:29076985

High power density microbial fuel cell with flexible 3D graphene-nickel foam as anode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Hanyu; Wang, Gongming; Ling, Yichuan; Qian, Fang; Song, Yang; Lu, Xihong; Chen, Shaowei; Tong, Yexiang; Li, Yat

2013-10-01

The structure and electrical conductivity of anode play a significant role in the power generation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this study, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide-nickel (denoted as rGO-Ni) foam as an anode for MFC through controlled deposition of rGO sheets onto the nickel foam substrate. The loading amount of rGO sheets and electrode surface area can be controlled by the number of rGO loading cycles. 3D rGO-Ni foam anode provides not only a large accessible surface area for microbial colonization and electron mediators, but also a uniform macro-porous scaffold for effective mass diffusion of the culture medium. Significantly, at a steady state of the power generation, the MFC device with flexible rGO-Ni electrodes produced an optimal volumetric power density of 661 W m-3 calculated based on the volume of anode material, or 27 W m-3 based on the volume of the anode chamber. These values are substantially higher than that of plain nickel foam, and other conventional carbon based electrodes (e.g., carbon cloth, carbon felt, and carbon paper) measured in the same conditions. To our knowledge, this is the highest volumetric power density reported for mL-scale MFC device with a pure strain of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. We also demonstrated that the MFC device can be operated effectively in a batch-mode at least for a week. These new 3D rGO-Ni electrodes show great promise for improving the power generation of MFC devices.The structure and electrical conductivity of anode play a significant role in the power generation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this study, we developed a three-dimensional (3D) reduced graphene oxide-nickel (denoted as rGO-Ni) foam as an anode for MFC through controlled deposition of rGO sheets onto the nickel foam substrate. The loading amount of rGO sheets and electrode surface area can be controlled by the number of rGO loading cycles. 3D rGO-Ni foam anode provides not only a large accessible surface area for microbial colonization and electron mediators, but also a uniform macro-porous scaffold for effective mass diffusion of the culture medium. Significantly, at a steady state of the power generation, the MFC device with flexible rGO-Ni electrodes produced an optimal volumetric power density of 661 W m-3 calculated based on the volume of anode material, or 27 W m-3 based on the volume of the anode chamber. These values are substantially higher than that of plain nickel foam, and other conventional carbon based electrodes (e.g., carbon cloth, carbon felt, and carbon paper) measured in the same conditions. To our knowledge, this is the highest volumetric power density reported for mL-scale MFC device with a pure strain of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. We also demonstrated that the MFC device can be operated effectively in a batch-mode at least for a week. These new 3D rGO-Ni electrodes show great promise for improving the power generation of MFC devices. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr03487a

Effects of hydraulic pressure on the performance of single chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Cheng, Shaoan; Liu, Weifeng; Guo, Jian; Sun, Dan; Pan, Bin; Ye, Yaoli; Ding, Weijun; Huang, Haobin; Li, Fujian

2014-06-15

Scaling up of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) without losing power density requires a thorough understanding of the effect of hydraulic pressure on MFC performance. In this work, the performance of an activated carbon air-cathode MFC was evaluated under different hydraulic pressures. The MFC under 100 mmH2O hydraulic pressure produced a maximum power density of 1260 ± 24 mW m(-2), while the power density decreased by 24.4% and 44.7% as the hydraulic pressure increased to 500 mmH2O and 2000 mmH2O, respectively. Notably, the performance of both the anode and the cathode had decreased under high hydraulic pressures. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests of the cathode indicated that both charge transfer resistance and diffusion transfer resistance increased with the increase in hydraulic pressure. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of PCR-amplified partial 16S rRNA genes demonstrated that the similarity among anodic biofilm communities under different hydraulic pressures was ≥ 90%, and the communities of all MFCs were dominated by Geobacter sp. These results suggested that the reduction in power output of the single chamber air-cathode MFC under high hydraulic pressures can be attributed to water flooding of the cathode and suppression the metabolism of anodic exoelectrogenic bacteria. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Electricity generation and contaminants degradation performances of a microbial fuel cell fed with Dioscorea zingiberensis wastewater].

PubMed

Li, Hui; Zhu, Xiu-Ping; Xu, Nan; Ni, Jin-Ren

2011-01-01

The electricity generation performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) utilizing Dioscorea zingiberensis wastewater was studied with an H-shape reactor. Indexes including pH, conductivity, oxidation peak potential and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the anolyte were monitored to investigate the contaminants degradation performance of the MFC during the electricity generation process, besides, contaminant ingredients in anodic influent and effluent were analyzed by GC-MS and IR spectra as well. The maximum power density of the MFC could achieve 118.1 mW/m2 and the internal resistance was about 480 omega. Connected with a 1 000 omega external resistance, the output potential was about 0.4 V. Fed with 5 mL Dioscorea zingiberensis wastewater, the electricity generation lasted about 133 h and the coulombic efficiency was about 3.93%. At the end of electricity generation cycle, COD decreased by 90.1% while NH4(+) -N decreased by 66.8%. Furfural compounds, phenols and some other complicated organics could be decomposed and utilized in the electricity generation process, and the residual contaminants in effluent included some long-chain fatty acids, esters, ethers, and esters with benzene ring, cycloalkanes, cycloolefins, etc. The results indicate that MFC, which can degrade and utilize the organic contaminants in Dioscorea zingiberensis wastewater simultaneously, provides a new approach for resource recovery treatment of Dioscorea zingiberensis wastewater.

A combined system of microbial fuel cell and intermittently aerated biological filter for energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Dong, Yue; Feng, Yujie; Qu, Youpeng; Du, Yue; Zhou, Xiangtong; Liu, Jia

2015-12-15

Energy self-sufficiency is a highly desirable goal of sustainable wastewater treatment. Herein, a combined system of a microbial fuel cell and an intermittently aerated biological filter (MFC-IABF) was designed and operated in an energy self-sufficient manner. The system was fed with synthetic wastewater (COD = 1000 mg L(-1)) in continuous mode for more than 3 months at room temperature (~25 °C). Voltage output was increased to 5 ± 0.4 V using a capacitor-based circuit. The MFC produced electricity to power the pumping and aeration systems in IABF, concomitantly removing COD. The IABF operating under an intermittent aeration mode (aeration rate 1000 ± 80 mL h(-1)) removed the residual nutrients and improved the water quality at HRT = 7.2 h. This two-stage combined system obtained 93.9% SCOD removal and 91.7% TCOD removal (effluent SCOD = 61 mg L(-1), TCOD = 82.8 mg L(-1)). Energy analysis indicated that the MFC unit produced sufficient energy (0.27 kWh m(-3)) to support the pumping system (0.014 kWh m(-3)) and aeration system (0.22 kWh m(-3)). These results demonstrated that the combined MFC-IABF system could be operated in an energy self-sufficient manner, resulting to high-quality effluent.

Sulfate-reducing mixed communities with the ability to generate bioelectricity and degrade textile diazo dye in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Miran, Waheed; Jang, Jiseon; Nawaz, Mohsin; Shahzad, Asif; Lee, Dae Sung

2018-06-15

The biotreatment of recalcitrant wastes in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) rather than chemical, physical, and advanced oxidation processes is a low-cost and eco-friendly process. In this study, sulfate-reducing mixed communities in MFC anodic chamber were employed for simultaneous electricity generation, dye degradation, and sulfate reduction. A power generation of 258 ± 10 mW/m 2 was achieved under stable operating conditions in the presence of electroactive sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB). The SRBs dominant anodic chambers result in dye, chemical oxygen demand (COD), and sulfate removal of greater than 85% at an initial COD (as lactate)/SO 4 2- mass ratio of 2.0 and dye concentration of 100 mg/L. The effects of the COD/SO 4 2- ratio (5.0:1.0-0.5:1.0) and initial diazo dye concentration (100-1000 mg/L) were studied to evaluate and optimize the MFC performance. Illumina Miseq technology for bacterial community analysis showed that Proteobacteria (89.4%), Deltaproteobacteria (52.7%), and Desulfovibrio (48.2%) were most dominant at phylum, class, and genus levels, respectively, at the MFC anode. Integration of anaerobic SRB culture in MFC bioanode for recalcitrant chemical removal and bioenergy generation may lead to feasible option than the currently used technologies in terms of overall pollutant treatment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development and Long-Term Stability of a Novel Microbial Fuel Cell BOD Sensor with MnO2 Catalyst

PubMed Central

Kharkwal, Shailesh; Tan, Yi Chao; Lu, Min; Ng, How Yong

2017-01-01

A novel microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensor was designed for continuous monitoring of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in real wastewater. To lower the material cost, manganese dioxide (MnO2) was tested as an innovative cathode catalyst for oxygen reduction in a single chamber air-cathode MFC, and two different crystalline structures obtained during synthesis of MnO2 (namely β- and γ-MnO2) were compared. The BOD sensor was studied in a comprehensive way, using both sodium acetate solution and real domestic wastewater (DWW). The optimal performance of the sensor was obtained with a β-MnO2 catalyst, with R2 values of 0.99 and 0.98 using sodium acetate solution and DWW, respectively. The BOD values predicted by the β-MnO2 biosensor for DWW were in agreement with the BOD5 values, determined according to standard methods, with slight variations in the range from 3% to 12%. Finally, the long-term stability of the BOD biosensor was evaluated over 1.5 years. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of an MFC BOD sensor using an MnO2 catalyst at the cathode; the feasibility of using a low-cost catalyst in an MFC for online measurement of BOD in real wastewater broadens the scope of applications for such devices. PMID:28134838

Enhancing the performance of single-chambered microbial fuel cell using manganese/palladium and zirconium/palladium composite cathode catalysts.

PubMed

Jadhav, Dipak A; Deshpande, Parag A; Ghangrekar, Makarand M

2017-08-01

Application of ZrO 2 , MnO 2 , palladium, palladium-substituted-zirconium oxide (Zr 0.98 Pd 0.02 O 2 ) and palladium-substituted-manganese oxide (Mn 0.98 Pd 0.02 O 2 ) cathode catalysts in a single-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) was explored. The highest power generation (1.28W/m 3 ) was achieved in MFC with Mn 0.98 Pd 0.02 O 2 catalyst, which was higher than that with MnO 2 (0.58W/m 3 ) alone; whereas, MFC having Zr 0.98 Pd 0.02 O 2 catalyzed cathode and non-catalyzed cathode produced powers of 1.02 and 0.23W/m 3 , respectively. Also, low-cost zirconium-palladium-composite showed better catalytic activity and capacitance over ZrO 2 with 20A/m 3 current production and demonstrated its suitability for MFC applications. Cyclic voltammetry analyses showed higher well-defined redox peaks in composite catalysts (Mn/Zr-Pd-C) over other catalyzed MFCs containing MnO 2 or ZrO 2 . Electrochemical behaviour of composite catalysts on cathode showed higher availability of adsorption sites for oxygen reduction and, hence, enhanced the rate of cathodic reactions. Thus, Mn/Zr-Pd-C-based composite catalysts exhibited superior cathodic performance and could be proposed as alternatives to costly Pd-catalyst for field applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of Exoelectrogenic Bacteria Detected Using Two Different Methods: U-tube Microbial Fuel Cell and Plating Method

PubMed Central

Yu, Jaecheul; Cho, Sunja; Kim, Sunah; Cho, Haein; Lee, Taeho

2012-01-01

In a microbial fuel cell (MFC), exoelectrogens, which transfer electrons to the electrode, have been regarded as a key factor for electricity generation. In this study, U-tube MFC and plating methods were used to isolate exoelectrogens from the anode of an MFC. Disparate microorganisms were identified depending on isolation methods, despite the use of an identical source. Denaturing gel gradient electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis showed that certain microorganisms became dominant in the U-tube MFC. The predominant bacterium was similar to Ochrobactrum sp., belonging to the Alphaproteobacteria, which was shown to be able to function as an exoelectrogen in a previous study. Three isolates, one affiliated with Bacillus sp. and two with Paenibacillus sp., were identified using the plating method, which belonged to the Gram-positive bacteria, the Firmicutes. The U-tube MFCs were inoculated with the three isolates using the plating method, operated in the batch mode and the current was monitored. All of the U-tube MFCs inoculated with each isolate after isolation from plates produced lower current (peak current density: 3.6–16.3 mA/m2) than those in U-tube MFCs with mixed culture (48.3–62.6 mA/m2). Although the isolates produced low currents, various bacterial groups were found to be involved in current production. PMID:22129603

A Two-Stage Microbial Fuel Cell and Anaerobic Fluidized Bed Membrane Bioreactor (MFC-AFMBR) System for Effective Domestic Wastewater Treatment

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising technology for energy-efficient domestic wastewater treatment, but the effluent quality has typically not been sufficient for discharge without further treatment. A two-stage laboratory-scale combined treatment process, consisting of microbial fuel cells and an anaerobic fluidized bed membrane bioreactor (MFC-AFMBR), was examined here to produce high quality effluent with minimal energy demands. The combined system was operated continuously for 50 days at room temperature (∼25 °C) with domestic wastewater having a total chemical oxygen demand (tCOD) of 210 ± 11 mg/L. At a combined hydraulic retention time (HRT) for both processes of 9 h, the effluent tCOD was reduced to 16 ± 3 mg/L (92.5% removal), and there was nearly complete removal of total suspended solids (TSS; from 45 ± 10 mg/L to <1 mg/L). The AFMBR was operated at a constant high permeate flux of 16 L/m2/h over 50 days, without the need or use of any membrane cleaning or backwashing. Total electrical energy required for the operation of the MFC-AFMBR system was 0.0186 kWh/m3, which was slightly less than the electrical energy produced by the MFCs (0.0197 kWh/m3). The energy in the methane produced in the AFMBR was comparatively negligible (0.005 kWh/m3). These results show that a combined MFC-AFMBR system could be used to effectively treat domestic primary effluent at ambient temperatures, producing high effluent quality with low energy requirements. PMID:24568605

Microbial fuel cell coupled to biohydrogen reactor: a feasible technology to increase energy yield from cheese whey.

PubMed

Wenzel, J; Fuentes, L; Cabezas, A; Etchebehere, C

2017-06-01

An important pollutant produced during the cheese making process is cheese whey which is a liquid by-product with high content of organic matter, composed mainly by lactose and proteins. Hydrogen can be produced from cheese whey by dark fermentation but, organic matter is not completely removed producing an effluent rich in volatile fatty acids. Here we demonstrate that this effluent can be further used to produce energy in microbial fuel cells. Moreover, current production was not feasible when using raw cheese whey directly to feed the microbial fuel cell. A maximal power density of 439 mW/m 2 was obtained from the reactor effluent which was 1000 times more than when using raw cheese whey as substrate. 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed that potential electroactive populations (Geobacter, Pseudomonas and Thauera) were enriched on anodes of MFCs fed with reactor effluent while fermentative populations (Clostridium and Lactobacillus) were predominant on the MFC anode fed directly with raw cheese whey. This result was further demonstrated using culture techniques. A total of 45 strains were isolated belonging to 10 different genera including known electrogenic populations like Geobacter (in MFC with reactor effluent) and known fermentative populations like Lactobacillus (in MFC with cheese whey). Our results show that microbial fuel cells are an attractive technology to gain extra energy from cheese whey as a second stage process during raw cheese whey treatment by dark fermentation process.

Modified Gold Electrode and Hollow Mn3O4 Nanoparticles as Electrode Materials for Microbial Fuel Cell Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dhungana, Pramod

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has attracted great attention in the scientific community as it offers the possibility of extraction of electricity from wide range of soluble and dissolved organic waste or renewable biomass, including sludge, waste water and cellulosic biomass. Microbial fuel cells are devices that utilize microbial metabolic processes to convert chemical energy via the oxidation of organic substances to produce electric current. MFCs consist of two chambers, an anode and cathode, separated by ion-permeable materials. The efficiency of producing electricity using the MFC depends on several factors such as immobilization of microorganisms on anode, mode of electron transfer, types of substrate/fuel and effectiveness of cathode materials for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this work, in order to immobilize the microorganisms on anode materials, we have investigated the surface modification of gold electrode (anode) using alkyl dithiol and aryl thiol with glucose. The modification processes were characterized by using contact angle measurements and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). In order to study the effectiveness of cathode materials for ORR, we have synthesized hollow Mn3O 4 nanoparticles which are electrically very poor. Therefore, the hollow nanoparticles were mixed with electrically conductive multi-walled carbon nanotube as support and optimized the mixing process. This composite material shows enhanced ORR activity in all types of pH conditions. In future, we will focus to integrate anode and cathode in MFC to check its efficiency to produce electricity.

Electricity production and benzene removal from groundwater using low-cost mini tubular microbial fuel cells in a monitoring well.

PubMed

Chang, Shih-Hsien; Wu, Chih-Hung; Wang, Ruei-Cyun; Lin, Chi-Wen

2017-05-15

A low-cost mini tubular microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed for treating groundwater that contained benzene in monitoring wells. Experimental results indicate that increasing the length and density, and reducing the size of the char particles in the anode effectively reduced the internal resistance. Additionally, a thinner polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel separator and PVA with a higher molecular weight improved electricity generation. The optimal parameters for the MFC were an anode density of 1.22 g cm -3 , a coke of 150 μm, an anode length of 6 cm, a PVA of 105,600 g mol -1 , and a separator thickness of 1 cm. Results of continuous-flow experiments reveal that the increasing the sets of MFCs and connecting them in parallel markedly improved the degradation of benzene. More than 95% of benzene was removed and electricity of 38 mW m -2 was generated. The MFC ran continuously up to 120 days without maintenance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Boosting Power Density of Microbial Fuel Cells with 3D Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene Aerogel Electrode

PubMed Central

Yang, Yang; Liu, Tianyu; Zhang, Feng; Ye, Dingding; Liao, Qiang

2016-01-01

A 3D nitrogen‐doped graphene aerogel (N‐GA) as an anode material for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is reported. Electron microscopy images reveal that the N‐GA possesses hierarchical porous structure that allows efficient diffusion of both bacterial cells and electron mediators in the interior space of 3D electrode, and thus, the colonization of bacterial communities. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic measurements further show that nitrogen doping considerably reduces the charge transfer resistance and internal resistance of GA, which helps to enhance the MFC power density. Importantly, the dual‐chamber milliliter‐scale MFC with N‐GA anode yields an outstanding volumetric power density of 225 ± 12 W m−3 normalized to the total volume of the anodic chamber (750 ± 40 W m−3 normalized to the volume of the anode). These power densities are the highest values report for milliliter‐scale MFCs with similar chamber size (25 mL) under the similar measurement conditions. The 3D N‐GA electrode shows great promise for improving the power generation of MFC devices. PMID:27818911

Self-sustained reduction of multiple metals in a microbial fuel cell-microbial electrolysis cell hybrid system.

PubMed

Li, Yan; Wu, Yining; Liu, Bingchuan; Luan, Hongwei; Vadas, Timothy; Guo, Wanqian; Ding, Jie; Li, Baikun

2015-09-01

A self-sustained hybrid bioelectrochemical system consisting of microbial fuel cell (MFC) and microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) was developed to reduce multiple metals simultaneously by utilizing different reaction potentials. Three heavy metals representing spontaneous reaction (chromium, Cr) and unspontaneous reaction (lead, Pb and nickel, Ni) were selected in this batch-mode study. The maximum power density of the MFC achieved 189.4 mW m(-2), and the energy recovery relative to the energy storage circuit (ESC) was ∼ 450%. At the initial concentration of 100 mg L(-1), the average reduction rate of Cr(VI) was 30.0 mg L(-1) d(-1), Pb(II) 32.7 mg L(-1) d(-1), and Ni(II) 8.9 mg L(-1) d(-1). An electrochemical model was developed to predict the change of metal concentration over time. The power output of the MFC was sufficient to meet the requirement of the ESC and MEC, and the "self-sustained metal reduction" was achieved in this hybrid system. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Assisting cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms by microbial fuel cells to enhance nutrients recovery from wastewater.

PubMed

Colombo, Alessandra; Marzorati, Stefania; Lucchini, Giorgio; Cristiani, Pierangela; Pant, Deepak; Schievano, Andrea

2017-08-01

Spirulina was cultivated in cathodic compartments of photo-microbial fuel cells (P-MFC). Anodic compartments were fed with swine-farming wastewater, enriched with sodium acetate (2.34g COD L -1 ). Photosynthetic oxygen generation rates were sufficient to sustain cathodic oxygen reduction, significantly improving P-MFC electrochemical performances, as compared to water-cathode control experiments. Power densities (0.8-1Wm -2 ) approached those of air-cathode MFCs, run as control. COD was efficiently removed and only negligible fractions leaked to the cathodic chamber. Spirulina growth rates were comparable to those of control (MFC-free) cultures, while pH was significantly (0.5-1unit) higher in P-MFCs, due to cathodic reactions. Alkaliphilic photosynthetic microorganisms like Spirulina might take advantage of these selective conditions. Electro-migration along with diffusion to the cathodic compartment concurred for the recovery of most nutrients. Only P and Mg were retained in the anodic chamber. A deeper look into electro-osmotic mechanisms should be addressed in future studies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of power shape on energy extraction from microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alaraj, Muhannad; Feng, Shuo; Roane, Timberley M.; Park, Jae-Do

2017-10-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) generate renewable energy in the form of direct current (DC) power. Harvesting energy from MFCs started with passive components such as resistors and capacitors, then charge pumps were introduced with some more advantages. Power electronics converters were later preferred due to their higher efficiency and controllability; however, they introduce high frequency current ripple due to their high frequency switching. In this paper, the effect of shape of power extraction on MFC performance was investigated using three types of current shapes: continuous, square-wave, and triangular-wave. Simultaneously, chemical parameters, such as pH, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity, and redox potential, in the anode chamber were monitored to see how these parameters change with the shape of the electrical power extraction. Results showed that the shape of the extracted current did not have a substantial effect on the MFC life span, output power, and energy extraction, nor on the chemical parameters. The outcome of this study provided insight for the electrical impact by power electronics converters on some microbial and chemical aspects of an MFC system.

Features of Golenkinia sp. and microbial fuel cells used for the treatment of anaerobically digested effluent from kitchen waste at different dilutions.

PubMed

Hou, Qingjie; Cheng, Juan; Nie, Changliang; Pei, Haiyan; Jiang, Liqun; Zhang, Lijie; Yang, Zhigang

2017-09-01

The aim of this work was to study Golenkinia sp. and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for the treatment of anaerobically digested effluent from kitchen waste (ADE-KW) with different dilution factors. A dual-chamber MFC was fabricated for treating ADE-KW in the two chambers of the MFC and harvesting Golenkinia sp. All the anodic TN was removed more than 80%. COD removal efficiency increased from 48.2% to 76% when the dilution factor increased from 1 to 4. Maximum COD and TN removal rates were 3.56 and 3.71mg·L -1 ·h -1 when ADE-KW was treated without dilution in the anodic chamber. All the cathodic TN and TP removal efficiencies were approximately 90%. The highest open circuit voltage (OCV) and power density were approximately 400mV and 400mW when ADE-KW was treated directly (undiluted) in the MFC, with the highest biomass and total lipid content production of Golenkinia sp. in the cathodic chamber. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PTFE effect on the electrocatalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction in membraneless microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Guerrini, Edoardo; Grattieri, Matteo; Faggianelli, Alessio; Cristiani, Pierangela; Trasatti, Stefano

2015-12-01

Influence of PTFE in the external Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) of open-air cathodes applied to membraneless microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is investigated in this work. Electrochemical measurements on cathodes with different PTFE contents (200%, 100%, 80% and 60%) were carried out to characterize cathodic oxygen reduction reaction, to study the reaction kinetics. It is demonstrated that ORR is not under diffusion-limiting conditions in the tested systems. Based on cyclic voltammetry, an increase of the cathodic electrochemical active area took place with the decrease of PTFE content. This was not directly related to MFC productivity, but to the cathode wettability and the biocathode development. Low electrodic interface resistances (from 1 to 1.5 Ω at the start, to near 0.1 Ω at day 61) indicated a negligible ohmic drop. A decrease of the Tafel slopes from 120 to 80 mV during productive periods of MFCs followed the biological activity in the whole MFC system. A high PTFE content in the cathode showed a detrimental effect on the MFC productivity, acting as an inhibitor of ORR electrocatalysis in the triple contact zone.

The performance of spinel bulk-like oxygen-deficient CoGa2O4 as an air-cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Di; Mo, Xiaoping; Li, Kexun; Liu, Yi; Wang, Junjie; Yang, Tingting

2017-08-01

Nano spinel bulk-like CoGa2O4 prepared via a facile hydrothermal method is used as a high efficient electrochemical catalyst in activated carbon (AC) air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC). The maximum power density of the modified MFC is 1911 ± 49 mW m-2, 147% higher than the MFC of untreated AC cathode. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) exhibit the morphology and crystal structure of CoGa2O4. Rotating disk electrode (RDE) confirms the four-electron pathway at the cathode during the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) illustrate that the high rate oxygen vacancy exist in the CoGa2O4. The oxygen vacancy of CoGa2O4 plays an important role in catalytic activity. In a word, the prepared nano spinel bulk-like CoGa2O4 provides an alternative to the costly Pt in air-cathode for power output.

Study on ammonium and organics removal combined with electricity generation in a continuous flow microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Liu, Shuxin; Li, Lan; Li, Huiqiang; Wang, Hui; Yang, Ping

2017-11-01

A continuous microbial fuel cell system was constructed treating ammonium/organics rich wastewater. Operational performance of MFC system, mechanisms of ammonium removal, effect of ammonium on organics removal and energy output, C and N balance of anode chamber and microbial community analysis of anode chamber were studied. It was concluded that 0.0914kg/m 3 d NH 4 + -N and 5.739kg/m 3 d COD were removed from anode chamber and simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) occurred in cathode chamber resulting in COD, TN removal rate of 88.53%, 71.35% respectively. Excess ammonium affected energy output and the MFC system reached maximum energy output of 816.8mV and 62.94mW/m 3 . In anode chamber, Spirochaetes bacterium sp., Methanobacterium formicicum sp. was predominant in bacteria, archaea communities respectively which contributed to wastewater treatment and electricity generation. This study showed the potential for practical application of continuous flow MFC system treating ammonium/organics rich wastewater and achieving electricity generation simultaneously. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multi-variable mathematical models for the air-cathode microbial fuel cell system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ou, Shiqi; Kashima, Hiroyuki; Aaron, Douglas S.; Regan, John M.; Mench, Matthew M.

2016-05-01

This research adopted the version control system into the model construction for the single chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) system, to understand the interrelation of biological, chemical, and electrochemical reactions. The anodic steady state model was used to consider the chemical species diffusion and electric migration influence to the MFC performance. In the cathodic steady state model, the mass transport and reactions in a multi-layer, abiotic cathode and multi-bacteria cathode biofilm were simulated. Transport of hydroxide was assumed for cathodic pH change. This assumption is an alternative to the typical notion of proton consumption during oxygen reduction to explain elevated cathode pH. The cathodic steady state model provided the power density and polarization curve performance results that can be compared to an experimental MFC system. Another aspect considered was the relative contributions of platinum catalyst and microbes on the cathode to the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Simulation results showed that the biocatalyst in a cathode that includes a Pt/C catalyst likely plays a minor role in ORR, contributing up to 8% of the total power calculated by the models.

Temperature and Humidity Sensor Powered by an Individual Microbial Fuel Cell in a Power Management System.

PubMed

Zheng, Qi; Xiong, Lei; Mo, Bing; Lu, Weihong; Kim, Suki; Wang, Zhenyu

2015-09-11

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are of increasing interest as bioelectrochemical systems for decomposing organic materials and converting chemical energy into electricity. The main challenge for this technology is that the low power and voltage of the devices restricts the use of MFCs in practical applications. In this paper, a power management system (PMS) is developed to store the energy and export an increased voltage. The designed PMS successfully increases the low voltage generated by an individual MFC to a high potential of 5 V, capable of driving a wireless temperature and humidity sensor based on nRF24L01 data transmission modules. With the PMS, MFCs can intermittently power the sensor for data transmission to a remote receiver. It is concluded that even an individual MFC can supply the energy required to power the sensor and telemetry system with the designed PMS. The presented PMS can be widely used for unmanned environmental monitoring such as wild rivers, lakes, and adjacent water areas, and offers promise for further advances in MFC technology.

Copper removal and microbial community analysis in single-chamber microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Wu, Yining; Zhao, Xin; Jin, Min; Li, Yan; Li, Shuai; Kong, Fanying; Nan, Jun; Wang, Aijie

2018-04-01

In this study, copper removal and electricity generation were investigated in a single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). Result showed that copper was efficiently removed in the membrane-less MFC with removal efficiency of 98.3% at the tolerable Cu 2+ concentration of 12.5 mg L -1 , the corresponding open circuit voltage and maximum power density were 0.78 V and 10.2 W m -3 , respectively. The mechanism analysis demonstrated that microbial electrochemical reduction contributed to the copper removal with the products of Cu and Cu 2 O deposited at biocathode. Moreover, the microbial community analysis indicated that microbial communities changed with different copper concentrations. The dominant phyla were Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes which could play key roles in electricity generation, while Actinobacteria and Acidobacteria were also observed which were responsible for Cu-resistant and copper removal. It will be of important guiding significance for the recovery of copper from low concentration wastewater through single-chamber MFC with simultaneous energy recovery. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhanced performance of microbial fuel cell with in situ preparing dual graphene modified bioelectrode.

PubMed

Chen, Junfeng; Hu, Yongyou; Tan, Xiaojun; Zhang, Lihua; Huang, Wantang; Sun, Jian

2017-10-01

This study proposed a three-step method to prepare dual graphene modified bioelectrode (D-GM-BE) by in situ microbial-induced reduction of GO and polarity reversion in microbial fuel cell (MFC). Both graphene modified bioanode (GM-BA) and biocathode (GM-BC) were of 3D graphene/biofilm architectures; the viability and thickness of microbial biofilm decreased compared with control bioelectrode (C-BE). The coulombic efficiency (CE) of GM-BA was 2.1 times of the control bioanode (C-BA), which demonstrated higher rate of substrates oxidation; the relationship between peak current and scan rates data meant that GM-BC was of higher efficiency of catalyzing oxygen reduction than the control biocathode (C-BC). The maximum power density obtained in D-GM-BE MFC was 122.4±6.9mWm -2 , the interfacial charge transfer resistance of GM-BA and GM-BC were decreased by 79% and 75.7%. The excellent electrochemical performance of D-GM-BE MFC was attributed to the enhanced extracellular electron transfer (EET) process and catalyzing oxygen reduction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High shear enrichment improves the performance of the anodophilic microbial consortium in a microbial fuel cell

PubMed Central

Pham, Hai The; Boon, Nico; Aelterman, Peter; Clauwaert, Peter; De Schamphelaire, Liesje; Van Oostveldt, Patrick; Verbeken, Kim; Rabaey, Korneel; Verstraete, Willy

2008-01-01

Summary In many microbial bioreactors, high shear rates result in strong attachment of microbes and dense biofilms. In this study, high shear rates were applied to enrich an anodophilic microbial consortium in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Enrichment at a shear rate of about 120 s−1 resulted in the production of a current and power output two to three times higher than those in the case of low shear rates (around 0.3 s−1). Biomass and biofilm analyses showed that the anodic biofilm from the MFC enriched under high shear rate conditions, in comparison with that under low shear rate conditions, had a doubled average thickness and the biomass density increased with a factor 5. The microbial community of the former, as analysed by DGGE, was significantly different from that of the latter. The results showed that enrichment by applying high shear rates in an MFC can result in a specific electrochemically active biofilm that is thicker and denser and attaches better, and hence has a better performance. PMID:21261869

Bacterial community shift and incurred performance in response to in situ microbial self-assembly graphene and polarity reversion in microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Chen, Junfeng; Zhang, Lihua; Hu, Yongyou; Huang, Wantang; Niu, Zhuyu; Sun, Jian

2017-10-01

In this work, bacterial community shift and incurred performance of graphene modified bioelectrode (GM-BE) in microbial fuel cell (MFC) were illustrated by high throughput sequencing technology and electrochemical analysis. The results showed that Firmicutes occupied 48.75% in graphene modified bioanode (GM-BA), while Proteobacteria occupied 62.99% in graphene modified biocathode (GM-BC), both were dominant bacteria in phylum level respectively. Typical exoelectrogens, including Geobacter, Clostridium, Pseudomonas, Geothrix and Hydrogenophaga, were counted 26.66% and 17.53% in GM-BA and GM-BC. GM-BE was tended to decrease the bacterial diversity and enrich the dominant species. Because of the enrichment of exoelectrogens and excellent electrical conductivity of graphene, the maximum power density of MFC with GM-BA and GM-BC increased 33.1% and 21.6% respectively, and the transfer resistance decreased 83.8% and 73.6% compared with blank bioelectrode. This study aimed to enrich the microbial study in MFC and broaden the development and application for bioelectrode. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Temperature and Humidity Sensor Powered by an Individual Microbial Fuel Cell in a Power Management System

PubMed Central

Zheng, Qi; Xiong, Lei; Mo, Bing; Lu, Weihong; Kim, Suki; Wang, Zhenyu

2015-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are of increasing interest as bioelectrochemical systems for decomposing organic materials and converting chemical energy into electricity. The main challenge for this technology is that the low power and voltage of the devices restricts the use of MFCs in practical applications. In this paper, a power management system (PMS) is developed to store the energy and export an increased voltage. The designed PMS successfully increases the low voltage generated by an individual MFC to a high potential of 5 V, capable of driving a wireless temperature and humidity sensor based on nRF24L01 data transmission modules. With the PMS, MFCs can intermittently power the sensor for data transmission to a remote receiver. It is concluded that even an individual MFC can supply the energy required to power the sensor and telemetry system with the designed PMS. The presented PMS can be widely used for unmanned environmental monitoring such as wild rivers, lakes, and adjacent water areas, and offers promise for further advances in MFC technology. PMID:26378546

Microbial fuel cell driving electrokinetic remediation of toxic metal contaminated soils.

PubMed

Habibul, Nuzahat; Hu, Yi; Sheng, Guo-Ping

2016-11-15

An investigation of the feasibility of in-situ electrokinetic remediation for toxic metal contaminated soil driven by microbial fuel cell (MFC) is presented. Results revealed that the weak electricity generated from MFC could power the electrokinetic remediation effectively. The metal removal efficiency and its influence on soil physiological properties were also investigated. With the electricity generated through the oxidation of organics in soils by microorganisms, the metals in the soils would mitigate from the anode to the cathode. The concentrations of Cd and Pb in the soils increased gradually through the anode to the cathode regions after remediation. After about 143days and 108 days' operation, the removal efficiencies of 31.0% and 44.1% for Cd and Pb at the anode region could be achieved, respectively. Soil properties such as pH and soil conductivity were also significantly redistributed from the anode to the cathode regions. The study shows that the MFC driving electrokinetic remediation technology is cost-effective and environmental friendly, with a promising application in soil remediation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mutual facilitations of food waste treatment, microbial fuel cell bioelectricity generation and Chlorella vulgaris lipid production.

PubMed

Hou, Qingjie; Pei, Haiyan; Hu, Wenrong; Jiang, Liqun; Yu, Ze

2016-03-01

Food waste contains large amount of organic matter that may be troublesome for handing, storage and transportation. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) was successfully constructed with different inoculum densities of Chlorella vulgaris for promoting food waste treatment. Maximum COD removal efficiency was registered with 44% and 25 g CODL(-1)d(-1) of substrate degradation rate when inoculated with the optimal initial density (150 mg L(-1)) of C. vulgaris, which were 2.9 times and 3.1 times higher than that of the abiotic cathode. With the optimum inoculum density of C. vulgaris, the highest open circuit voltage, working voltage and power density of MFC were 260 mV, 170 mV and 19151 mW m(-3), respectively. Besides the high biodiesel quality, promoted by MFC stimulation the biomass productivity and highest total lipid content of C. vulgaris were 207 mg L(-1)d(-1) and 31%, which were roughly 2.7 times and 1.2 times higher than the control group. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The excellent performance of nest-like oxygen-deficient Cu1.5Mn1.5O4 applied in activated carbon air-cathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Wang, Junjie; Tian, Pei; Li, Kexun; Ge, Baochao; Liu, Di; Liu, Yi; Yang, Tingting; Ren, Rong

2016-12-01

This study investigated the performance of nano spinel nest-like oxygen-deficient Cu 1.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 doping activated carbon (AC) as air cathode in microbial fuel cell (MFC). The Cu 1.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 was synthesized via hydrothermal method and subsequent annealed. The maximum power density (MPD) of MFC with oxygen-deficient Cu 1.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 modified cathode was 1928±18mWm -2 , which was 1.53 times higher than the bare cathode. The electrochemical studies showed that Cu 1.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 doping AC exhibited higher kinetic activity and lower resistance. The mechanism of oxygen reduction for the catalyst was a four electron pathway. The oxygen deficient of Cu 1.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 played an important role in catalytic activity. So Cu 1.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 would be an excellent promising catalyst for ORR in MFC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The addition of ortho-hexagon nano spinel Co3O4 to improve the performance of activated carbon air cathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Ge, Baochao; Li, Kexun; Fu, Zhou; Pu, Liangtao; Zhang, Xi

2015-11-01

Commercial Co3O4 and ortho-hexagon spinel nano-Co3O4 (OHSNC) were doped in the AC at a different percentage (5%, 10% and 15%) to enhance the performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC). The maximum power density of MFC with 10% OHSNC doped cathode was 1500±14 mW m(-2), which was 97.36% and 41.24% higher than that with the bare AC air cathode and commercial Co3O4 respectively. The electrocatalytic behavior for their better performance was discussed in detail with the help of various structural and electrochemical techniques. The OHSNC was characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results showed that the improved performance owed to the enhancement of both kinetics activity and the number of electron transfer in the ORR, and the internal resistance was largely reduced. Therefore, OHSNC was proved to be an excellent cathodic catalyst in AC air cathode MFC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of diligent disintegration on anaerobic biomass and performance of microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Divyalakshmi, Palanisamy; Murugan, Devaraj; Rai, Chockalingam Lajapathi

2017-12-01

To enhance the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFC) by increasing the surface area of cathode and diligent mechanical disintegration of anaerobic biomass. Tannery effluent and anaerobic biomass were used. The increase in surface area of the cathode resulted in 78% COD removal, with the potential, current density, power density and coulombic efficiency of 675 mV, 147 mA m -2 , 33 mW m -2 and 3.5%, respectively. The work coupled with increased surface area of the cathode with diligent mechanical disintegration of the biomass, led to a further increase in COD removal of 82% with the potential, current density, power density and coulombic efficiency of 748 mV, 229 mA m -2 , 78 mW m -2 and 6% respectively. Mechanical disintegration of the biomass along with increased surface area of cathode enhances power generation in vertical MFC reactors using tannery effluent as fuel.

Mixed sulfate-reducing bacteria-enriched microbial fuel cells for the treatment of wastewater containing copper.

PubMed

Miran, Waheed; Jang, Jiseon; Nawaz, Mohsin; Shahzad, Asif; Jeong, Sang Eun; Jeon, Che Ok; Lee, Dae Sung

2017-12-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been widely investigated for organic-based waste/substrate conversion to electricity. However, toxic compounds such as heavy metals are ubiquitous in organic waste and wastewater. In this work, a sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB)-enriched anode is used to study the impact of Cu 2+ on MFC performance. This study demonstrates that MFC performance is slightly enhanced at concentrations of up to 20 mg/L of Cu 2+ , owing to the stimulating effect of metals on biological reactions. Cu 2+ removal involves the precipitation of metalloids out of the solution, as metal sulfide, after they react with the sulfide produced by SRB. Simultaneous power generation of 224.1 mW/m 2 at lactate COD/SO 4 2- mass ratio of 2.0 and Cu 2+ of 20 mg/L, and high Cu 2+ removal efficiency, at >98%, are demonstrated in the anodic chamber of a dual-chamber MFC. Consistent MFC performance at 20 mg/L of Cu 2+ for ten successive cycles shows the excellent reproducibility of this system. In addition, total organic content and sulfate removal efficiencies greater than 85% and 70%, respectively, are achieved up to 20 mg/L of Cu 2+ in 48 h batches. However, higher metal concentration and very low pH at <4.0 inhibit the SRB MFC system. Microbial community analysis reveals that Desulfovibrio is the most abundant SRB in anode biofilm at the genus level, at 38.1%. The experimental results demonstrate that biological treatment of low-concentration metal-containing wastewater with SRB in MFCs can be an attractive technique for the bioremediation of this type of medium with simultaneous energy generation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of organic matter removal and electricity generation by using integrated microbial fuel cells for wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Yamashita, Takahiro; Ishida, Mitsuyoshi; Ogino, Akifumi; Yokoyama, Hiroshi

2016-01-01

A floating all-in-one type of microbial fuel cell (Fa-MFC) that allows simple operation and installation in existing wastewater reservoirs for decomposition of organic matter was designed. A prototype cell was constructed by fixing a tubular floater to an assembly composed of a proton-exchange membrane and an air-cathode. To compare anode materials, carbon-cloth anodes or carbon-brush anodes were included in the assembly. The fabricated assemblies were floated in 1-L beakers filled with acetate medium. Both reactors removed acetate at a rate of 133-181 mg/L/d. The Fa-MFC quipped with brush anodes generated a 1.7-fold higher maximum power density (197 mW/m(2)-cathode area) than did that with cloth anodes (119 mW/m(2)-cathode area). To evaluate the performance of the Fa-MFCs on more realistic substrates, artificial wastewater, containing peptone and meat extract, was placed in a 2-L beaker, and the Fa-MFC with brush anodes was floated in the beaker. The Fa-MFC removed the chemical oxygen demand of the wastewater at a rate of 465-1029 mg/L/d, and generated a maximum power density of 152 mW/m(2)-cathode area. When the Fa-MFC was fed with actual livestock wastewater, the biological oxygen demand of the wastewater was removed at a rate of 45-119 mg/L/d, with electricity generation of 95 mW/m(2)-cathode area. Bacteria related to Geobacter sulfurreducens were predominantly detected in the anode biofilm, as deduced from the analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence.

Improvement of a microbial fuel cell performance as a BOD sensor using respiratory inhibitors.

PubMed

Chang, In Seop; Moon, Hyunsoo; Jang, Jae Kyung; Kim, Byung Hong

2005-03-15

Studies were made to improve the performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) as a biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) sensor. The signal from MFCs decreased in the presence of electron acceptors of higher redox potential such as nitrate and oxygen. The addition of azide and cyanide did not change the signal in the absence of the electron acceptors. The respiratory inhibitors eliminated the inhibitory effects of the electron acceptors on the current generation from MFCs. Similar results were obtained using oligotrophic MFCs fed with an environmental sample that contained nitrate. The use of the respiratory inhibitors is therefore recommended for the accurate BOD measurement of environmental samples containing nitrate and/or oxygen with an MFC-type BOD sensor.

Microbial Fuel Cell Performance with a Pressurized Cathode Chamber

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) power densities are often constrained by the oxygen reduction reaction rate on the cathode electrode. One important factor for this is the normally low solubility of oxygen in the aqueous cathode solution creating mass transport limitations, which hinder oxygen reduction a...

Oxygen - Enemy or Friend for Microbial Fuel Cell Anode Performance?

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Until recently, scientists and engineers have held a strong belief that oxygen intrusion into the anode chamber of a bioelectrochemical system (BES) is detrimental to microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance because oxygen acts as an alternate electron acceptor. This would, according to recent beliefs...

Stokes space modulation format classification based on non-iterative clustering algorithm for coherent optical receivers.

PubMed

Mai, Xiaofeng; Liu, Jie; Wu, Xiong; Zhang, Qun; Guo, Changjian; Yang, Yanfu; Li, Zhaohui

2017-02-06

A Stokes-space modulation format classification (MFC) technique is proposed for coherent optical receivers by using a non-iterative clustering algorithm. In the clustering algorithm, two simple parameters are calculated to help find the density peaks of the data points in Stokes space and no iteration is required. Correct MFC can be realized in numerical simulations among PM-QPSK, PM-8QAM, PM-16QAM, PM-32QAM and PM-64QAM signals within practical optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) ranges. The performance of the proposed MFC algorithm is also compared with those of other schemes based on clustering algorithms. The simulation results show that good classification performance can be achieved using the proposed MFC scheme with moderate time complexity. Proof-of-concept experiments are finally implemented to demonstrate MFC among PM-QPSK/16QAM/64QAM signals, which confirm the feasibility of our proposed MFC scheme.

Performance evaluation and bacteria analysis of AFB-MFC enriched with high-strength synthetic wastewater.

PubMed

Huang, Jian-sheng; Guo, Yong; Yang, Ping; Li, Chong-ming; Gao, Hui; Feng, Li; Zhang, Yun

2014-01-01

In order to study the performance and bacterial communities of an anaerobic fluidized bed microbial fuel cell (AFB-MFC) system, the 16S rDNA gene sequencing was applied, and high-strength synthetic wastewater was treated by the AFB-MFC system. The high-strength synthetic wastewater, in which the concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrite nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen were above 19,000, 2,516-3,871 and 927-1,427 mg/L, was treated by the AFB-MFC system. The removal efficiency of COD, nitrite nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen reached 70-89, 98 and 98%, while the maximum voltage was 394 mV. The bacteria analysis revealed the presence of Alistipes putredinis, Carnobacterium sp., Victivallis vadensis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Thauera sp., Parabacteroides merdae, Parvimonas micra, Parabacteroides sp., and Desulfomicrobium baculatum in the anode chamber. In addition, the Klebsiella pneumoniae was observed to have the capability of organic degradation and electricity generation, while the Thauera sp. has the capability of denitrification.

Enhancing biodegradation and energy generation via roughened surface graphite electrode in microbial desalination cell.

PubMed

Ebrahimi, Atieh; Yousefi Kebria, Daryoush; Najafpour Darzi, Ghasem

2017-09-01

The microbial desalination cell (MDC) is known as a newly developed technology for water and wastewater treatment. In this study, desalination rate, organic matter removal and energy production in the reactors with and without desalination function were compared. Herein, a new design of plain graphite called roughened surface graphite (RSG) was used as the anode electrode in both microbial fuel cell (MFC) and MDC reactors for the first time. Among the three type of anode electrodes investigated in this study, RSG electrode produced the highest power density and salt removal rate of 10.81 W/m 3 and 77.6%, respectively. Such a power density was 2.33 times higher than the MFC reactor due to the junction potential effect. In addition, adding the desalination function to the MFC reactor enhanced columbic efficiency from 21.8 to 31.4%. These results provided a proof-of-concept that the use of MDC instead of MFC would improve wastewater treatment efficiency and power generation, with an added benefit of water desalination. Furthermore, RSG can successfully be employed in an MDC or MFC, enhancing the bio-electricity generation and salt removal.

Autonomous, Retrievable, Deep Sea Microbial Fuel Cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, K.

2014-12-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) work by providing bacteria in anaerobic sediments with an electron acceptor (anode) that stimulates metabolism of organic matter. The buried anode is connected via control circuitry to a cathode exposed to oxygen in the overlying water. During metabolism, bacteria release hydrogen ions into the sediment and transfer electrons extra-cellularly to the anode, which eventually reduce dissolved oxygen at the cathode, forming water. The open circuit voltage is approximately 0.8 v. The voltage between electrodes is operationally kept at 0.4 v with a potentiastat. The current is chiefly limited by the rate of microbial metabolism at the anode. The Office of Naval Research has encouraged development of microbial fuel cells in the marine environment at a number of academic and naval institutions. Earlier work in shallow sediments of San Diego Bay showed that the most important environmental parameters that control fuel cell power output in San Diego Bay were total organic carbon in the sediment and seasonal water temperature. Current MFC work at SPAWAR includes extension of microbial fuel cell tests to the deep sea environment (>1000 m) and, in parallel, testing microbial fuel cells in the laboratory under deep sea conditions. One question we are asking is whether MFC power output from deep water sediments repressurized and chilled in the laboratory comparable to those measured in situ. If yes, mapping the power potential of deep sea sediments may be made much easier, requiring sediment grabs and lab tests rather than deployment and retrieval of fuel cells. Another question we are asking is whether in situ temperature and total organic carbon in the deep sea sediment can predict MFC power. If yes, then we can make use of the large collection of publicly available, deep sea oceanographic measurements to make these predictions, foregoing expensive work at sea. These regressions will be compared to those derived from shallow water measurements.

Temperature, inocula and substrate: Contrasting electroactive consortia, diversity and performance in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Heidrich, E S; Dolfing, J; Wade, M J; Sloan, W T; Quince, C; Curtis, T P

2018-02-01

The factors that affect microbial community assembly and its effects on the performance of bioelectrochemical systems are poorly understood. Sixteen microbial fuel cell (MFC) reactors were set up to test the importance of inoculum, temperature and substrate: Arctic soil versus wastewater as inoculum; warm (26.5°C) versus cold (7.5°C) temperature; and acetate versus wastewater as substrate. Substrate was the dominant factor in determining performance and diversity: unexpectedly the simple electrogenic substrate delivered a higher diversity than a complex wastewater. Furthermore, in acetate fed reactors, diversity did not correlate with performance, yet in wastewater fed ones it did, with greater diversity sustaining higher power densities and coulombic efficiencies. Temperature had only a minor effect on power density, (Q 10 : 2 and 1.2 for acetate and wastewater respectively): this is surprising given the well-known temperature sensitivity of anaerobic bioreactors. Reactors were able to operate at low temperature with real wastewater without the need for specialised inocula; it is speculated that MFC biofilms may have a self-heating effect. Importantly, the warm acetate fed reactors in this study did not act as direct model for cold wastewater fed systems. Application of this technology will encompass use of real wastewater at ambient temperatures. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electricity generation and microbial community in response to short-term changes in stack connection of self-stacked submersible microbial fuel cell powered by glycerol.

PubMed

Zhao, Nannan; Angelidaki, Irini; Zhang, Yifeng

2017-02-01

Stack connection (i.e., in series or parallel) of microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an efficient way to boost the power output for practical application. However, there is little information available on short-term changes in stack connection and its effect on the electricity generation and microbial community. In this study, a self-stacked submersible microbial fuel cell (SSMFC) powered by glycerol was tested to elucidate this important issue. In series connection, the maximum voltage output reached to 1.15 V, while maximum current density was 5.73 mA in parallel. In both connections, the maximum power density increased with the initial glycerol concentration. However, the glycerol degradation was even faster in parallel connection. When the SSMFC was shifted from series to parallel connection, the reactor reached to a stable power output without any lag phase. Meanwhile, the anodic microbial community compositions were nearly stable. Comparatively, after changing parallel to series connection, there was a lag period for the system to get stable again and the microbial community compositions became greatly different. This study is the first attempt to elucidate the influence of short-term changes in connection on the performance of MFC stack, and could provide insight to the practical utilization of MFC. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A solvent-free microbial-activated air cathode battery paper platform made with pencil-traced graphite electrodes.

PubMed

Lee, Seung Ho; Ban, Ju Yeon; Oh, Chung-Hun; Park, Hun-Kuk; Choi, Samjin

2016-06-23

We present the fabrication of an ultra-low cost, disposable, solvent-free air cathode all-paper microbial fuel cell (MFC) that does not utilize any chemical treatments. The anode and cathode were fabricated by depositing graphite particles by drawing them on paper with a pencil (four strokes). Hydrophobic parchment paper was used as a proton exchange membrane (PEM) to allow only H(+) to pass. Air cathode MFC technology, where O2 was used as an electron acceptor, was implemented on the paper platform. The bioelectric current was generated by an electrochemical process involving the redox couple of microbial-activated extracellular electron transferred electrons, PEM-passed H(+), and O2 in the cathode. A fully micro-integrated pencil-traced MFC showed a fast start-time, producing current within 10 s after injection of bacterial cells. A single miniaturized all-paper air cathode MFC generated a maximum potential of 300 mV and a maximum current of 11 μA during 100 min after a single injection of Shewanella oneidensis. The micro-fabricated solvent-free air cathode all-paper MFC generated a power of 2,270 nW (5.68 mW/m(2)). The proposed solvent-free air cathode paper-based MFC device could be used for environmentally-friendly energy storage as well as in single-use medical power supplies that use organic matter.

A solvent-free microbial-activated air cathode battery paper platform made with pencil-traced graphite electrodes

PubMed Central

Lee, Seung Ho; Ban, Ju Yeon; Oh, Chung-Hun; Park, Hun-Kuk; Choi, Samjin

2016-01-01

We present the fabrication of an ultra-low cost, disposable, solvent-free air cathode all-paper microbial fuel cell (MFC) that does not utilize any chemical treatments. The anode and cathode were fabricated by depositing graphite particles by drawing them on paper with a pencil (four strokes). Hydrophobic parchment paper was used as a proton exchange membrane (PEM) to allow only H+ to pass. Air cathode MFC technology, where O2 was used as an electron acceptor, was implemented on the paper platform. The bioelectric current was generated by an electrochemical process involving the redox couple of microbial-activated extracellular electron transferred electrons, PEM-passed H+, and O2 in the cathode. A fully micro-integrated pencil-traced MFC showed a fast start-time, producing current within 10 s after injection of bacterial cells. A single miniaturized all-paper air cathode MFC generated a maximum potential of 300 mV and a maximum current of 11 μA during 100 min after a single injection of Shewanella oneidensis. The micro-fabricated solvent-free air cathode all-paper MFC generated a power of 2,270 nW (5.68 mW/m2). The proposed solvent-free air cathode paper-based MFC device could be used for environmentally-friendly energy storage as well as in single-use medical power supplies that use organic matter. PMID:27333815

A solvent-free microbial-activated air cathode battery paper platform made with pencil-traced graphite electrodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Seung Ho; Ban, Ju Yeon; Oh, Chung-Hun; Park, Hun-Kuk; Choi, Samjin

2016-06-01

We present the fabrication of an ultra-low cost, disposable, solvent-free air cathode all-paper microbial fuel cell (MFC) that does not utilize any chemical treatments. The anode and cathode were fabricated by depositing graphite particles by drawing them on paper with a pencil (four strokes). Hydrophobic parchment paper was used as a proton exchange membrane (PEM) to allow only H+ to pass. Air cathode MFC technology, where O2 was used as an electron acceptor, was implemented on the paper platform. The bioelectric current was generated by an electrochemical process involving the redox couple of microbial-activated extracellular electron transferred electrons, PEM-passed H+, and O2 in the cathode. A fully micro-integrated pencil-traced MFC showed a fast start-time, producing current within 10 s after injection of bacterial cells. A single miniaturized all-paper air cathode MFC generated a maximum potential of 300 mV and a maximum current of 11 μA during 100 min after a single injection of Shewanella oneidensis. The micro-fabricated solvent-free air cathode all-paper MFC generated a power of 2,270 nW (5.68 mW/m2). The proposed solvent-free air cathode paper-based MFC device could be used for environmentally-friendly energy storage as well as in single-use medical power supplies that use organic matter.

A combined system of microbial fuel cell and intermittently aerated biological filter for energy self-sufficient wastewater treatment

PubMed Central

Dong, Yue; Feng, Yujie; Qu, Youpeng; Du, Yue; Zhou, Xiangtong; Liu, Jia

2015-01-01

Energy self-sufficiency is a highly desirable goal of sustainable wastewater treatment. Herein, a combined system of a microbial fuel cell and an intermittently aerated biological filter (MFC-IABF) was designed and operated in an energy self-sufficient manner. The system was fed with synthetic wastewater (COD = 1000 mg L−1) in continuous mode for more than 3 months at room temperature (~25 °C). Voltage output was increased to 5 ± 0.4 V using a capacitor-based circuit. The MFC produced electricity to power the pumping and aeration systems in IABF, concomitantly removing COD. The IABF operating under an intermittent aeration mode (aeration rate 1000 ± 80 mL h−1) removed the residual nutrients and improved the water quality at HRT = 7.2 h. This two-stage combined system obtained 93.9% SCOD removal and 91.7% TCOD removal (effluent SCOD = 61 mg L−1, TCOD = 82.8 mg L−1). Energy analysis indicated that the MFC unit produced sufficient energy (0.27 kWh m−3) to support the pumping system (0.014 kWh m−3) and aeration system (0.22 kWh m−3). These results demonstrated that the combined MFC-IABF system could be operated in an energy self-sufficient manner, resulting to high-quality effluent. PMID:26666392

Nano-structured manganese oxide as a cathodic catalyst for enhanced oxygen reduction in a microbial fuel cell fed with a synthetic wastewater.

PubMed

Liu, Xian-Wei; Sun, Xue-Fei; Huang, Yu-Xi; Sheng, Guo-Ping; Zhou, Kang; Zeng, Raymond J; Dong, Fang; Wang, Shu-Guang; Xu, An-Wu; Tong, Zhong-Hua; Yu, Han-Qing

2010-10-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) provide new opportunities for the simultaneous wastewater treatment and electricity generation. Enhanced oxygen reduction capacity of cost-effective metal-based catalysts in an air cathode is essential for the scale-up and commercialization of MFCs in the field of wastewater treatment. We demonstrated that a nano-structured MnO(x) material, prepared by an electrochemically deposition method, could be an effective catalyst for oxygen reduction in an MFC to generate electricity with the maximum power density of 772.8 mW/m(3) and remove organics when the MFC was fed with an acetate-laden synthetic wastewater. The nano-structured MnO(x) with the controllable size and morphology could be readily obtained with the electrochemical deposition method. Both morphology and manganese oxidation state of the nano-scale catalyst were largely dependent on the electrochemical preparation process, and they governed its catalytic activity and the cathodic oxygen reduction performance of the MFC accordingly. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry (CV) performed on each nano-structured material suggests that the MnO(x) nanorods had an electrochemical activity towards oxygen reduction reaction via a four-electron pathway in a neutral pH solution. This work provides useful information on the facile preparation of cost-effective cathodic catalysts in a controllable way for the single-chamber air-cathode MFC for wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Arsenic mitigation in paddy soils by using microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Gustave, Williamson; Yuan, Zhao-Feng; Sekar, Raju; Chang, Hu-Cheng; Zhang, Jun; Wells, Mona; Ren, Yu-Xiang; Chen, Zheng

2018-07-01

Arsenic (As) behavior in paddy soils couples with the redox process of iron (Fe) minerals. When soil is flooded, Fe oxides are transformed to soluble ferrous ions by accepting the electrons from Fe reducers. This process can significantly affect the fate of As in paddy fields. In this study, we show a novel technique to manipulate the Fe redox processes in paddy soils by deploying soil microbial fuel cells (sMFC). The results showed that the sMFC bioanode can significantly decrease the release of Fe and As into soil porewater. Iron and As contents around sMFC anode were 65.0% and 47.0% of the control respectively at day 50. The observed phenomenon would be explained by a competition for organic substrate between sMFC bioanode and the iron- and arsenic-reducing bacteria in the soils. In the vicinity of bioanode, organic matter removal efficiencies were 10.3% and 14.0% higher than the control for lost on ignition carbon and total organic carbon respectively. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes suggested that the influence of bioanodes on bulk soil bacterial community structure was minimal. Moreover, during the experiment a maximum current and power density of 0.31 mA and 12.0 mWm -2 were obtained, respectively. This study shows a novel way to limit the release of Fe and As in soils porewater and simultaneously generate electricity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of charge transfer resistance and capacitance of microbial fuel cell through a transient response analysis of cell voltage.

PubMed

Ha, Phuc Thi; Moon, Hyunsoo; Kim, Byung Hong; Ng, How Yong; Chang, In Seop

2010-03-15

An alternative method for determining the charge transfer resistance and double-layer capacitance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), easily implemented without a potentiostat, was developed. A dynamic model with two parameters, the charge transfer resistance and double-layer capacitance of electrodes, was derived from a linear differential equation to depict the current generation with respect to activation overvoltage. This model was then used to fit the transient cell voltage response to the current step change during the continuous operation of a flat-plate type MFC fed with acetate. Variations of the charge transfer resistance and the capacitance value with respect to the MFC design conditions (biocatalyst existence and electrode area) and operating parameters (acetate concentration and buffer strength in the catholyte) were then determined to elucidate the validity of the proposed method. This model was able to describe the dynamic behavior of the MFC during current change in the activation loss region; having an R(2) value of over 0.99 in most tests. Variations of the charge transfer resistance value (thousands of Omega) according to the change of the design factors and operational factors were well-correlated with the corresponding MFC performances. However, though the capacitance values (approximately 0.02 F) reflected the expected trend according to the electrode area change and catalyst property, they did not show significant variation with changes in either the acetate concentration or buffer strength. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy harvesting influences electrochemical performance of microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobo, Fernanda Leite; Wang, Xin; Ren, Zhiyong Jason

2017-07-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be effective power sources for remote sensing, wastewater treatment and environmental remediation, but their performance needs significant improvement. This study systematically analyzes how active harvesting using electrical circuits increased MFC system outputs as compared to passive resistors not only in the traditional maximal power point (MPP) but also in other desired operating points such as the maximum current point (MCP) and the maximum voltage point (MVP). Results show that active harvesting in MPP increased power output by 81-375% and active harvesting in MCP increased Coulombic efficiency by 207-805% compared with resisters operated at the same points. The cyclic voltammograms revealed redox potential shifts and supported the performance data. The findings demonstrate that active harvesting is a very effective approach to improve MFC performance across different operating points.

Dynamic electrical reconfiguration for improved capacitor charging in microbial fuel cell stacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papaharalabos, George; Greenman, John; Stinchcombe, Andrew; Horsfield, Ian; Melhuish, Chris; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

2014-12-01

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bioelectrochemical device that uses anaerobic bacteria to convert chemical energy locked in biomass into small amounts of electricity. One viable way of increasing energy extraction is by stacking multiple MFC units and exploiting the available electrical configurations for increasing the current or stepping up the voltage. The present study illustrates how a real-time electrical reconfiguration of MFCs in a stack, halves the time required to charge a capacitor (load) and achieves 35% higher current generation compared to a fixed electrical configuration. This is accomplished by progressively switching in-parallel elements to in-series units in the stack, thus maintaining an optimum potential difference between the stack and the capacitor, which in turn allows for a higher energy transfer.

Electricity generation from cattle manure slurry by cassette-electrode microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Inoue, Kengo; Ito, Toshihiro; Kawano, Yoshihiro; Iguchi, Atsushi; Miyahara, Morio; Suzuki, Yoshihiro; Watanabe, Kazuya

2013-11-01

Cassette-electrode microbial fuel cells (CE-MFCs) are efficient and scalable devices for electricity production from organic waste. Previous studies have demonstrated that CE-MFCs are capable of generating electricity from artificial wastewater at relatively high efficiencies. In this study, a single-cassette CE-MFC was constructed, and its capacity for electricity generation from cattle manure suspended in water (solid to water ratio of 1:50) was examined. The CE-MFC reactor was operated in batch mode for 49 days; electricity generation became stable 2 weeks after initiating the operation. The maximum power density was measured at 16.3 W m⁻³ on day 26. Sequencing analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA gene fragments obtained from the original manure and from anode biofilms suggested that Chloroflexi and Geobacteraceae were abundant in the anode biofilm (29% and 18%, respectively), whereas no Geobacteraceae sequences were detected in the original manure sample. The results of this study suggest that CE-MFCs can be used to generate electricity from water-suspended cattle manure in a scalable MFC system. Copyright © 2013 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Models for Microbial Fuel Cells: A critical review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Chengshuo; Zhang, Daxing; Pedrycz, Witold; Zhu, Yingmin; Guo, Yongxian

2018-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been widely viewed as one of the most promising alternative sources of renewable energy. A recognition of needs of efficient development methods based on multidisciplinary research becomes crucial for the optimization of MFCs. Modeling of MFCs is an effective way for not only gaining a thorough understanding of the effects of operation conditions on the performance of power generation but also becomes of essential interest to the successful implementation of MFCs. The MFC models encompass the underlying reaction process and limiting factors of the MFC. The models come in various forms, such as the mathematical equations or the equivalent circuits. Different modeling focuses and approaches of the MFC have emerged. In this study, we present a state of the art of MFCs modeling; the past modeling methods are reviewed as well. Models and modeling methods are elaborated on based on the classification provided by Mechanism-based models and Application-based models. Mechanisms, advantages, drawbacks, and application fields of different models are illustrated as well. We exhibit a complete and comprehensive exposition of the different models for MFCs and offer further guidance to promote the performance of MFCs.

Multi-variable mathematical models for the air-cathode microbial fuel cell system

DOE PAGES

Ou, Shiqi; Kashima, Hiroyuki; Aaron, Douglas S.; ...

2016-03-10

This research adopted the version control system into the model construction for the single chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) system, to understand the interrelation of biological, chemical, and electrochemical reactions. The anodic steady state model was used to consider the chemical species diffusion and electric migration influence to the MFC performance. In the cathodic steady state model, the mass transport and reactions in a multi-layer, abiotic cathode and multi-bacteria cathode biofilm were simulated. Transport of hydroxide was assumed for cathodic pH change. This assumption is an alternative to the typical notion of proton consumption during oxygen reduction to explainmore » elevated cathode pH. The cathodic steady state model provided the power density and polarization curve performance results that can be compared to an experimental MFC system. Another aspect we considered was the relative contributions of platinum catalyst and microbes on the cathode to the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). We found simulation results showed that the biocatalyst in a cathode that includes a Pt/C catalyst likely plays a minor role in ORR, contributing up to 8% of the total power calculated by the models.« less

Porous metal-organic framework Cu3(BTC)2 as catalyst used in air-cathode for high performance of microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Tian, Pei; Liu, Di; Li, Kexun; Yang, Tingting; Wang, Junjie; Liu, Yi; Zhang, Song

2017-11-01

Metal-organic framework Cu 3 (BTC) 2 , prepared by an easy hydrothermal method, was used as the oxygen-based catalyst in microbial fuel cell (MFC). The maximum power density of Cu 3 (BTC) 2 modified air-cathode MFC was 1772±15mWm -2 , almost 1.8 times higher than the control. BET results disclosed high specific surface area of 2159.7m 2 g -1 and abundant micropores structure. Regular octahedron and porous surface of Cu 3 (BTC) 2 were observed in SEM. XPS testified the existence of divalent copper in the extended 3D frameworks, which importantly acted as the Lewis-acid sites or redox centers in ORR. Additionally, the total resistance decreased by 42% from 17.60 to 10.24Ω compared with bare AC electrode. The rotating disk electrode test results showed a four-electron transfer pathway for Cu 3 (BTC) 2 , which was crucial for electrochemical catalytic activity. All the structural and electrochemical advantages make Cu 3 (BTC) 2 a promising catalyst for ORR in MFC. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Microbial fuel cells as power supply of a low-power temperature sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaled, Firas; Ondel, Olivier; Allard, Bruno

2016-02-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) show great promise as a concomitant process for water treatment and as renewable energy sources for environmental sensors. The small energy produced by MFCs and the low output voltage limit the applications of MFCs. Specific converter topologies are required to step-up the output voltage of a MFC. A Power Management Unit (PMU) is proposed for operation at low input voltage and at very low power in a completely autonomous way to capture energy from MFCs with the highest possible efficiency. The application of sensors for monitoring systems in remote locations is an important approach. MFCs could be an alternative energy source in this case. Powering a sensor with MFCs may prove the fact that wastewater may be partly turned into renewable energy for realistic applications. The Power Management Unit is demonstrated for 3.6 V output voltage at 1 mW continuous power, based on a low-cost 0.7-L MFC. A temperature sensor may operate continuously on 2-MFCs in continuous flow mode. A flyback converter under discontinuous conduction mode is also tested to power the sensor. One continuously fed MFC was able to efficiently and continuously power the sensor.

Simultaneous Congo red decolorization and electricity generation in air-cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cell with different microfiltration, ultrafiltration and proton exchange membranes.

PubMed

Hou, Bin; Sun, Jian; Hu, Yong-you

2011-03-01

Different microfiltration membrane (MFM), proton exchange membrane (PEM) and ultrafiltration membranes (UFMs) with different molecular cutoff weights of 1K (UFM-1K), 5K (UFM-5K) and 10K (UFM-10K) were incorporated into air-cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) which were explored for simultaneous azo dye decolorization and electricity generation to investigate the effect of membrane on the performance of the MFC. Batch test results showed that the MFC with an UFM-1K produced the highest power density of 324 mW/m(2) coupled with an enhanced coulombic efficiency compared to MFM. The MFC with UMF-10K achieved the fastest decolorization rate (4.77 mg/L h), followed by MFM (3.61 mg/L h), UFM-5K (2.38 mg/L h), UFM-1K (2.02 mg/Lh) and PEM (1.72 mg/Lh). These results demonstrated the possibility of using various membranes in the system described here, and showed that UFM-1K was the best one based on the consideration of both cost and performance. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Separation and detection of amino acid metabolites of Escherichia coli in microbial fuel cell with CE.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Ma, Lihong; Lin, Ping; Xu, Kaixuan

2016-07-01

In this work, CE-LIF was employed to investigate the amino acid metabolites produced by Escherichia coli (E. coli) in microbial fuel cell (MFC). Two peptides, l-carnosine and l-alanyl-glycine, together with six amino acids, cystine, alanine, lysine, methionine, tyrosine, arginine were separated and detected in advance by a CE-LIF system coupled with a homemade spontaneous injection device. The injection device was devised to alleviate the effect of electrical discrimination for analytes during sample injection. All analytes could be completely separated within 8 min with detection limits of 20-300 nmol/L. Then this method was applied to analyze the substrate solution containing amino acid metabolites produced by E. coli. l-carnosine, l-alanyl-glycine, and cystine were used as the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur source for the E. coli culture in the MFC to investigate the amino acid metabolites during metabolism. Two MFCs were used to compare the activity of metabolism of the bacteria. In the sample collected at the running time 200 h of MFC, the amino acid methionine was discovered as the metabolite with the concentrations 23.3 μg/L. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Flexible and stretchable microbial fuel cells with modified conductive and hydrophilic textile.

PubMed

Pang, Sumiao; Gao, Yang; Choi, Seokheun

2018-02-15

We built a flexible, stretchable microbial fuel cell (MFC) by laminating two functional components: a bioanode textile with a conductive and hydrophilic polymer coating and a solid-state cathode textile loaded with silver oxide. The textile MFC used Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 as a biocatalyst to generate the maximum power and current density of 1.0µW/cm 2 and 6.3µA/cm 2 , respectively, which are comparable with or even higher than other flexible MFCs such as paper-based devices (~ a few µW/cm 2 ). Additionally, the textile MFC generated consistent power even with repeated 70 cycles of 50% stretching. A simple batch fabrication method simultaneously produced 20 individual 2cm × 2cm devices by using brushing, spraying, ironing, and computerized sewing, a process that will revolutionize the mass production of textile MFCs. This achievement is scientifically meaningful because developing textile MFCs requires integration of both electronic and fluidic components into the textile three-dimensionally. This flexible and stretchable energy harvesting device is expected to be easily integrated with the next generation stretchable electronics for realizing low-power, stand-alone, self-sustainable systems. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microbial fuel cells equipped with an iron-plated carbon-felt anode and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 with corn steep liquor as a fuel.

PubMed

Phansroy, Nichanan; Khawdas, Wichean; Watanabe, Keigo; Aso, Yuji; Ohara, Hitomi

2018-05-12

A single chamber type microbial fuel cell (MFC) with 100 mL of chamber volume and 50 cm 2 of air-cathode was developed in this study wherein a developed iron-plated carbon-felt anode and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 were used. The performance of the iron-plated carbon-felt anode and the possibility of corn steep liquor (CSL) as a fuel, which was the byproduct of corn wet milling and contained lactic acid, was investigated here. MFCs equipped with iron-plated or non-plated carbon-felt anodes exhibited maximum current densities of 443 or 302 mA/m 2 using 10 g/L of reagent-grade lactic acid, respectively. In addition, using centrifuged CSL without insoluble ingredients or non-centrifuged CSL as a fuel, the maximum current densities of the MFCs with iron-plated carbon-felt anode were 321 or 158 mA/m 2 , respectively. This report demonstrated the effect of iron-plated carbon-felt anode for electricity generation of MFC using S. oneidensis MR-1 and the performance of CSL as a fuel. Copyright © 2018 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Preliminary investigation of single chamber single electrode microbial fuel cell using sewage sludge as a substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sai Chaithanya, M.; Thakur, Somil; Sonu, Kumar; Das, Bhaskar

2017-11-01

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) consists of a cathode and anode; micro-organisms transfer electrons acquired from the degradation of organic matter in the substrate to anode; and thereby to cathode; by using an external circuit to generate electricity. In the present study, a single chamber single electrode microbial fuel cell has been fabricated to generate electricity from the sludge of the sewage treatment plant at two different ambient temperature range of 25 ± 4°C and 32 ± 4°C under aerobic condition. No work has been done yet by using the single electrode in any MFC system; it is hypothesized that single electrode submerged partially in substrate and rest to atmosphere can function as both cathode and anode. The maximum voltage obtained was about 2890 mV after 80 (hrs) at temperature range of 25 ± 4°C, with surface power density of 1108.29 mW/m2. When the ambient temperature was 32 ± 4°C, maximum voltage obtained was 1652 mV after 40 (hrs.) surface power density reduced to 865.57 mW/m2. When amount of substrate was decreased for certain area of electrode at 25 ± 4°C range, electricity generation decreased and it also shortened the time to reach peak voltage. On the other hand, when the ambient temperature was increased to 32 ± 4°C, the maximum potential energy generated was less than that of previous experiment at 25 ± 4°C for the same substrate Also the time to reach peak voltage decreased to 40 hrs. When comparing with other single chamber single electrode MFC, the present model is generating more electricity that any MFC using sewage sludge as substrate except platinum electrode, which is much costlier that electrode used in the present study.

Air breathing cathodes for microbial fuel cell using Mn-, Fe-, Co- and Ni-containing platinum group metal-free catalysts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kodali, Mounika; Santoro, Carlo; Serov, Alexey

Here we discuss the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the major factors that is limiting the overall performance output of microbial fuel cells (MFC). In this study, Platinum Group Metal-free (PGM-free) ORR catalysts based on Fe, Co, Ni, Mn and the same precursor (Aminoantipyrine, AAPyr) were synthesized using identical sacrificial support method (SSM). The catalysts were investigated for their electrochemical performance, and then integrated into an air-breathing cathode to be tested in “clean” environment and in a working microbial fuel cell (MFC). Their performances were also compared to activated carbon (AC) based cathode under similar conditions. Results showedmore » that the addition of Mn, Fe, Co and Ni to AAPyr increased the performances compared to AC. Fe-AAPyr showed the highest open circuit potential (OCP) that was 0.307 ± 0.001 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and the highest electrocatalytic activity at pH 7.5. On the contrary, AC had an OCP of 0.203 ± 0.002 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and had the lowest electrochemical activity. In MFC, Fe-AAPyr also had the highest output of 251 ± 2.3 μWcm –2, followed by Co-AAPyr with 196 ± 1.5 μWcm –2, Ni-AAPyr with 171 ± 3.6 μWcm –2, Mn-AAPyr with 160 ± 2.8 μWcm –2 and AC 129 ± 4.2 μWcm –2. The best performing catalyst (Fe-AAPyr) was then tested in MFC with increasing solution conductivity from 12.4 mScm –1 to 63.1 mScm –1. A maximum power density of 482 ± 5 μWcm –2 was obtained with increasing solution conductivity, which is one of the highest values reported in the field.« less

Air breathing cathodes for microbial fuel cell using Mn-, Fe-, Co- and Ni-containing platinum group metal-free catalysts

DOE PAGES

Kodali, Mounika; Santoro, Carlo; Serov, Alexey; ...

2017-02-07

Here we discuss the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the major factors that is limiting the overall performance output of microbial fuel cells (MFC). In this study, Platinum Group Metal-free (PGM-free) ORR catalysts based on Fe, Co, Ni, Mn and the same precursor (Aminoantipyrine, AAPyr) were synthesized using identical sacrificial support method (SSM). The catalysts were investigated for their electrochemical performance, and then integrated into an air-breathing cathode to be tested in “clean” environment and in a working microbial fuel cell (MFC). Their performances were also compared to activated carbon (AC) based cathode under similar conditions. Results showedmore » that the addition of Mn, Fe, Co and Ni to AAPyr increased the performances compared to AC. Fe-AAPyr showed the highest open circuit potential (OCP) that was 0.307 ± 0.001 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and the highest electrocatalytic activity at pH 7.5. On the contrary, AC had an OCP of 0.203 ± 0.002 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and had the lowest electrochemical activity. In MFC, Fe-AAPyr also had the highest output of 251 ± 2.3 μWcm –2, followed by Co-AAPyr with 196 ± 1.5 μWcm –2, Ni-AAPyr with 171 ± 3.6 μWcm –2, Mn-AAPyr with 160 ± 2.8 μWcm –2 and AC 129 ± 4.2 μWcm –2. The best performing catalyst (Fe-AAPyr) was then tested in MFC with increasing solution conductivity from 12.4 mScm –1 to 63.1 mScm –1. A maximum power density of 482 ± 5 μWcm –2 was obtained with increasing solution conductivity, which is one of the highest values reported in the field.« less

Artificial gills for robots: MFC behaviour in water.

PubMed

Ieropoulos, Ioannis; Melhuish, Chris; Greenman, John

2007-09-01

This paper reports on the first stage in developing microbial fuel cells (MFCs) which can operate underwater by utilizing dissolved oxygen. In this context, the cathodic half-cell is likened to an artificial gill. Such an underwater power generator has obvious potential for autonomous underwater robots. The electrical power from these devices increased proportionately with water flow rate, temperature and salinity. The current output at ambient temperature (null condition) was 32 microA and this increased by 200% (approximately 100 microA) as a result of a corresponding temperature increase (DeltaT) of 52 degrees C. Similarly, the effect of increasing the water flow rate resulted in an increase in the MFC output ranging from 135% to 150%. Furthermore, the same positive effect was recorded when artificial seawater was used instead, in which case the increase in the MFC current output was >100% (from 32 to 65 microA). There was a distinct difference in the MFC performance when operated under low turbulent as opposed to high turbulent flow rates. These findings can be advantageous in the design of underwater autonomous robots.

A Single-Use Paper-Shaped Microbial Fuel Cell for Rapid Aqueous Biosensing.

PubMed

Zuo, Kuichang; Liu, Han; Zhang, Qiaoying; Liang, Peng; Huang, Xia; Vecitis, Chad D

2015-06-22

The traditional chamber-based microbial fuel cell (MFC) often has the disadvantages of high ohmic resistance, large volume requirements, and delayed start-up. In this study, paper-shaped MFCs utilizing a porous carbon anode, a solid Ag2 O-coated carbon cathode, and a micrometer-thin porous polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) separator are investigated to address the classical MFC issues. The Ag2 O-coated cathode has a low overpotential of 0.06 V at a reducing current of 1 mA compared to a Pt-air cathode. Rapid inoculation by filtration results in an instantaneous power density of 92 mW m(-2) with an internal resistance of 162 Ω. Integrated current over the first 30 min of operation has a linear relation with microbial concentration. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The enhancement of ammonium removal from ethanolamine wastewater using air-cathode microbial fuel cells coupled to ferric reduction.

PubMed

Shin, Ja-Won; Seo, Seok-Ju; Maitlo, Hubdar Ali; Park, Joo-Yang

2015-08-01

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) with biological Fe(III) reduction was implemented for simultaneous ethanolamine (ETA) degradation and electrical energy generation. In the feasibility experiment using acetate as a substrate in a single-chamber MFC with goethite and ammonium at a ratio of 3.0(mol/mol), up to 96.1% of the ammonium was removed through the novel process related to Fe(III). In addition, the highest voltage output (0.53V) and maximum power density (0.49Wm(-2)) were obtained. However, the ammonium removal and electrical performance decreased as acetate was replaced with ETA. In the long-term experiment, the electrical performance markedly decreased where the voltage loss increased due to Fe deposition on the membranes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A flat microbial fuel cell for decentralized wastewater valorization: process performance and optimization potential.

PubMed

Peixoto, Luciana; Rodrigues, Alexandrina L; Martins, Gilberto; Nicolau, Ana; Brito, António G; Silva, M Manuela; Parpot, Pier; Nogueira, Regina

2013-01-01

A very compact flat microbial fuel cell (MFC), with 64 cm2 each for the anode surface and the cathode surface and 1 cm3 each for the anode and cathode chambers, was tested for wastewater treatment with simultaneous electricity production with the ultimate goal of implementing an autonomous service in decentralized wastewater treatment systems. The MFC was operated with municipal wastewater in sequencing batch reactor mode with re-circulation. Current densities up to 407 W/m3 and a carbon removal of 83% were obtained. Interruption in the operation slightly decreased power density, while the re-circulation ratio did not influence power generation. The anode biofilm presented high conductivity, activity and diversity. The denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis band-pattern of the DNA showed the presence of several ribotypes with different species of Shewanellaceae and Geobacteraceae families.

Characterization of a filamentous biofilm community established in a cellulose-fed microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Ishii, Shun'ichi; Shimoyama, Takefumi; Hotta, Yasuaki; Watanabe, Kazuya

2008-01-10

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that exploit microorganisms to generate electric power from organic matter. Despite the development of efficient MFC reactors, the microbiology of electricity generation remains to be sufficiently understood. A laboratory-scale two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was inoculated with rice paddy field soil and fed cellulose as the carbon and energy source. Electricity-generating microorganisms were enriched by subculturing biofilms that attached onto anode electrodes. An electric current of 0.2 mA was generated from the first enrichment culture, and ratios of the major metabolites (e.g., electric current, methane and acetate) became stable after the forth enrichment. In order to investigate the electrogenic microbial community in the anode biofilm, it was morphologically analyzed by electron microscopy, and community members were phylogenetically identified by 16S rRNA gene clone-library analyses. Electron microscopy revealed that filamentous cells and rod-shaped cells with prosthecae-like filamentous appendages were abundantly present in the biofilm. Filamentous cells and appendages were interconnected via thin filaments. The clone library analyses frequently detected phylotypes affiliated with Clostridiales, Chloroflexi, Rhizobiales and Methanobacterium. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization revealed that the Rhizobiales population represented rod-shaped cells with filamentous appendages and constituted over 30% of the total population. Bacteria affiliated with the Rhizobiales constituted the major population in the cellulose-fed MFC and exhibited unique morphology with filamentous appendages. They are considered to play important roles in the cellulose-degrading electrogenic community.

Characterization of a filamentous biofilm community established in a cellulose-fed microbial fuel cell

PubMed Central

Ishii, Shun'ichi; Shimoyama, Takefumi; Hotta, Yasuaki; Watanabe, Kazuya

2008-01-01

Background Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that exploit microorganisms to generate electric power from organic matter. Despite the development of efficient MFC reactors, the microbiology of electricity generation remains to be sufficiently understood. Results A laboratory-scale two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was inoculated with rice paddy field soil and fed cellulose as the carbon and energy source. Electricity-generating microorganisms were enriched by subculturing biofilms that attached onto anode electrodes. An electric current of 0.2 mA was generated from the first enrichment culture, and ratios of the major metabolites (e.g., electric current, methane and acetate) became stable after the forth enrichment. In order to investigate the electrogenic microbial community in the anode biofilm, it was morphologically analyzed by electron microscopy, and community members were phylogenetically identified by 16S rRNA gene clone-library analyses. Electron microscopy revealed that filamentous cells and rod-shaped cells with prosthecae-like filamentous appendages were abundantly present in the biofilm. Filamentous cells and appendages were interconnected via thin filaments. The clone library analyses frequently detected phylotypes affiliated with Clostridiales, Chloroflexi, Rhizobiales and Methanobacterium. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization revealed that the Rhizobiales population represented rod-shaped cells with filamentous appendages and constituted over 30% of the total population. Conclusion Bacteria affiliated with the Rhizobiales constituted the major population in the cellulose-fed MFC and exhibited unique morphology with filamentous appendages. They are considered to play important roles in the cellulose-degrading electrogenic community. PMID:18186940

Enhancement of electricity production in a mediatorless air-cathode microbial fuel cell using Klebsiella sp. IR21.

PubMed

Lee, Yun-Yeong; Kim, Tae Gwan; Cho, Kyung-Suk

2016-06-01

A novel dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria, Klebsiella sp. IR21, was isolated from the anode biofilm of an MFC reactor. Klebsiella sp. IR21 reduced 27.8 % of ferric iron to ferrous iron demonstrating that Klebsiella sp. IR21 has electron transfer ability. Additionally, Klebsiella sp. IR21 generated electricity forming a biofilm on the anode surface. When a pure culture of Klebsiella sp. IR21 was supplied into a single chamber, air-cathode MFC fed with a mixture of glucose and acetate (500 mg L(-1) COD), 40-60 mV of voltage (17-26 mA m(-2) of current density) was produced. Klebsiella sp. IR21 was also utilized as a biocatalyst to improve the electrical performance of a conventional MFC reactor. A single chamber, air-cathode MFC was fed with reject wastewater (10,000 mg L(-1) COD) from a H2 fermentation reactor. The average voltage, current density, and power density were 142.9 ± 25.74 mV, 60.5 ± 11.61 mA m(-2), and 8.9 ± 3.65 mW m(-2), respectively, in the MFC without inoculation of Klebsiella sp. IR21. However, these electrical performances of the MFC were significantly increased to 204.7 ± 40.24 mV, 87.5 ± 17.20 mA m(-2), and 18.6 ± 7.23 mW m(-2), respectively, with inoculation of Klebsiella sp. IR21. The results indicate that Klebsiella sp. IR21 can be utilized as a biocatalyst for enhancement of electrical performance in MFC systems.

Whole systems thinking for sustainable water treatment design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huggins, Mitchell Tyler

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology could provide a low cost alternative to conventional aerated wastewater treatment, however there has been little comparison between MFC and aeration treatment using real wastewater substrate. This study attempts to directly compare the wastewater treatment efficiency and energy consumption and generation among three reactor systems, a traditional aeration process, a simple submerged MFC configuration, and a control reactor acting similar as natural lagoons. Results showed that all three systems were able to remove >90% of COD, but the aeration used shorter time (8 days) then the MFC (10 days) and control reactor (25 days). Compared to aeration, the MFC showed lower removal efficiency in high COD concentration but much higher efficiency when the COD is low. Only the aeration system showed complete nitrification during the operation, reflected by completed ammonia removal and nitrate accumulation. Suspended solid measurements showed that MFC reduced sludge production by 52-82% as compared to aeration, and it also saved 100% of aeration energy. Furthermore, though not designed for high power generation, the MFC reactor showed a 0.3 Wh/g COD/L or 24 Wh/m3 (wastewater treated) net energy gain in electricity generation. These results demonstrate that MFC technology could be integrated into wastewater infrastructure to meet effluent quality and save operational cost. The high cost and life-cycle impact of electrode materials is one major barrier to the large scale application of microbial fuel cells (MFC). We also demonstrate that biomass-derived black carbon (biochar), could be a more cost effective and sustainable alternative to granular activated carbon (GAC) and graphite granule (GG) electrodes. In a comparison study, two biochar materials made from lodgepole pine sawdust pellets (BCp) and lodgepole pine woodchips (BCc), gassified at a highest heat temperature (HHT) of 1000°C under a heating rate of 16°C/min, showed a satisfactory power density of 532 +/- 18 mW/m-2 and 457 +/- 20 mW/m-2 respectively, compared to GAC with 674 +/- 10 mW/m-2 and GG with 566 +/- 5 mW/m-2 (normalized to cathode projected surface area), as an anode material in a two-chamber MFC. BCc and BCp had BET-N2 surface area measurements of 429 cm2 g -1 and 470 cm2 g-1 respectively, lower than industrial GAC with 1248 cm2 g-1 but several orders of magnitude higher that GG with 0.44 cm2 g-1 . BCc and BCp had a lower surface resistance of 3+/-1Ω mm -1 and 6+/-1 Ω mm-1 than 8+/-2Ω mm -1 for GAC, but higher that GG with 0.4+/-0.5 Ω mm -1. We also investigated the life-cycle impact and estimated cost of biochar as an electrode material. Although there is no well-established market price for biochar, conservative estimates place the costs around 51-356 US/tonne, up to ten times cheaper that GAC (500-2500 US/tonne) and GGs (500-800 US$/tonne) with significantly greater life-cycle advantages.

Effect of biofilm and selective mixed culture on microbial fuel cell for the treatment of tempeh industrial wastewater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arbianti, Rita; Surya Utami, Tania; Leondo, Vifki; Elisabeth; Andyah Putri, Syafira; Hermansyah, Heri

2018-03-01

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) provides a new alternative in the treatment of organic waste. MFC produces 50-90% less sludge to be disposed than other methods. MFC technology can utilize existing microorganisms in the waste as a catalyst to generate electricity and simultaneously also serves as a wastewater treatment unit itself. Tempeh wastewater is one of the abundant industrial wastewater which can be processed using MFC. Research using the selective mixed culture is very likely to do due to the good result on COD removals by adding mixed culture. Microorganisms in tempeh wastewater consist of bacteria gram positive and gram negative. This study focused on the aspects of waste treatment which is determined by decreased levels of COD and BOD. Variations in this study are the formation time of biofilm and the addition of selective gram. MFC operated for 50 hours. For a variation of biofilm formation, experiments were performed after incubation by replacing incubation substrates used in the formation of biofilms. Biofilm formation time in this study was 3 days, 5 days, 7 days and 14 days. Gram positive and gram negative bacteria were used in selective mixed culture experiments. Selective mixed culture added to the reactor by 1 mL and 5 mL. Selection of gram-positive or gram-negative bacteria carried by growing mixed culture on selective media. COD and BOD levels were measured in the wastewater before and after the experiment conducted in each variation. Biofilm formation optimum time is 7 days which decrease COD and BOD levels by 18.2% and 35.9%. The addition of gram negative bacteria decreases COD and BOD levels by 29.32% and 51.32%. Further research is needed in order to get a better result on decreasing levels of COD and BOD.

The Role of Soil Organic Matter, Nutrients, and Microbial Community Structure on the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rooney-Varga, J. N.; Dunaj, S. J.; Vallino, J. J.; Hines, M. E.; Gay, M.; Kobyljanec, C.

2011-12-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer the potential for generating electricity, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and bioremediating pollutants through utilization of a plentiful, natural, and renewable resource: soil organic carbon. In the current study, we analyzed microbial community structure, MFC performance, and soil characteristics in different microhabitats (bulk soil, anode, and cathode) within MFCs constructed from agricultural or forest soils in order to determine how soil type and microbial dynamics influence MFC performance. MFCs were constructed with soils from agricultural and hardwood forest sites at Harvard Forest (Petersham, MA). The bulk soil characteristics were analyzed, including polyphenols, short chain fatty acids, total organic C and N, abiotic macronutrients, N and P mineralization rates, CO2 respiration rates, and MFC power output. Microbial community structure of the anodes, cathodes, and bulk soils was determined with molecular fingerprinting methods, which included terminal restriction length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis and 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. Our results indicated that MFCs constructed from agricultural soil had power output about 17 times that of forest soil-based MFCs and respiration rates about 10 times higher than forest soil MFCs. Agricultural soil MFCs had lower C:N ratios, polyphenol content, and acetate concentrations than forest soil MFCs, suggesting that active agricultural MFC microbial communities were supported by higher quality organic carbon. Microbial community profile data indicate that the microbial communities at the anode of the high power MFCs were less diverse than in low power MFCs and were dominated by Deltaproteobacteria, Geobacter, and, to a lesser extent, Clostridia, while low-power MFC anode communities were dominated by Clostridia. These data suggest that the presence of organic carbon substrate (acetate) was not the major limiting factor in selecting for highly electrogenic microbial communities, while the quality of available organic matter may have played a significant role in supporting high performing microbial communities.

Simultaneous energy generation and UV quencher removal from landfill leachate using a microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Iskander, Syeed Md; Novak, John T; Brazil, Brian; He, Zhen

2017-11-01

The presence of UV quenching compounds in landfill leachate can negatively affect UV disinfection in a wastewater treatment plant when leachate is co-treated. Herein, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was investigated to remove UV quenchers from a landfill leachate with simultaneous bioelectricity generation. The key operating parameters including hydraulic retention time (HRT), anolyte recirculation rate, and external resistance were systematically studied to maximize energy recovery and UV absorbance reduction. It was found that nearly 50% UV absorbance was reduced under a condition of HRT 40 days, continuous anolyte recirculation, and 10 Ω external resistance. Further analysis showed a total reduction of organics by 75.3%, including the reduction of humic acids, fulvic acids, and hydrophilic fraction concentration as TOC. The MFC consumed 0.056 kWh m -3 by its pump system for recirculation and oxygen supply. A reduced HRT of 20 days with periodical anode recirculation (1 hour in every 24 hours) and 39 Ω external resistance (equal to the internal resistance of the MFC) resulted in the highest net energy of 0.123 kWh m -3 . Granular activated carbon (GAC) was used as an effective post-treatment step and could achieve 89.1% UV absorbance reduction with 40 g L -1 . The combined MFC and GAC treatment could reduce 92.9% of the UV absorbance and remove 89.7% of the UV quenchers. The results of this study would encourage further exploration of using MFCs as an energy-efficient method for removing UV quenchers from landfill leachate.

Recent advances in the development and utilization of modern anode materials for high performance microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Sonawane, Jayesh M; Yadav, Abhishek; Ghosh, Prakash C; Adeloju, Samuel B

2017-04-15

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are novel bio-electrochemical device for spontaneous or single step conversion of biomass into electricity, based on the use of metabolic activity of bacteria. The design and use of MFCs has attracted considerable interests because of the potential new opportunities they offer for sustainable production of energy from biodegradable and reused waste materials. However, the associated slow microbial kinetics and costly construction materials has limited a much wider commercial use of the technology. In the past ten years, there has been significant new developments in MFCs which has resulted in several-fold increase in achievable power density. Yet, there is still considerable possibility for further improvement in performance and development of new cost effective materials. This paper comprehensively reviews recent advances in the construction and utilization of novel anodes for MFCs. In particular, it highlights some of the critical roles and functions of anodes in MFCs, strategies available for improving surface areas of anodes, dominant performance of stainless-steel based anode materials, and the emerging benefits of inclusion of nanomaterials. The review also demonstrates that some of the materials are very promising for large scale MFC applications and are likely to replace conventional anodes for the development of next generation MFC systems. The hurdles to the development of commercial MFC technology are also discussed. Furthermore, the future directions in the design and selection of materials for construction and utilization of MFC anodes are highlighted. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of proton exchange membrane on the performance and microbial community composition of air-cathode microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Lee, Yun-Yeong; Kim, Tae Gwan; Cho, Kyung-Suk

2015-10-10

This study investigated the effects of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) on performance and microbial community of air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Air-cathode MFCs with reactor volume of 1L were constructed in duplicate with or without PEM (designated as ACM-MFC and AC-MFC, respectively) and fed with a mixture of glucose and acetate (1:1, w:w). The maximum power density and coulombic efficiency did not differ between MFCs in the absence or presence of a PEM. However, PEM use adversely affected maximum voltage production and the rate of organic compound removal (p<0.05). Quantitative droplet digital PCR indicated that AC-MFCs had a greater bacterial population than ACM-MFCs (p<0.05). Likewise, ribosomal tag pyrosequencing revealed that the diversity index of bacterial communities was greater for AC-MFCs (p<0.05). Network analysis revealed that the most abundant genus was Enterococcus, which comprised ≥62% of the community and was positively associated with PEM and negatively associated with the rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (Pearson correlation>0.9 and p<0.05). Geobacter, which is known as an exoelectrogen, was positively associated with maximum power density and negatively associated with PEM. Thus, these results suggest that the absence of PEM favored the growth of Geobacter, a key player for electricity generation in MFC systems. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that MFC systems without PEM are more efficient with respect to power production and COD removal as well as exoelectrogen growth. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A continuous flow MFC-CW coupled with a biofilm electrode reactor to simultaneously attenuate sulfamethoxazole and its corresponding resistance genes.

PubMed

Li, Hua; Song, Hai-Liang; Yang, Xiao-Li; Zhang, Shuai; Yang, Yu-Li; Zhang, Li-Min; Xu, Han; Wang, Ya-Wen

2018-05-08

A continuous flow microbial fuel cell constructed wetland (MFC-CW) coupled with a biofilm electrode reactor (BER) system was constructed to remove sulfamethoxazole (SMX). The BER unit powered by the stacked MFC-CWs was used as a pretreatment unit, and effluent flowed into the MFC-CW for further degradation. The experimental results indicated that the removal rate of 2 or 4 mg/L SMX in a BER unit was nearly 90%, and the total removal rate in the coupled system was over 99%. As the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was reduced from 16 h to 4 h, the SMX removal rate in the BER decreased from 75% to 48%. However, the total removal rate in the coupled system was still over 97%. The maximum SMX removal rate in the MFC-CW, which accounted for 42%-55% of the total removal, was obtained in the anode layer. In addition, the relative abundances of sul genes detected in the systems were in the order of sulI > sulII > sulIII, and significant positive correlations of sul gene copy numbers versus SMX concentration and 16S rRNA gene copy numbers were observed. Furthermore, significant negative correlations were identified between sul genes, 16S rRNA gene copy numbers, and HRT. The abundances of the sul genes in the effluent of the MFC-CW were lower than the abundances observed in the BER effluent. High-throughput sequencing revealed that the microbial community diversity of the BER was affected by running time, power supply forms and HRT. Bio-electricity from the MFC-CW may reduce microbial community diversity and contribute to reduction of the antibiotic resistance gene (ARG) abundance in the BER. Taken together, the BER-MFC-CW coupled system is a potential tool to treat wastewater containing SMX and attenuate corresponding ARG abundance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental Fuels Facility Re-categorization Based on Facility Segmentation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reiss, Troy P.; Andrus, Jason

The Experimental Fuels Facility (EFF) (MFC-794) at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) located on the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site was originally constructed to provide controlled-access, indoor storage for radiological contaminated equipment. Use of the facility was expanded to provide a controlled environment for repairing contaminated equipment and characterizing, repackaging, and treating waste. The EFF facility is also used for research and development services, including fuel fabrication. EFF was originally categorized as a LTHC-3 radiological facility based on facility operations and facility radiological inventories. Newly planned program activities identified the need to receive quantities of fissionable materials in excessmore » of the single parameter subcritical limit in ANSI/ANS-8.1, “Nuclear Criticality Safety in Operations with Fissionable Materials Outside Reactors” (identified as “criticality list” quantities in DOE-STD-1027-92, “Hazard Categorization and Accident Analysis Techniques for Compliance with DOE Order 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports,” Attachment 1, Table A.1). Since the proposed inventory of fissionable materials inside EFF may be greater than the single parameter sub-critical limit of 700 g of U-235 equivalent, the initial re-categorization is Hazard Category (HC) 2 based upon a potential criticality hazard. This paper details the facility hazard categorization performed for the EFF. The categorization was necessary to determine (a) the need for further safety analysis in accordance with LWP-10802, “INL Facility Categorization,” and (b) compliance with 10 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 830, Subpart B, “Safety Basis Requirements.” Based on the segmentation argument presented in this paper, the final hazard categorization for the facility is LTHC-3. Department of Energy Idaho (DOE-ID) approval of the final hazard categorization determined by this hazard assessment document (HAD) was required per the DOE-ID Supplemental Guidance for DOE-STD-1027-92 based on the proposed downgrade of the initial facility categorization of Hazard Category 2.« less

Increased performance of hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells under alkaline conditions.

PubMed

Rago, Laura; Baeza, Juan A; Guisasola, Albert

2016-06-01

This work reports the first successful enrichment and operation of alkaline bioelectrochemical systems (microbial fuel cells, MFC, and microbial electrolysis cells, MEC). Alkaline (pH=9.3) bioelectrochemical hydrogen production presented better performance (+117%) compared to conventional neutral conditions (2.6 vs 1.2 litres of hydrogen gas per litre of reactor per day, LH2·L(-1)REACTOR·d(-1)). Pyrosequencing results of the anodic biofilm showed that while Geobacter was mainly detected under conventional neutral conditions, Geoalkalibacter sp. was highly detected in the alkaline MFC (21%) and MEC (48%). This is the first report of a high enrichment of Geoalkalibacter from an anaerobic mixed culture using alkaline conditions in an MEC. Moreover, Alkalibacter sp. was highly present in the anodic biofilm of the alkaline MFC (37%), which would indicate its potentiality as a new exoelectrogen. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous electricity production and antibiotics removal by microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Zhou, Ying; Zhu, Nengwu; Guo, Wenying; Wang, Yun; Huang, Xixian; Wu, Pingxiao; Dang, Zhi; Zhang, Xiaoping; Xian, Jinchan

2018-07-01

The removal of antibiotics is crucial for improvement of water quality in animal wastewater treatment. In this paper, the performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) in terms of degradation of typical antibiotics was investigated. Electricity was successfully produced by using sludge supernatant mixtures and synthesized animal wastewater as inoculation in MFC. Results demonstrated that the stable voltage, the maximum power density and internal resistance of anaerobic self-electrolysis (ASE) -112 and ASE-116 without antibiotics addition were 0.574 V, 5.78 W m -3 and 28.06 Ω, and 0.565 V, 5.82 W m -3 and 29.38 Ω, respectively. Moreover, when adding aureomycin, sulfadimidine, roxithromycin and norfloxacin into the reactors, the performance of MFC was inhibited (0.51 V-0.41 V), while the output voltage was improved with the decreased concentration of antibiotics. However, the removal efficiency of ammonia nitrogen (NH 3 -N) and total phosphorus (TP) were both obviously enhanced. Simultaneously, LC-MS analysis showed that the removal efficiency of aureomycin, roxithromycin and norfloxacin were all 100% and the removal efficiency of sulfadimidine also reached 99.9%. These results indicated that antibiotics displayed significantly inhibitions for electricity performance but improved the quality of water simultaneously. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of electricity production from alkaline pretreated sludge using two-chamber microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Xiao, Benyi; Yang, Fang; Liu, Junxin

2013-06-15

Electricity production from alkaline pretreated sludge was evaluated using a two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The electricity production was found to be stable over a long period of time (approximately 17 d) with voltage outputs and power densities of 0.47-0.52 V and 46.80-55.88 mW/m(2), respectively. The anode resistance was the main internal resistance (73.2%) of MFC in the stable stage. Most soluble organic matters (proteins and carbohydrates) in the anode chamber were first degraded and converted into volatile fatty acids (0-15 d), which were then degraded and converted into electricity and methane (15-29 d). The insoluble organics were solubilized thereby decreasing the sludge concentration and reducing the sludge mass. Methane was produced in the anode chamber owing to the growth of methanogens, which did not obviously affect the electricity production. The change in humic-like substances displayed a positive correlation with the electricity production of the MFC. Microbial analysis showed that methanogens and electricity-producing bacteria co-existed mostly on the surface as well as inside the anode. Decreasing the anode resistance and increasing the anode utilization could enhance the electricity production. Crown Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design of Iron(II) Phthalocyanine-Derived Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalysts for High-Power-Density Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Santoro, Carlo; Gokhale, Rohan; Mecheri, Barbara; D'Epifanio, Alessandra; Licoccia, Silvia; Serov, Alexey; Artyushkova, Kateryna; Atanassov, Plamen

2017-08-24

Iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) deposited onto two different carbonaceous supports was synthesized through an unconventional pyrolysis-free method. The obtained materials were studied in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in neutral media through incorporation in an air-breathing cathode structure and tested in an operating microbial fuel cell (MFC) configuration. Rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) analysis revealed high performances of the Fe-based catalysts compared with that of activated carbon (AC). The FePc supported on Black-Pearl carbon black [Fe-BP(N)] exhibits the highest performance in terms of its more positive onset potential, positive shift of the half-wave potential, and higher limiting current as well as the highest power density in the operating MFC of (243±7) μW cm -2 , which was 33 % higher than that of FePc supported on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (Fe-CNT(N); 182±5 μW cm -2 ). The power density generated by Fe-BP(N) was 92 % higher than that of the MFC utilizing AC; therefore, the utilization of platinum group metal-free catalysts can boost the performances of MFCs significantly. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Cast and 3D printed ion exchange membranes for monolithic microbial fuel cell fabrication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Philamore, Hemma; Rossiter, Jonathan; Walters, Peter; Winfield, Jonathan; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

2015-09-01

We present novel solutions to a key challenge in microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology; greater power density through increased relative surface area of the ion exchange membrane that separates the anode and cathode electrodes. The first use of a 3D printed polymer and a cast latex membrane are compared to a conventionally used cation exchange membrane. These new techniques significantly expand the geometric versatility available to ion exchange membranes in MFCs, which may be instrumental in answering challenges in the design of MFCs including miniaturisation, cost and ease of fabrication. Under electrical load conditions selected for optimal power transfer, peak power production (mean 10 batch feeds) was 11.39 μW (CEM), 10.51 μW (latex) and 0.92 μW (Tangoplus). Change in conductivity and pH of anolyte were correlated with MFC power production. Digital and environmental scanning electron microscopy show structural changes to and biological precipitation on membrane materials following long term use in an MFC. The cost of the novel membranes was lower than the conventional CEM. The efficacy of two novel membranes for ion exchange indicates that further characterisation of these materials and their fabrication techniques, shows great potential to significantly increase the range and type of MFCs that can be produced.

Bioelectricity from kitchen and bamboo waste in a microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Moqsud, M Azizul; Omine, Kiyoshi; Yasufuku, Noriyuki; Bushra, Quazi S; Hyodo, Masayuki; Nakata, Yukio

2014-02-01

This study evaluated bioelectricity generation by using kitchen garbage (KG) and bamboo waste (BW) as a solid waste management option by a microbial fuel cell (MFC) method. The nutrient content [nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK)] of the by-products of bioelectricity were also analyzed and assessed for their potential use as a soil amendment. A one-chamber MFC was used for bioelectricity generation in laboratory experiments using both KG and BW. A data-logger recorded voltage every 20 mins at a constant room temperature of 25°C over 45 days. The trend of voltage generation was different for the two organic wastes. In the case of KG, the voltage at the initial stage (0-5 days) increased rapidly and then gradually to a peak of 620 mV. In contrast, the voltage increased gradually to a peak of 540 mV in the case of BW. The by-products of bioelectricity can be used as soil conditioner as its NPK content was in the range of soil conditioner mentioned in other literature. Thus, the MFC has emerged as an efficient and eco-friendly solution for organic waste management, especially in developing and technologically less sophisticated countries, and can provide green and safe electricity from organic waste.

A miniature microbial fuel cell with conducting nanofibers-based 3D porous biofilm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Huawei; Halverson, Larry J.; Dong, Liang

2015-12-01

Miniature microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has received growing interest due to its potential applications in high-throughput screening of bacteria and mutants to elucidate mechanisms of electricity generation. This paper reports a novel miniature MFC with an improved output power density and short startup time, utilizing electrospun conducting poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanofibers as a 3D porous anode within a 12 μl anolyte chamber. This device results in 423 μW cm-3 power density based on the volume of the anolyte chamber, using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 as a model biocatalyst without any optimization of bacterial culture. The device also excels in a startup time of only 1hr. The high conductivity of the electrospun nanofibers makes them suitable for efficient electron transfer. The mean pore size of the conducting nanofibers is several micrometers, which is favorable for bacterial penetration and colonization of surfaces of the nanofibers. We demonstrate that S. oneidensis can fully colonize the interior region of this nanofibers-based porous anode. This work represents a new attempt to explore the use of electrospun PEDOT nanofibers as a 3D anode material for MFCs. The presented miniature MFC potentially will provide a high-sensitivity, high-throughput tool to screen suitable bacterial species and mutant strains for use in large-size MFCs.

Coproduction of acetic acid and electricity by application of microbial fuel cell technology to vinegar fermentation.

PubMed

Tanino, Takanori; Nara, Youhei; Tsujiguchi, Takuya; Ohshima, Takayuki

2013-08-01

The coproduction of a useful material and electricity via a novel application of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology to oxidative fermentation was investigated. We focused on vinegar production, i.e., acetic acid fermentation, as an initial and model useful material that can be produced by oxidative fermentation in combination with MFC technology. The coproduction of acetic acid and electricity by applying MFC technology was successfully demonstrated by the simultaneous progress of acetic acid fermentation and electricity generation through a series of repeated batch fermentations. Although the production rate of acetic acid was very small, it increased with the number of repeated batch fermentations that were conducted. We obtained nearly identical (73.1%) or larger (89.9%) acetic acid yields than that typically achieved by aerated fermentation (75.8%). The open-cycle voltages measured before and after fermentation increased with the total fermentation time and reached a maximum value of 0.521 V prior to the third batch fermentation. The maximum current and power densities measured in this study (19.1 μA/cm² and 2.47 μW/cm², respectively) were obtained after the second batch fermentation. Copyright © 2013 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Relationships between soil organic matter, nutrients, bacterial community structure, and the performance of microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Dunaj, Sara J; Vallino, Joseph J; Hines, Mark E; Gay, Marcus; Kobyljanec, Christine; Rooney-Varga, Juliette N

2012-02-07

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer the potential for generating electricity, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and bioremediating pollutants through utilization of a plentiful renewable resource: soil organic carbon. We analyzed bacterial community structure, MFC performance, and soil characteristics in different microhabitats within MFCs constructed from agricultural or forest soils in order to determine how soil type and bacterial dynamics influence MFC performance. Our results indicated that MFCs constructed from agricultural soil had power output about 17 times that of forest soil-based MFCs and respiration rates about 10 times higher than forest soil MFCs. Agricultural soil MFCs had lower C:N ratios, polyphenol content, and acetate concentrations than forest soil MFCs. Bacterial community profile data indicate that the bacterial communities at the anode of the high power MFCs were less diverse than in low power MFCs and were dominated by Deltaproteobacteria, Geobacter, and to a lesser extent, Clostridia, while low-power MFC anode communities were dominated by Clostridia. These results suggest that the presence of organic carbon substrate (acetate) was not the major limiting factor in selecting for highly electrogenic bacterial communities, while the quality of available organic matter may have played a significant role in supporting high performing bacterial communities.

The Treatment of PPCP-Containing Sewage in an Anoxic/Aerobic Reactor Coupled with a Novel Design of Solid Plain Graphite-Plates Microbial Fuel Cell

PubMed Central

Chang, Yi-Tang; Yang, Chu-Wen; Chang, Yu-Jie; Chang, Ting-Chieh; Wei, Da-Jiun

2014-01-01

Synthetic sewage containing high concentrations of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs, mg/L level) was treated using an anoxic/aerobic (A/O) reactor coupled with a microbial fuel cell (MFC) at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 8 h. A novel design of solid plain graphite plates (SPGRPs) was used for the high surface area biodegradation of the PPCP-containing sewage and for the generation of electricity. The average CODCr and total nitrogen removal efficiencies achieved were 97.20% and 83.75%, respectively. High removal efficiencies of pharmaceuticals, including acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and sulfamethoxazole, were also obtained and ranged from 98.21% to 99.89%. A maximum power density of 532.61 mW/cm2 and a maximum coulombic efficiency of 25.20% were measured for the SPGRP MFC at the anode. Distinct differences in the bacterial community were presented at various locations including the mixed liquor suspended solids and biofilms. The bacterial groups involved in PPCP biodegradation were identified as Dechloromonas spp., Sphingomonas sp., and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This design, which couples an A/O reactor with a novel design of SPGRP MFC, allows the simultaneous removal of PPCPs and successful electricity production. PMID:25197659

A phosphorus-free anolyte to enhance coulombic efficiency of microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Xinhua; Li, Haoran; Du, Zhuwei; Ng, How Yong

2014-12-01

In this study, a phosphorus-free anolyte is prepared by using bicarbonate to replace phosphate buffer for application in two chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Optical density test and Bradford protein assay shows that this phosphorus-free anolyte effectively inhibits the growth and reproduction of microorganisms suspended in the solution and greatly reduces the suspended cell mass. As a result, it considerably enhances the coulombic efficiency (CE) of MFCs. When the acetate concentration is 11 mM, the CE of the MFC using the pH 7 phosphate-containing anolyte is 9.7% and the CE with the pH 8.3 phosphate-containing anolyte is 9.1%, while the CE of the MFC using the phosphorus-free anolyte (pH 8.3) achieves 26.6%. This study demonstrates that this phosphorus-free anolyte holds the potential to enhance the feasibility for practical applications of MFCs.

New applications of carbon nanostructures in microbial fuel cells (MFC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaca, W.; Żarnowiec, P.; Keczkowska, Justyna; Suchańska, M.; Czerwosz, E.; Kozłowski, M.

2014-11-01

In the studies presented we proposed a new application for nanocomposite carbon films (C-Pd). These films were evaluated as an anode material for Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) used for electrical current generation. The results of characterization of C-Pd films composed of carbon and palladium nanograins were obtained using the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) method. The film obtained by this method exhibits a multiphase structure composed of fullerene nanograins, amorphous carbon and palladium nanocrystals. Raman Spectroscopy (RS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to characterize the chemical composition, morphology and topography of these films. We observed, for MFC with C-Pd anode, the highest electrochemical activity and maximal voltage density - 458 mV (20,8 mV/cm2) for Proteus mirabilis, 426 mV (19,4 mV/cm2) for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 652 mV (29,6 mV/cm2) for sewage bacteria as the microbial catalyst.

Electricity generation from food wastes and microbial community structure in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Jia, Jianna; Tang, Yu; Liu, Bingfeng; Wu, Di; Ren, Nanqi; Xing, Defeng

2013-09-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) was studied as an alternate and a novel way to dispose food wastes (FWs) in a waste-to-energy form. Different organic loading rate obviously affected the performance of MFCs fed with FWs. The maximum power density of ~18 W/m(3) (~556 mW/m(2)) was obtained at COD of 3200±400 mg/L and the maximum coulombic efficiency (CE) was ~27.0% at COD of 4900±350 mg/L. The maximum removals of COD, total carbohydrate (TC) and total nitrogen (TN) were ~86.4%, ~95.9% and ~16.1%, respectively. Microbial community analysis using 454 pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene demonstrated the combination of the dominant genera of the exoelectrogenic Geobacter and fermentative Bacteroides effectively drove highly efficient and reliable MFC systems with functions of organic matters degradation and electricity generation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotube on reticulated vitreous carbon for hexavalent chromium removal in a biocathode microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fei, Kangqing; Song, Tian-shun; Wang, Haoqi; Zhang, Dalu; Tao, Ran; Xie, Jingjing

2017-10-01

For Cr(VI)-removal microbial fuel cell (MFC), a more efficient biocathode in MFCs is required to improve the Cr(VI) removal and electricity generation. RVC-CNT electrode was prepared through the electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotube (CNT) on reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC). The power density of MFC with an RVC-CNT electrode increased to 132.1 ± 2.8 mW m-2, and 80.9% removal of Cr(VI) was achieved within 48 h; compared to only 44.5% removal of Cr(VI) in unmodified RVC. Cyclic voltammetry, energy-dispersive spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry showed that the RVC-CNT electrode enhanced the electrical conductivity and the electron transfer rate; and provided more reaction sites for Cr(VI) reduction. This approach provides process simplicity and a thickness control method for fabricating three-dimensional biocathodes to improve the performance of MFCs for Cr(VI) removal.

Effect of acclimatization on hexavalent chromium reduction in a biocathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Wu, Xiayuan; Zhu, Xujun; Song, Tianshun; Zhang, Lixiong; Jia, Honghua; Wei, Ping

2015-03-01

A simple acclimatization method for the reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) at a biocathode by first enriching an exoelectrogenic biofilm on a microbial fuel cell (MFC) anode, followed by direct inversion of the anode to function as the biocathode, has been established. This novel method significantly enhanced the Cr(VI) reduction efficiency of the MFC, which was mainly attributed to the higher microbial density and less resistive Cr(III) precipitates on the cathode when compared with a common biocathode acclimatization method (control). The biocathode acclimatization period was shortened by 19days and the Cr(VI) reduction rate was increased by a factor of 2.9. Microbial community analyses of biocathodes acclimatized using different methods further verified the feasibility of this electrode inversion method, indicating similar dominant bacteria species in biofilms, which mainly consist of Gamma-proteobacteria and Bacteria. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiple Sulfur Isotopes In The Molopo Farms Complex May Shed Light On Mechanisms Of Mineralization In The Bushveld Igneous Complex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magalhaes, N.; Feineman, M. D.; Bybee, G. M.; Penniston-Dorland, S.; Farquhar, J.; Draper, C.; Escobar, E.; Gates, M.; Renusch, J.

2016-12-01

The 2.056 Ga Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) is host to the world's largest layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion, the Rustenburg Layered Suite (RLS), which has >80% of the world's known platinum group elements (PGEs) reserves. The BIC results from large-volume melt extraction from the mantle and may provide insight into the formation and compositional evolution of continental crust. Despite its scientific and economic importance, the total magma volume is poorly known. This is in part because the relationship between the BIC and nearby intrusive bodies of similar age remains uncertain. In this study, we present major element, trace element, and multiple sulfur isotope data for a suite of samples spanning the stratigraphy of the Molopo Farms Complex (MFC), a layered mafic intrusion located 200 km west of the Far Western Limb of the RLS. Similar to the RLS, the MFC contains an ultramafic lower zone, a mafic main zone, and an incompatible element enriched granophyric unit near the contact with the roof rocks. However, it has no Critical Zone, and an insignificant concentration of PGEs. Since the PGEs in the RLS are primarily hosted in sulfides, it has been inferred that the mineralization is closely linked to the source and behavior of sulfur. The RLS displays mass independent fractionation of sulfur (S-MIF; denoted by Δ33S), which suggests incorporation of surface-derived materials into the magma prior to or during emplacement. Multiple sulfur isotopes of MFC samples also show non-zero mean Δ33S (0.04±0.02‰, 1sd), although it is lower than the mean for the RLS (0.11±0.02‰, 1sd). Similarities in trace element ratios between the MFC mafic zone and RLS marginal zone suggest the same parental magma contributed to both intrusions. Taken together, these results suggest that both the RLS and the MFC started with similar magmatic compositions, and while both assimilated sulfur with an Archean surface-derived component, the RLS received more of this component in proportion to its volume. The lack of PGE mineralization in the MFC may reflect the lesser addition of Archean sedimentary sulfur.

[Electricity generation from corn steepwater using microbial fuel cell technology].

PubMed

Lu, Na; Zhou, Shun-Gui; Zhang, Jin-Tao; Ni, Jin-Ren

2009-02-15

Corn steepwater containing 49,732.2 mg/L of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was used as fuel for a membrane electrode assembly microbial fuel cell (MEA-MFC), which could generate electricity and treat the wastewater at the same time. During a batch experiment of 94 days with a fixed 1,000 Omega external resistance, the maximum voltage output of 525.0 mV and power density of 169.6 mW/m2 were obtained after 17 days, corresponding to the current density, internal resistance and open voltage of 440.2 mA/m2, 350 Omega and 619.5 mV, respectively. However, data showed that the coulombic efficiency was only 1.6%, suggesting very limited COD was utilized for electricity generation. At the conclusion of the test, the removals of COD and ammonia-nitrogen were achieved 51.6% and 25.8%, respectively. This study demonstrates that corn steepwater can be used for power generation in MFC with simultaneous accomplishments of wastewater treatment, providing a novel approach for the safe disposal and recycle of corn steepwater.

Electricity production coupled to ammonium in a microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

He, Zhen; Kan, Jinjun; Wang, Yanbing; Huang, Yuelong; Mansfeld, Florian; Nealson, Kenneth H

2009-05-01

The production of electricity from ammonium was examined using a rotating-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC). The addition of ammonium chloride, ammonium sulfate, or ammonium phosphate (monobasic) resulted in electricity generation, while adding sodium chloride, nitrate, or nitrite did not cause any increase in current production. The peak current increased with increasing amount of ammonium addition up to 62.3 mM of ammonium chloride, suggesting that ammonium was involved in electricity generation either directly as the anodic fuel or indirectly as substrates for nitrifiers to produce organic compounds for heterotrophs. Adding nitrate or nitrite with ammonium increased current production compared to solely ammonium addition. Using 16S rRNA-linked molecular analyses, we found ammonium-oxidizing bacteria and denitrifying bacteria on both the anode and cathode electrodes, whereas no anammox bacteria were detected. The dominant ammonium-oxidizing bacteria were closely related to Nitrosomonas europaea. The present MFC achieved an ammonium removal efficiency of 49.2 +/- 5.9 or 69.7 +/- 3.6%, depending on hydraulic retention time, but exhibited a very low Coulombic efficiency.

Application of acetate, lactate, and fumarate as electron donors in microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vasyliv, Oresta M.; Bilyy, Oleksandr I.; Ferensovych, Yaroslav P.; Hnatush, Svitlana O.

2013-09-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that use bacteria as the catalysts to oxidize organic and inorganic matter and generate current. Up to now, several classes of extracellular electron transfer mechanisms have been elucidated for various microorganisms. Shewanellaceae and Geobacteraceae families include the most of model exoelectrogenic microorganisms. Desulfuromonas acetoxidans bacterium inhabits aquatic sedimental sulfur-containing environments and is philogenetically close to representatives of Geobacteraceae family. Two chamber microbial fuel cell (0.3 l volume) was constructed with application of D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 as anode biocatalyst. Acetic, lactic and fumaric acids were separately applied as organic electron donors for bacterial growth in constructed MFC. Bacterial cultivation in MFC was held during twenty days. Lactate oxidation caused electric power production with the highest value up to 0.071 mW on 64 hour of D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 growth. Addition of acetic and fumaric acids into bacterial growth medium caused maximal power production up to 0.075 and 0.074 mW respectively on the 40 hour of their growth. Increasing of incubation time up to twentieth day caused decrease of generated electric power till 0.018 mW, 0.042 mW and 0.047 mW under usage of lactic, acetic and fumaric acids respectively by investigated bacteria. Power generation by D. acetoxidans IMV B-7384 was more stabile and durable under application of acetic and fumaric acids as electron donors in constructed MFC, than under addition of lactic acid in the same concentration into the growth medium.

Conversion of activated-sludge reactors to microbial fuel cells for wastewater treatment coupled to electricity generation.

PubMed

Yoshizawa, Tomoya; Miyahara, Morio; Kouzuma, Atsushi; Watanabe, Kazuya

2014-11-01

Wastewater can be treated in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with the aid of microbes that oxidize organic compounds using anodes as electron acceptors. Previous studies have suggested the utility of cassette-electrode (CE) MFCs for wastewater treatment, in which rice paddy-field soil was used as the inoculum. The present study attempted to convert an activated-sludge (AS) reactor to CE-MFC and use aerobic sludge in the tank as the source of microbes. We used laboratory-scale (1 L in capacity) reactors that were initially operated in an AS mode to treat synthetic wastewater, containing starch, yeast extract, peptone, plant oil, and detergents. After the organics removal became stable, the aeration was terminated, and CEs were inserted to initiate an MFC-mode operation. It was demonstrated that the MFC-mode operation treated the wastewater at similar efficiencies to those observed in the AS-mode operation with COD-removal efficiencies of 75-80%, maximum power densities of 150-200 mW m(-2) and Coulombic efficiencies of 20-30%. These values were similar to those of CE-MFC inoculated with the soil. Anode microbial communities were analyzed by pyrotag sequencing of 16S rRNA gene PCR amplicons. Comparative analyses revealed that anode communities enriched from the aerobic sludge were largely different from those from the soil, suggesting that similar reactor performances can be supported by different community structures. The study demonstrates that it is possible to construct wastewater-treatment MFCs by inserting CEs into water-treatment tanks. Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhanced electricity generation performance and dye wastewater degradation of microbial fuel cell by using a petaline NiO@ polyaniline-carbon felt anode.

PubMed

Zhong, Dengjie; Liao, Xinrong; Liu, Yaqi; Zhong, Nianbing; Xu, Yunlan

2018-06-01

A new electrode which embedded polyaniline (PANI) in petaline NiO (NiO@PANI-CF) was prepared through in-situ growth and in-situ polymerization. The NiO@PANI-CF integrated the high capacitive character of NiO and the high conductivity of PANI, which effectively increased electricity generation capacity of NiO@PANI-MFC. The maximum output power density and the charge transfer resistance of NiO@PANI-MFC were 1078.8 mW·m -2 and 10.4 Ω respectively, which were 6.6 times and 68% lower than that of CF-MFC respectively. Moreover, NiO@PANI-MFC could effectively biodegrade dye wastewater due to high biocompatibility of NiO@PANI-CF. The color and COD removal efficiencies of Reactive Brilliant Red X-3B reached 95.94% and 64.24% at 48 h respectively. The results demonstrate that the NiO@PANI-CF has the advantage of high conductivity, high capacitance, high specific surface area, super hydrophilicity, low polarization performance, low charge transfer resistance, high biocompatibility and high stablity. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Full cell simulation and the evaluation of the buffer system on air-cathode microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ou, Shiqi; Kashima, Hiroyuki; Aaron, Douglas S.; Regan, John M.; Mench, Matthew M.

2017-04-01

This paper presents a computational model of a single chamber, air-cathode MFC. The model considers losses due to mass transport, as well as biological and electrochemical reactions, in both the anode and cathode half-cells. Computational fluid dynamics and Monod-Nernst analysis are incorporated into the reactions for the anode biofilm and cathode Pt catalyst and biofilm. The integrated model provides a macro-perspective of the interrelation between the anode and cathode during power production, while incorporating microscale contributions of mass transport within the anode and cathode layers. Model considerations include the effects of pH (H+/OH- transport) and electric field-driven migration on concentration overpotential, effects of various buffers and various amounts of buffer on the pH in the whole reactor, and overall impacts on the power output of the MFC. The simulation results fit the experimental polarization and power density curves well. Further, this model provides insight regarding mass transport at varying current density regimes and quantitative delineation of overpotentials at the anode and cathode. Overall, this comprehensive simulation is designed to accurately predict MFC performance based on fundamental fluid and kinetic relations and guide optimization of the MFC system.

Performance evaluation of a hybrid system for efficient palm oil mill effluent treatment via an air-cathode, tubular upflow microbial fuel cell coupled with a granular activated carbon adsorption.

PubMed

Tee, Pei-Fang; Abdullah, Mohammad Omar; Tan, Ivy Ai Wei; Mohamed Amin, Mohamed Afizal; Nolasco-Hipolito, Cirilo; Bujang, Kopli

2016-09-01

An air-cathode MFC-adsorption hybrid system, made from earthen pot was designed and tested for simultaneous wastewater treatment and energy recovery. Such design had demonstrated superior characteristics of low internal resistance (29.3Ω) and favor to low-cost, efficient wastewater treatment and power generation (55mW/m(3)) with average current of 2.13±0.4mA. The performance between MFC-adsorption hybrid system was compared to the standalone adsorption system and results had demonstrated great pollutants removals of the integrated system especially for chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD3), total organic carbon (TOC), total volatile solids (TVS), ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) and total nitrogen (TN) because such system combines the advantages of each individual unit. Besides the typical biological and electrochemical processes that happened in an MFC system, an additional physicochemical process from the activated carbon took place simultaneously in the MFC-adsorption hybrid system which would further improved on the wastewater quality. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Trend of Mathematical Models in Microbial Fuel Cell for Environmental Energy Refinery from Waste/Water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oh, Sung Taek

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device to use for bio electrochemical energy production. Electrophilic bacteria produce electrons in their metabolic pathway and the electrons can be extracted and concentrated on electrode by the electric potential difference (i.e. Galvanic cell). The bio-electrode may provide new opportunities for the renewable energy in waste water/swage treatment plants.

Self sufficient wireless transmitter powered by foot-pumped urine operating wearable MFC.

PubMed

Taghavi, M; Stinchcombe, A; Greenman, J; Mattoli, V; Beccai, L; Mazzolai, B; Melhuish, C; Ieropoulos, I A

2015-12-10

The first self-sufficient system, powered by a wearable energy generator based on microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is introduced. MFCs made from compliant material were developed in the frame of a pair of socks, which was fed by urine via a manual gaiting pump. The simple and single loop cardiovascular fish circulatory system was used as the inspiration for the design of the manual pump. A wireless programmable communication module, engineered to operate within the range of the generated electricity, was employed, which opens a new avenue for research in the utilisation of waste products for powering portable as well as wearable electronics.

Enhancement in hydrogen evolution using Au-TiO2 hollow spheres with microbial devices modified with conjugated oligoelectrolytes

PubMed Central

Ngaw, Chee Keong; Wang, Victor Bochuan; Liu, Zhengyi; Zhou, Yi; Kjelleberg, Staffan; Zhang, Qichun; Tan, Timothy Thatt Yang; Loo, Say Chye Joachim

2015-01-01

Objective: Although photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting heralds the emergence of the hydrogen economy, the need for external bias and low efficiency stymies the widespread application of this technology. By coupling water splitting (in a PEC cell) to a microbial fuel cell (MFC) using Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst, this work aims to successfully demonstrate a sustainable hybrid PEC–MFC platform functioning solely by biocatalysis and solar energy, at zero bias. Through further chemical modification of the photo-anode (in the PEC cell) and biofilm (in the MFC), the performance of the hybrid system is expected to improve in terms of the photocurrent generated and hydrogen evolved. Methods: The hybrid system constitutes the interconnected PEC cell with the MFC. Both PEC cell and MFC are typical two-chambered systems housing the anode and cathode. Au-TiO2 hollow spheres and conjugated oligoelectrolytes were synthesised chemically and introduced to the PEC cell and MFC, respectively. Hydrogen evolution measurements were performed in triplicates. Results: The hybrid PEC–MFC platform generated a photocurrent density of 0.35 mA/cm2 (~70× enhancement) as compared with the stand-alone P25 standard PEC cell (0.005 mA/cm2) under one-sun illumination (100 mW/cm2) at zero bias (0 V vs. Pt). This increase in photocurrent density was accompanied by continuous H2 production. No H2 was observed in the P25 standard PEC cell whereas H2 evolution rate was ~3.4 μmol/h in the hybrid system. The remarkable performance is attributed to the chemical modification of E. coli through the incorporation of novel conjugated oligoelectrolytes in the MFC as well as the lower recombination rate and higher photoabsorption capabilities in the Au-TiO2 hollow spheres electrode. Conclusions: The combined strategy of photo-anode modification in PEC cells and chemically modified MFCs shows great promise for future exploitation of such synergistic effects between MFCs and semiconductor-based PEC water splitting. PMID:28721235

Development of biologically modified anodes for energy harvesting using microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sumner, James J.; Ganguli, Rahul; Chmelka, Brad

2012-06-01

Biological fuel cells hold promise as an alternative energy source to batteries for unattended ground sensor applications due to the fact that they can be extremely long lived. This lifetime can be extended over batteries by scavenging fuel from the deployed environment. Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are one class of such sources that produce usable energy from small organic compounds (i.e. sugars, alcohols, organic acids, and biopolymers) which can be easily containerized or scavenged from the environment. The use of microorganisms as the anodic catalysts is what makes these systems unique from other biofuel cell designs. One of the main drawbacks of engineering a sensor system powered by an MFC is that power densities and current flux are extremely low in currently reported systems. The power density is limited by the mass transfer of the fuel source to the catalyst, the metabolism of the microbial catalysts and the electron transfer from the organism to the anode. This presentation will focus on the development of a new style of microbially-modified anodes which will increase power density to a level where a practical power source can be engineered. This is being achieved by developing a three dimensional matrix as an artificial, conductive biofilm. These artificial biofilms will allow the capture of a consortium of microbes designed for efficient metabolism of the available fuel source. Also it will keep the microbes close to the electrode allowing ready access by fuel and providing a low resistance passage of the liberated electrons from fuel oxidation.

Acetate oxidation by syntrophic association between Geobacter sulfurreducens and a hydrogen-utilizing exoelectrogen

PubMed Central

Kimura, Zen-ichiro; Okabe, Satoshi

2013-01-01

Anodic microbial communities in acetate-fed microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were analyzed using stable-isotope probing of 16S rRNA genes followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. The results revealed that Geobacter sulfurreducens and Hydrogenophaga sp. predominated in the anodic biofilm. Although the predominance of Geobacter sp. as acetoclastic exoelectrogens in acetate-fed MFC systems has been often reported, the ecophysiological role of Hydrogenophaga sp. is unknown. Therefore, we isolated and characterized a bacterium closely related to Hydrogenophaga sp. (designated strain AR20). The newly isolated strain AR20 could use molecular hydrogen (H2), but not acetate, with carbon electrode as the electron acceptor, indicating that the strain AR20 was a hydrogenotrophic exoelectrogen. This evidence raises a hypothesis that acetate was oxidized by G. sulfurreducens in syntrophic cooperation with the strain AR20 as a hydrogen-consuming partner in the acetate-fed MFC. To prove this hypothesis, G. sulfurreducens strain PCA was cocultivated with the strain AR20 in the acetate-fed MFC without any dissolved electron acceptors. In the coculture MFC of G. sulfurreducens and strain AR20, current generation and acetate degradation were the highest, and the growth of strain AR20 was observed. No current generation, acetate degradation and cell growth occurred in the strain AR20 pure culture MFC. These results show for the first time that G. sulfurreducens can oxidize acetate in syntrophic cooperation with the isolated Hydrogenophaga sp. strain AR20, with electrode as the electron acceptor. PMID:23486252

Acetate oxidation by syntrophic association between Geobacter sulfurreducens and a hydrogen-utilizing exoelectrogen.

PubMed

Kimura, Zen-ichiro; Okabe, Satoshi

2013-08-01

Anodic microbial communities in acetate-fed microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were analyzed using stable-isotope probing of 16S rRNA genes followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. The results revealed that Geobacter sulfurreducens and Hydrogenophaga sp. predominated in the anodic biofilm. Although the predominance of Geobacter sp. as acetoclastic exoelectrogens in acetate-fed MFC systems has been often reported, the ecophysiological role of Hydrogenophaga sp. is unknown. Therefore, we isolated and characterized a bacterium closely related to Hydrogenophaga sp. (designated strain AR20). The newly isolated strain AR20 could use molecular hydrogen (H2), but not acetate, with carbon electrode as the electron acceptor, indicating that the strain AR20 was a hydrogenotrophic exoelectrogen. This evidence raises a hypothesis that acetate was oxidized by G. sulfurreducens in syntrophic cooperation with the strain AR20 as a hydrogen-consuming partner in the acetate-fed MFC. To prove this hypothesis, G. sulfurreducens strain PCA was cocultivated with the strain AR20 in the acetate-fed MFC without any dissolved electron acceptors. In the coculture MFC of G. sulfurreducens and strain AR20, current generation and acetate degradation were the highest, and the growth of strain AR20 was observed. No current generation, acetate degradation and cell growth occurred in the strain AR20 pure culture MFC. These results show for the first time that G. sulfurreducens can oxidize acetate in syntrophic cooperation with the isolated Hydrogenophaga sp. strain AR20, with electrode as the electron acceptor.

Visible-light-enhanced Cr(VI) reduction at Pd-decorated silicon nanowire photocathode in photoelectrocatalytic microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Han, He-Xing; Shi, Chen; Zhang, Nan; Yuan, Li; Sheng, Guo-Ping

2018-10-15

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a prominent toxic metal with significant adverse human health effects. Photocatalytic reduction of Cr(VI) to less-toxic trivalent chromium (Cr(III)) is a promising method for removing Cr(VI) from aquatic environments. However, this technique often suffers from electron-hole recombination of semiconductors and poor reduction efficiency. The photoelectrocatalytic microbial fuel cell (Photo-MFC), which can use wastewater and light to recover electricity, has recently been proven to improve the separation of photocarriers of semiconductors and enhance cathodic reduction of pollutants. Here, the reduction of Cr(VI) was investigated in a Photo-MFC with a Pd-decorated p-type silicon nanowire (Pd/SiNW) photocathode and a bioanode under visible light. The Cr(VI) reduction efficiency reached 98.7% in 8 h under visible light, which was much higher than that under dark condition (56.2%) and open-circuit condition (19.4%). The enhanced Cr(VI) removal was mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of Pd/SiNW photocathode and bioanode. Cr(VI) reduction in the Photo-MFC fitted well with pseudo-first-order kinetics. The kinetics constants and reduction efficiencies of Cr(VI) decreased with the increase of pH, initial Cr(VI) concentration and external resistance. This work provides a promising alternative to mitigate Cr(VI) pollution in aquatic environments. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Explore various co-substrates for simultaneous electricity generation and Congo red degradation in air-cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Cao, Yunqing; Hu, Yongyou; Sun, Jian; Hou, Bin

2010-08-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) holds a great promise to harvest electricity directly from a wide range of ready degradable organic matters and enhance degradation of some recalcitrant contaminants. Glucose, acetate sodium and ethanol were separately examined as co-substrates for simultaneous bioelectricity generation and Congo red degradation in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) air-cathode single-chamber MFC. The batch test results showed that more than 98% decolorization at the dye concentration of 300 mg/L were achieved within 36 h for all tested co-substrates during electricity generation. The decolorization rate was different with the co-substrates used. The fastest decolorization rate was achieved with glucose followed by ethanol and sodium acetate. Accumulated intermediates were observed during Congo red degradation which was demonstrated by UV-Visible spectra and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Electricity generation was sustained and not significantly affected by the Congo red degradation. Glucose, acetate sodium and ethanol produced maximum power densities of 103 mW/m(2), 85.9 mW/m(2) and 63.2 mW/m(2), respectively, and the maximum voltage output decreased by only 7% to 15%. Our results demonstrated the feasibility of using various co-substrates for simultaneous decolorization of Congo red and bioelectricity generation in the MFC and showed that glucose was the preferred co-substrate. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The effect of adding selective mixed culture of alternative electricity production based on tempe wastewater on tubular microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mariana, Elisabeth, Utami, Tania Surya; Arbianti, Rita; Hermansyah, Heri

2017-05-01

Bacteria has long been known could produce electricity. MFC (Microbial Fuel Cell) is a technology that uses bacteria. MFC is potential as producer of alternative renewable energy through the conversion of waste by bacteria into electrical energy. However, this technology cannot reach the target value of the minimum voltage. This research is focused on reviewing the effect of the addition of gram positive and negative bacteria (selective mixed culture) contained in tempe wastewater as well as the optimal volume additions gram using a tubular single chamber membranless reactor. The result shows that the addition of selective mixed culture can increase voltage of MFC. Gram negative bacteria dominate tempe wastewater and has better ability to transfer electrons than gram-positive. The voltage increases with increasing amount of bacteria up to a certain maximum point. Addition of 1 mL gram-negative bacteria improve electrical output and provide the most optimal results of 0.0697 mW/m2 mV or 92.14% excalation against the initial control experiment with the average power density of 0.0702 mW1m2. Additions of most optimum variation also give good results on the use of industrial waste, with electrical voltage and power density high of 8.90 mV and 0.02 mW/m2.

Two-stage conversion of crude glycerol to energy using dark fermentation linked with microbial fuel cell or microbial electrolysis cell.

PubMed

Chookaew, Teera; Prasertsan, Poonsuk; Ren, Zhiyong Jason

2014-03-25

Crude glycerol is a main byproduct of the biodiesel industry, and the beneficial use of waste glycerol has been a major challenge. This study characterises the conversion of crude glycerol into bioenergy such as H2 and electricity using a two-stage process linking dark fermentation with a microbial fuel cell (MFC) or microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). The results showed that fermentation achieved a maximum H2 rate of 332 mL/L and a yield of 0.55 mol H2/mol glycerol, accompanied by 20% of organic removal. Fed with the raw fermentation products with an initial COD of 7610 mg/L, a two-chamber MFC produced 92 mW/m(2) in power density and removed 50% of COD. The Columbic efficiency was 14%. When fed with 50% diluted fermentation product, a similar power output (90m W/m(2)) and COD removal (49%) were obtained, but the CE doubled to 27%. Similar substrates were used to produce H2 in two-chamber MECs, and the diluted influent had a higher performance, with the highest yield at 106 mL H2/g COD and a CE of 24%. These results demonstrate that dark fermentation linked with MFC/MEC can be a feasible option for conversion of waste glycerol into bioenergy. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A miniature microbial fuel cell operating with an aerobic anode chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ringeisen, Bradley R.; Ray, Ricky; Little, Brenda

A miniature microbial fuel cell (mini-MFC) is described that utilizes an aerobic culture of Shewanella oneidensis DSP10 as the active electrochemical species in the anode chamber. We find that the maximum aerobic mini-MFC power without the addition of exogenous mediators was 0.40 mW, a 33% decrease when compared with an anaerobic DSP10 culture (0.6 mW) operating in the mini-MFC. This decrease is most likely due to the presence of dissolved oxygen in the anode chamber that scavenges electrons to form water, thereby reducing the number of electrons donated to the anode. Aerobic power and current density at maximum power using the true surface area of the anode (611 cm 2) were calculated to be 6.5 mW m -2 and 13 mA m -2. The power density rises to 2.0 W m -2 and 330 W m -3 when calculated using the cross-sectional area and volume of the device (2 cm 2, 1.2 cm 3). The Coulombic efficiency was also reduced from 11 to 5% when using the aerobic versus anaerobic culture. Similar results were found when the external mediator anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS) was added to the aerobic culture, resulting in a maximum power of 0.54 mW, a 37% drop in power when compared to the anaerobic mediated system.

Improved performance of single-chamber microbial fuel cells through control of membrane deformation.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaoyuan; Cheng, Shaoan; Huang, Xia; Logan, Bruce E

2010-03-15

Cation (CEMs) and anion exchange membrane (AEMs) are commonly used in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to enhance Coulombic efficiencies (CEs) by reducing the flux of oxygen through the cathode to bacteria on the anode. AEMs typically work better than CEMs, but in initial experiments we observed the opposite using a membrane electrode assembly MFC. The reason was identified to be membrane deformation, which resulted in water and gas trapped between the membrane and cathode. To correct this, stainless steel mesh was used to press the membrane flat against the cathode. With the steel mesh, AEM performance increased to 46+/-4 W/m(3) in a single cathode MFC, and 98+/-14 W/m(3) in a double-cathode MFC. These power densities were higher than those using a CEM of 32+/-2 W/m(3) (single cathode) and 63+/-6 W/m(3) (double cathode). Higher pH gradients across the membrane and salt precipitation on the cathode were responsible for the reduced performance of the CEM compared to the AEM. CEs reached over 90% for both membranes at >2A/m(2). These results demonstrate the importance of avoiding water accumulation in thin films between membranes and electrodes, and explain additional reasons for poorer performance of CEMs compared to AEMs. (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Population dynamics of electrogenic microbial communities in microbial fuel cells started with three different inoculum sources.

PubMed

Ishii, Shun'ichi; Suzuki, Shino; Yamanaka, Yuko; Wu, Angela; Nealson, Kenneth H; Bretschger, Orianna

2017-10-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are one of the bioelectrochemical systems that exploit microorganisms as biocatalysts to degrade organic matters and recover energy as electric power. Here, we explored how the established electrogenic microbial communities were influenced by three different inoculum sources; anaerobic sludge of the wastewater plant, rice paddy field soil, and coastal lagoon sediment. We periodically characterized both electricity generation with sucrose consumption and 16S rRNA-basis microbial community composition. The electrochemical features of MFCs were slightly different among three inocula, and the lagoon sediment-inoculated MFC showed the highest performance in terms of the treatment time. Meanwhile, although the inoculated microbial communities were highly diverse and quite different, only twelve genera affiliated with δ-Proteobacteria, γ-Proteobacteria, Bacilli, Clostridia/Negativicutes or Bacteroidetes were abundantly enriched in all MFC anode communities. Within them, several fermentative genera were clearly different due to the inocula, while the inocula-specific phylotypes were identified in an electrogenic genus Geobacter. The relative abundances of phylotypes closely-related to Geobacter metallireducens were increased in later stages of all the sucrose-fed MFCs. These results indicate that key microbial members for the functional electrogenic community widely exist in natural ecosystems, but the community members presenting in inoculum sources affected the MFC performances. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Oxygen exposure promotes fuel diversity for Shewanella oneidensis microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Biffinger, Justin C; Byrd, Jacqueline N; Dudley, Breanna L; Ringeisen, Bradley R

2008-01-18

Miniature microbial fuel cells (mini-MFCs) were used to monitor the current generated by Shewanella oneidensis DSP10 under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions when exposed to glucose as a potential electron donor. In addition to glucose, other carbon fuels including fructose, sucrose, acetate, and ascorbic acid were also tested. When the anolyte containing S. oneidensis was grown in the presence of oxygen, power densities of 270+/-10, 350+/-20, and 120+/-10 W/m(3) were recorded from the mini-MFC for glucose, fructose, and ascorbic acid electron donors, respectively, while sucrose and acetate produced no response. The power produced from glucose decreased considerably (

Calcined polyaniline-iron composite as a high efficient cathodic catalyst in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Lai, Bin; Wang, Peng; Li, Haoran; Du, Zhuwei; Wang, Lijuan; Bi, Sichao

2013-03-01

A new type of carbon-nitrogen-metal catalyst, PANI-Fe-C, was synthesized by calcination process. According to the results of FT-IR and XPS analysis, polyaniline chain was broken by calcination. Small nitrogen-contained molecular fragments were gasified during calcination process, while the remaining nitrogen atoms were enchased in the new produced multiple carbon rings by C-N and CN bonds and performed as the catalytic active sites and the covalent centers for soluble iron components. Calculated from the polarization curves, a maximum power density of 10.17W/m(3) for the MFC with the synthetic catalyst was obtained, which was slightly higher than the MFC with Pt/C catalyst of 9.56W/m(3). All the results obtained in this paper proved that the newly synthetic nitrogen-carbon-metal catalyst would be a potential alternative to the expensive Pt/C catalyst in the field of MFC. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced oxidation of biorefractory organics in aqueous solution together with bioelectricity generation by microbial fuel cells with composite FO/GPEs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Bao-rong; Shen, Chao; Ren, Jing; Chen, Jia-yi; Zhao, Lin

2018-03-01

In this study, ferric oxide loading graphite particle electrodes (FO/GPEs) were prepared as cathode of a three-dimensional electrode MFC-Fenton system. The properties of the composite cathode were examined with higher surface area and more mesopores. FO/GPEs could work as both cathode and Fenton iron reagents, contributing to high oxidation activity and better performance of electricity generation. The application of FO/GPEs MFC-Fenton system on degrading p-nitrophenol presented high catalytic efficiency in a wide range of pH value. The removal of p-nitrophenol and TOC attained to about 85 % within 8 and 64 h at neutral pH, respectively. A neutral FO/GPEs MFC-Fenton oxidation mechanism was also proposed. Specifically, both the surface iron sites and dissolved iron ions catalyzed the decomposition of H2O2. As results, the generated hydroxyl radicals were used for p-nitrophenol degradation and the iron oxide was recycled.

An MFC-Based Online Monitoring and Alert System for Activated Sludge Process

PubMed Central

Xu, Gui-Hua; Wang, Yun-Kun; Sheng, Guo-Ping; Mu, Yang; Yu, Han-Qing

2014-01-01

In this study, based on a simple, compact and submersible microbial fuel cell (MFC), a novel online monitoring and alert system with self-diagnosis function was established for the activated sludge (AS) process. Such a submersible MFC utilized organic substrates and oxygen in the AS reactor as the electron donor and acceptor respectively, and could provide an evaluation on the status of the AS reactor and thus give a reliable early warning of potential risks. In order to evaluate the reliability and sensitivity of this online monitoring and alert system, a series of tests were conducted to examine the response of this system to various shocks imposed on the AS reactor. The results indicate that this online monitoring and alert system was highly sensitive to the performance variations of the AS reactor. The stability, sensitivity and repeatability of this online system provide feasibility of being incorporated into current control systems of wastewater treatment plants to real-time monitor, diagnose, alert and control the AS process. PMID:25345502

Perchlorate remediation using packed-bed bioreactors and electricity generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Min, Booki

Two pilot-scale fixed bed bioreactors were operated in continuous mode in order to treat groundwater contaminated by perchlorate. The bioreactors were constructed and operated side-by-side at the Texas Street Well Facility in Redlands, California. Each reactor was packed with either sand or plastic media. A perchlorate-reducing bacterium, Dechlorosoma sp. KJ, was used to inoculate the bioreactors. Perchlorate was successfully removed down to a non-detectable level (<4mug/L) in both bioreactors with acetate as a carbon source and nutrients at loading rates less than 0.063 L/s (1 gpm; 0.34 L/m2s). The sand medium bioreactor could achieve complete-perchlorate removal up to flow rate of 0.126 L/s. A regular backwashing cycle (once a week) was an important factor for completely removing perchlorate in groundwater. Power generation directly from pure or mixed organic matter was examined using microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which were run either in batch or continuous mode. In batch experiments, both a pure culture (Geobactor metallireducens) and a mixed culture (wastewater inoculum) were used as the biocatalyst, and acetate was added as substrate in the anode chamber of the MFC. Power output in a membrane MFC with either inoculum was essentially the same, with 40 +/- 1 mW/m2 for G. metallireducens and 38 +/- 1 mW/m2 for mixed culture. A different type of the MFC containing a salt bridge instead of a membrane system was examined to generate power using the same substrate and pure culture as used in the membrane MFC. Power output in the salt bridge MFC was 2.2 mW/m 2. It was found that the lower power output was directly attributed to the higher internal resistance of the salt bridge system (19920 +/- 50 O) in comparison with that of the membrane system (1286 +/- 1 O). Continuous electricity generation was examined in a flat plate microbial fuel cell (FPMFC) using domestic wastewater and specific organic substrates. The FPMFC, containing a combined electrode/proton exchange membrane (PEM), was initially acclimated for one month to domestic wastewater, and then was operated as a plug flow reactor system. Power density using domestic wastewater as a substrate was 72 +/- 1 mW/m2 at a liquid flow rate of 0.39 mL/min (1.1 hr hydraulic retention time, HRT), and COD removal was 42%. At a longer HRT of 4.0 hr, the COD removal increased to 79%, and power density was 43 mW/m2. Several organic compounds (about 1000 mg-COD/L) also generated high power densities including: glucose (212 +/- 2 mW/m2), acetate (286 +/- 3 mW/m2), butyrate (220 +/- 1 mW/m2), dextran (150 +/- 1 mW/m 2), and starch (242 +/- 3 mW/m2). Therefore, it was shown that power could be successfully generated in a continuous-mode MFC with a variety of organic substrates. Animal wastewater was also tested as substrate to generate power in an air-cathode single chamber MFC operated in batch mode. This preliminary experiment demonstrated that power generation could be sustained with animal wastewater and that wastewater strength and odors were substantially reduced in the reactor after only one day of operation.

A disposable power source in resource-limited environments: A paper-based biobattery generating electricity from wastewater.

PubMed

Fraiwan, Arwa; Kwan, Landen; Choi, Seokheun

2016-11-15

We report a novel paper-based biobattery which generates power from microorganism-containing liquid derived from renewable and sustainable wastewater which is readily accessible in the local environment. The device fuses the art of origami and the technology of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and has the potential to shift the paradigm for flexible and stackable paper-based batteries by enabling exceptional electrical characteristics and functionalities. 3D, modular, and retractable battery stack is created from (i) 2D paper sheets through high degrees of folding and (ii) multifunctional layers sandwiched for MFC device configuration. The stack is based on ninja star-shaped origami design formed by eight MFC modular blades, which is retractable from sharp shuriken (closed) to round frisbee (opened). The microorganism-containing wastewater is added into an inlet of the closed battery stack and it is transported into each MFC module through patterned fluidic pathways in the paper layers. During operation, the battery stack is transformed into the round frisbee to connect eight MFC modules in series for improving the power output and simultaneously expose all air-cathodes to the air for their cathodic reactions. The device generates desired values of electrical current and potential for powering an LED for more than 20min. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Full cell simulation and the evaluation of the buffer system on air-cathode microbial fuel cell

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ou, Shiqi; Kashima, Hiroyuki; Aaron, Douglas S.

This paper presents a computational model of a single chamber, air-cathode MFC. The model considers losses due to mass transport, as well as biological and electrochemical reactions, in both the anode and cathode half-cells. Computational fluid dynamics and Monod-Nernst analysis are incorporated into the reactions for the anode biofilm and cathode Pt catalyst and biofilm. The integrated model provides a macro-perspective of the interrelation between the anode and cathode during power production, while incorporating microscale contributions of mass transport within the anode and cathode layers. Model considerations include the effects of pH (H +/OH – transport) and electric field-driven migrationmore » on concentration overpotential, effects of various buffers and various amounts of buffer on the pH in the whole reactor, and overall impacts on the power output of the MFC. The simulation results fit the experimental polarization and power density curves well. Further, this model provides insight regarding mass transport at varying current density regimes and quantitative delineation of overpotentials at the anode and cathode. Altogether, this comprehensive simulation is designed to accurately predict MFC performance based on fundamental fluid and kinetic relations and guide optimization of the MFC system.« less

Full cell simulation and the evaluation of the buffer system on air-cathode microbial fuel cell

DOE PAGES

Ou, Shiqi; Kashima, Hiroyuki; Aaron, Douglas S.; ...

2017-02-23

This paper presents a computational model of a single chamber, air-cathode MFC. The model considers losses due to mass transport, as well as biological and electrochemical reactions, in both the anode and cathode half-cells. Computational fluid dynamics and Monod-Nernst analysis are incorporated into the reactions for the anode biofilm and cathode Pt catalyst and biofilm. The integrated model provides a macro-perspective of the interrelation between the anode and cathode during power production, while incorporating microscale contributions of mass transport within the anode and cathode layers. Model considerations include the effects of pH (H +/OH – transport) and electric field-driven migrationmore » on concentration overpotential, effects of various buffers and various amounts of buffer on the pH in the whole reactor, and overall impacts on the power output of the MFC. The simulation results fit the experimental polarization and power density curves well. Further, this model provides insight regarding mass transport at varying current density regimes and quantitative delineation of overpotentials at the anode and cathode. Altogether, this comprehensive simulation is designed to accurately predict MFC performance based on fundamental fluid and kinetic relations and guide optimization of the MFC system.« less

Simultaneous efficient removal of oxyfluorfen with electricity generation in a microbial fuel cell and its microbial community analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Qinghua; Zhang, Lei; Wang, Han; Jiang, Qinrui; Zhu, Xiaoyu

2018-02-01

The performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) to degrade oxyfluorfen was investigated. Approximately 77% of 50 mg/L oxyfluorfen was degraded within 24 h by anodic biofilm. The temperature, pH, and initial oxyfluorfen concentration had a significant effect on oxyfluorfen degrading, and a maximum degradation rate of 94.95% could theoretically be achieved at 31.96 °C, a pH of 7.65, and an initial oxyfluorfen concentration of 120.05 mg/L. Oxyfluorfen was further catabolized through various microbial metabolism pathways. Moreover, the anodic biofilm exhibited multiple catabolic capacities to 4-nitrophenol, chloramphenicol, pyraclostrobin, and sulfamethoxazole. Microbial community analysis indicated that functional bacteria Arcobacter, Acinetobacter, Azospirillum, Azonexus, and Comamonas were the predominant genera in the anodic biofilm. In terms of the efficient removal of various organic compounds and energy recovery, the MFC seemed to be a promising approach for the treatment of environmental contaminants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancement of hexavalent chromium reduction and electricity production from a biocathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Huang, Liping; Chen, Jingwen; Quan, Xie; Yang, Fenglin

2010-10-01

Enhancement of Cr (VI) reduction rate and power production from biocathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was achieved using indigenous bacteria from Cr (VI)-contaminated site as inoculum and MFC architecture with a relatively large cathode-specific surface area of 340-900 m2 m(-3). A specific Cr (VI) reduction rate of 2.4 ± 0.2 mg g(-1)VSS h(-1) and a power production of 2.4 ± 0.1 W m(-3) at a current density of 6.9 A m(-3) were simultaneously achieved at an initial Cr (VI) concentration of 39.2 mg L(-1). Initial Cr (VI) concentration and solution conductivity affected Cr (VI) reduction rate, power production and coulombic efficiency. These findings demonstrate the importance of inoculation and MFC architecture in the enhancement of Cr (VI) reduction rate and power production. This study is a beneficial attempt to improve the efficiency of biocathode MFCs and provide a good candidate of bioremediation process for Cr (VI)-contaminated sites.

Production of electricity from proteins using a microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Heilmann, Jenna; Logan, Bruce E

2006-05-01

Electricity generation was examined from proteins and a protein-rich wastewater using a single chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The maximum power densities achieved were 354 +/- 10 mW/m2 using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and 269 +/- 14 mW/m2 using peptone (1100 mg/L BSA and 300 mg/L peptone). The recovery of organic matter as electricity, defined as the Coulombic efficiency (CE), was comparable to that obtained with other substrates with CE = 20.6% for BSA and CE = 6.0% for peptone. A meat packing wastewater (MPW), diluted to 1420 mg/L chemical oxygen demand, produced 80 +/- 1 mW/m2, and power was increased by 33% by adding salt (300 mg/L sodium chloride) to increase solution conductivity. A wastewater inoculum generated 33% less power than the MPW inoculum. The MFC was an effective method of wastewater treatment, demonstrated by >86% of biochemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon removal from wastewater.

Alginate-Encapsulated Bacteria for the Treatment of Hypersaline Solutions in Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Alkotaini, Bassam; Tinucci, Samantha L; Robertson, Stuart J; Hasan, Kamrul; Minteer, Shelley D; Grattieri, Matteo

2018-04-27

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) based on a new wild-type strain of Salinivibrio sp. allowed the self-sustained treatment of hypersaline solutions (100 g L -1 , 1.71 m NaCl), reaching a removal of (87±11) % of the initial chemical oxygen demand after five days of operation, being the highest value achieved for hypersaline MFC. The degradation process and the evolution of the open circuit potential of the MFCs were correlated, opening the possibility for online monitoring of the treatment. The use of alginate capsules to trap bacterial cells, increasing cell density and stability, resulted in an eightfold higher power output, together with a more stable system, allowing operation up to five months with no maintenance required. The reported results are of critical importance to efforts to develop a sustainable and cost-effective system that treats hypersaline waste streams and reduces the quantity of polluting compounds released. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Enhanced microbial reduction of vanadium (V) in groundwater with bioelectricity from microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hao, Liting; Zhang, Baogang; Tian, Caixing; Liu, Ye; Shi, Chunhong; Cheng, Ming; Feng, Chuanping

2015-08-01

Bioelectricity generated from the microbial fuel cell (MFC) is applied to the bioelectrical reactor (BER) directly to enhance microbial reduction of vanadium (V) (V(V)) in groundwater. With the maximum power density of 543.4 mW m-2 from the MFC, V(V) removal is accelerated with efficiency of 93.6% during 12 h operation. Higher applied voltage can facilitate this process. V(V) removals decrease with the increase of initial V(V) concentration, while extra addition of chemical oxygen demand (COD) has little effect on performance improvement. Microbial V(V) reduction is enhanced and then suppressed with the increase of conductivity. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing analysis implies the accumulated Enterobacter and Lactococcus reduce V(V) with products from fermentative microorganisms such as Macellibacteroides. The presentation of electrochemically active bacteria as Enterobacter promotes electron transfers. This study indicates that application of bioelectricity from MFCs is a promising strategy to improve the efficiency of in-situ bioremediation of V(V) polluted groundwater.

Characterization of wastewater treatment by two microbial fuel cells in continuous flow operation.

PubMed

Kubota, Keiichi; Watanabe, Tomohide; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Syutsubo, Kazuaki

2016-01-01

A two serially connected single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was applied to the treatment of diluted molasses wastewater in a continuous operation mode. In addition, the effect of series and parallel connection between the anodes and the cathode on power generation was investigated experimentally. The two serially connected MFC process achieved 79.8% of chemical oxygen demand removal and 11.6% of Coulombic efficiency when the hydraulic retention time of the whole process was 26 h. The power densities were 0.54, 0.34 and 0.40 W m(-3) when electrodes were in individual connection, serial connection and parallel connection modes, respectively. A high open circuit voltage was obtained in the serial connection. Power density decreased at low organic loading rates (OLR) due to the shortage of organic matter. Power generation efficiency tended to decrease as a result of enhancement of methane fermentation at high OLRs. Therefore, high power density and efficiency can be achieved by using a suitable OLR range.

Performance of anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactors using effluents of microbial fuel cells treating domestic wastewater.

PubMed

Kim, Kyoung-Yeol; Yang, Wulin; Ye, Yaoli; LaBarge, Nicole; Logan, Bruce E

2016-05-01

Anaerobic fluidized membrane bioreactors (AFMBRs) have been mainly developed as a post-treatment process to produce high quality effluent with very low energy consumption. The performance of an AFMBR was examined using the effluent from a microbial fuel cell (MFC) treating domestic wastewater, as a function of AFMBR hydraulic retention times (HRTs) and organic matter loading rates. The MFC-AFMBR achieved 89 ± 3% removal of the chemical oxygen demand (COD), with an effluent of 36 ± 6 mg-COD/L over 112 days operation. The AFMBR had very stable operation, with no significant changes in COD removal efficiencies, for HRTs ranging from 1.2 to 3.8h, although the effluent COD concentration increased with organic loading. Transmembrane pressure (TMP) was low, and could be maintained below 0.12 bar through solids removal. This study proved that the AFMBR could be operated with a short HRT but a low COD loading rate was required to achieve low effluent COD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

AC power generation from microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lobo, Fernanda Leite; Wang, Heming; Forrestal, Casey; Ren, Zhiyong Jason

2015-11-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) directly convert biodegradable substrates to electricity and carry good potential for energy-positive wastewater treatment. However, the low and direct current (DC) output from MFC is not usable for general electronics except small sensors, yet commercial DC-AC converters or inverters used in solar systems cannot be directly applied to MFCs. This study presents a new DC-AC converter system for MFCs that can generate alternating voltage in any desired frequency. Results show that AC power can be easily achieved in three different frequencies tested (1, 10, 60 Hz), and no energy storage layer such as capacitors was needed. The DC-AC converter efficiency was higher than 95% when powered by either individual MFCs or simple MFC stacks. Total harmonic distortion (THD) was used to investigate the quality of the energy, and it showed that the energy could be directly usable for linear electronic loads. This study shows that through electrical conversion MFCs can be potentially used in household electronics for decentralized off-grid communities.

Simultaneous degradation of toxic refractory organic pesticide and bioelectricity generation using a soil microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Cao, Xian; Song, Hai-Liang; Yu, Chun-Yan; Li, Xian-Ning

2015-01-01

In this study, the soil microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were constructed in the topsoil contaminated with toxic refractory organic pesticide, hexachlorobenzene (HCB). The performance of electricity generation and HCB degradation in the soil-MFCs were investigated. The HCB degradation pathway was analyzed based on the determination of degradation products and intermediates. Experimental results showed that the HCB removal efficiencies in the three groups (soil MFCs group, open circuit control group and no adding anaerobic sludge blank group) were 71.15%, 52.49% and 38.92%, respectively. The highest detected power density was 77.5 mW/m(2) at the external resistance of 1000 Ω. HCB was degraded via the reductive dechlorination pathway in the soil MFC under anaerobic condition. The existence of the anode promoted electrogenic bacteria to provide more electrons to increase the metabolic reactions rates of anaerobic bacteria was the main way which could promote the removal efficiencies of HCB in soil MFC. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Carbon materials derived from waste tires as high-performance anodes in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Feng, Huajun; Shen, Dongsheng; Jia, Yufeng; Li, Na; Ying, Xianbin; Chen, Ting; Zhou, Yuyang; Guo, Jiayun; Zhou, Mengjiao

2018-03-15

In this study, carbonized waste tires were directly used as a high-performance anode material in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The effect of the pyrolysis temperature used for waste tire carbonization on the current output performance was investigated to determine the optimal pyrolysis temperature. Thermal gravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimetry showed that tire carbonization started at 200°C and ended at about 500°C; the weight loss was about 64%. When used in an MFC, the electrode obtained from waste tires carbonized at 800°C gave a current density of 23.1±1.4Am -2 , which is much higher than that achieved with traditional graphite felt anodes (5.5±0.1Am -2 ). The results of this study will be useful in optimizing the design of carbonized waste tire anodes for enhancing MFC performances and will alleviate the environmental problems caused by waste tires. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotube on reticulated vitreous carbon for hexavalent chromium removal in a biocathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Fei, Kangqing; Song, Tian-Shun; Wang, Haoqi; Zhang, Dalu; Tao, Ran; Xie, Jingjing

2017-10-01

For Cr(VI)-removal microbial fuel cell (MFC), a more efficient biocathode in MFCs is required to improve the Cr(VI) removal and electricity generation. RVC-CNT electrode was prepared through the electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotube (CNT) on reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC). The power density of MFC with an RVC-CNT electrode increased to 132.1 ± 2.8 mW m -2 , and 80.9% removal of Cr(VI) was achieved within 48 h; compared to only 44.5% removal of Cr(VI) in unmodified RVC. Cyclic voltammetry, energy-dispersive spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry showed that the RVC-CNT electrode enhanced the electrical conductivity and the electron transfer rate; and provided more reaction sites for Cr(VI) reduction. This approach provides process simplicity and a thickness control method for fabricating three-dimensional biocathodes to improve the performance of MFCs for Cr(VI) removal.

Electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotube on reticulated vitreous carbon for hexavalent chromium removal in a biocathode microbial fuel cell

PubMed Central

Fei, Kangqing; Wang, Haoqi; Zhang, Dalu; Tao, Ran; Xie, Jingjing

2017-01-01

For Cr(VI)-removal microbial fuel cell (MFC), a more efficient biocathode in MFCs is required to improve the Cr(VI) removal and electricity generation. RVC-CNT electrode was prepared through the electrophoretic deposition of carbon nanotube (CNT) on reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC). The power density of MFC with an RVC-CNT electrode increased to 132.1 ± 2.8 mW m−2, and 80.9% removal of Cr(VI) was achieved within 48 h; compared to only 44.5% removal of Cr(VI) in unmodified RVC. Cyclic voltammetry, energy-dispersive spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry showed that the RVC-CNT electrode enhanced the electrical conductivity and the electron transfer rate; and provided more reaction sites for Cr(VI) reduction. This approach provides process simplicity and a thickness control method for fabricating three-dimensional biocathodes to improve the performance of MFCs for Cr(VI) removal. PMID:29134084

Electricity generating capacity and performance deterioration of a microbial fuel cell fed with beer brewery wastewater.

PubMed

Köroğlu, Emre Oğuz; Özkaya, Bestamin; Denktaş, Cenk; Çakmakci, Mehmet

2014-12-01

This study focused on using beer brewery wastewater (BBW) to evaluate membrane concentrate disposal and production of electricity in microbial fuel cells. In the membrane treatment of BBW, the membrane permeate concentration was 570 ± 30 mg/L corresponding to a chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 75 ± 5%, and the flux values changed between 160 and 40 L/m(2)-h for all membrane runs. For electricity production from membrane concentrate, the highest current density in the microbial fuel cell (MFC) was observed to be 1950 mA/m(2) according to electrode surface area with 36% COD removal efficiency and 2.48% CE with 60% BBW membrane concentrate. The morphologies of the cation exchange membrane and the MFC deterioration were studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). A decrease in the thermal stability of the sulfonate (-SO3H) groups was demonstrated and morphological changes were detected in the SEM analysis. Copyright © 2014 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Enhanced power generation in annular single-chamber microbial fuel cell via optimization of electrode spacing using chocolate industry wastewater.

PubMed

Noori, Parisa; Najafpour Darzi, Ghasem

2016-05-01

Development and practical application of microbial fuel cell (MFC) is restricted because of the limitations such as low power output. To overcome low power limitation, the optimization of specific parameters including electrode materials and surface area, electrode spacing, and MFC's cell shape was investigated. To the best of our knowledge, no investigation has been reported in the literature to implement an annular single-chamber microbial fuel cell (ASCMFC) using chocolate industry wastewater. ASCMFC was fabricated via optimization of the stated parameters. The aspects of ASCMFC were comprehensively examined. In this study, the optimization of electrode spacing and its impact on performance of the ASCMFC were conducted. Reduction of electrode spacing by 46.15% (1.3-0.7 cm) resulted in a decrease in internal resistance from 100 to 50 Ω, which enhanced the power density and current output to 22.898 W/m(3) and 6.42 mA, respectively. An optimum electrode spacing of 0.7 cm was determined. Through this paper, the effects of these parameters and the performance of ASCMFC are also evaluated. © 2015 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

The Use of Boron-doped Diamond Electrode on Yeast-based Microbial Fuel Cell for Electricity Production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanzhola, G.; Tribidasari, A. I.; Endang, S.

2018-01-01

The dependency of fossil energy in Indonesia caused the crude oil production to be drastically decreased since 2001, while energy consumption increased. In addition, The use of fossil energy can cause several environmental problems. Therefore, we need an alternative environment-friendly energy as solution for these problems. A microbial fuel cell is one of the prospective alternative source of an environment-friendly energy source to be developed. In this study, Boron-doped diamond electrode was used as working electrode and Candida fukuyamaensis as biocatalyst in microbial fuel cell. Different pH of anode compartment (pH 6.5-7.5) and mediator concentration (10-100 μM) was used to produce an optimal electricity. MFC was operated for 3 hours. During operation, the current and voltage density was measured with potensiostat. The maximum power and current density are 425,82 mW/m2 and 440 mA/m2, respectively, for MFC using pH 7.5 at anode compartment without addition of methylene blue. The addition of redox mediator is lowering the produced electricity because of its anti microbial properties that can kill the microbe.

Performance of microbial fuel cell double chamber using mozzarella cheese whey substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darmawan, M. D.; Hawa, L. C.; Argo, B. D.

2018-03-01

Nowadays the availability of electric energy is decreasing, hence there is a need for innovation of electric energy producer alternative; one of them is microbial fuel cell (MFC). MFC is a bioelectrochemical system generated by bacterial metabolism that utilizes organic substrate. One of the substrates that can be used is whey, a waste generated from cheese production. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the power of potential current and voltage generated from the use of whey cheese as a substrate for bacterial metabolism. In this research, double chamber system was used in microbial fuel cell reactor by using cheese whey as substrate at anode and potassium permanganate as cathode and utilizing membrane nafion 212 as membrane of proton exchange. The variable of experiment was bacteria type. The types of bacteria used in this study were Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophillus and Lactobacillus casei. While the operating time used was 100 hours. The highest current produced was 74.6 μA and the highest voltage was 529.3 mV produced by Lactobacillus bulgaricus bacteria. In this study, it was also found that the death phase of the three bacteria was at 70-80 hours.

Simultaneous sulfide removal and electricity generation with corn stover biomass as co-substrate in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Zhang, Jing; Zhang, Baogang; Tian, Caixing; Ye, Zhengfang; Liu, Ye; Lei, Zhongfang; Huang, Wenli; Feng, Chuanping

2013-06-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs), representing a promising method to treat combined pollutants with energy recovery, were utilized to remove sulfide and recover power with corn stover filtrate (CSF) as the co-substrate in present study. A maximum power density of 744 mW/m(2) was achieved with sulfide removal of 91% during 72 h operation when the CSF concentrations (mg-COD/l) and the electrolyte conductivity were set at 800 mg/l and 10.06 mS/cm, respectively, while almost 52% COD was removed due to the microbial degradation of CSF to the volatile organic carbons. CSF concentrations and electrolyte conductivities had significant effects on the performance of the MFCs. Simultaneous removals of inorganic pollutant and complex organic compounds with electricity generation in MFCs are reported for the first time. These results provide a good reference for multiple contaminations treatment especially sulfide containing wastewaters based on the MFC technology. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DESIGN OF AN ANAEROBIC DIGESTER AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM FOR ENERGY GENERATION FROM DAIRY WASTE

EPA Science Inventory

Dairy waste was found to have a natural population of microorganisms capable of seeding an MFC. Dairy wastewater also proved to be a very effective substrate. Different graphite electrode materials provided varying levels of electrical energy generation, demonstrating with gr...

Microbial Fuel Cells under Extreme Salinity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monzon del Olmo, Oihane

I developed a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) that unprecedentedly works (i.e., produces electricity) under extreme salinity (≈ 100 g/L NaCl). Many industries, such as oil and gas extraction, generate hypersaline wastewaters with high organic strength, accounting for about 5% of worldwide generated effluents, which represent a major challenge for pollution control and resource recovery. This study assesses the potential for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to treat such wastewaters and generate electricity under extreme saline conditions. Specifically, the focus is on the feasibility to treat hypersaline wastewater generated by the emerging unconventional oil and gas industry (hydraulic fracturing) and so, with mean salinity of 100 g/L NaCl (3-fold higher than sea water). The success of this novel technology strongly depends on finding a competent and resilient microbial community that can degrade the waste under extreme saline conditions and be able to use the anode as their terminal electron acceptor (exoelectrogenic capability). I demonstrated that MFCs can produce electricity at extremely high salinity (up to 250 g/l NaCl) with a power production of 71mW/m2. Pyrosequencing analysis of the anode population showed the predominance of Halanaerobium spp. (85%), which has been found in shale formations and oil reservoirs. Promoting Quorum sensing (QS, cell to cell communication between bacteria to control gene expression) was used as strategy to increase the attachment of bacteria to the anode and thus improve the MFC performance. Results show that the power output can be bolstered by adding 100nM of quinolone signal with an increase in power density of 30%, for the first time showing QS in Halanaerobium extremophiles. To make this technology closer to market applications, experiments with real wastewaters were also carried out. A sample of produced wastewater from Barnet Shale, Texas (86 g/L NaCl) produced electricity when fed in an MFC, leading to my discovery of another predominant electroactive and halophile specie in the anode, Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus, which is known for its extraordinary biodegradation capabilities. These findings suggest the potential of the MFC technology to treat hypersaline high-strength wastewaters while producing electricity, a result which would alleviate a major economic and environmental challenge for the oil and gas industry. In addition, this research represents a promising start overall in advancing biological treatment of saline wastewaters in other contexts, which is a largely unexploited field.

Investigation and optimization of the novel UASB-MFC integrated system for sulfate removal and bioelectricity generation using the response surface methodology (RSM).

PubMed

Zhang, Baogang; Zhang, Jing; Yang, Qi; Feng, Chuanping; Zhu, Yuling; Ye, Zhengfang; Ni, Jinren

2012-11-01

COD/sulfate ratio and hydraulic residence time (HRT), both of which influence sulfate loadings jointly, are recognized as the most two important affecting factors for sulfate removal and bioelectricity generation in the novel up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor-microbial fuel cell (UASB-MFC) integrated system. The response surface methodology (RSM) was employed for the optimization of this system and the optimum condition with COD/sulfate ratio of 2.3 and HRT of 54.3h was obtained with the target of maximizing the power output. In terms of maximizing the total sulfate removal efficiency, the obtained optimum condition was COD/sulfate ratio of 3.7 and HRT of 55.6h. Experimental results indicated the undistorted simulation and reliable optimized results. These demonstrated that RSM was effective to evaluate and optimize the UASB-MFC system for sulfate removal and energy recovery, providing a promising guide to further improvement of the system for potential applications. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Metal-Organic-Framework-Derived Dual Metal- and Nitrogen-Doped Carbon as Efficient and Robust Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts for Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Tang, Haolin; Cai, Shichang; Xie, Shilei; Wang, Zhengbang; Tong, Yexiang; Pan, Mu; Lu, Xihong

2016-02-01

A new class of dual metal and N doped carbon catalysts with well-defined porous structure derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been developed as a high-performance electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Furthermore, the microbial fuel cell (MFC) device based on the as-prepared Ni/Co and N codoped carbon as air cathode catalyst achieves a maximum power density of 4335.6 mW m -2 and excellent durability.

Platinum-paper micromotors: an urchin-like nanohybrid catalyst for green monopropellant bubble-thrusters.

PubMed

Claussen, Jonathan C; Daniele, Michael A; Geder, Jason; Pruessner, Marius; Mäkinen, Antti J; Melde, Brian J; Twigg, Mark; Verbarg, Jasenka M; Medintz, Igor L

2014-10-22

Platinum nanourchins supported on microfibrilated cellulose films (MFC) were fabricated and evaluated as hydrogen peroxide catalysts for small-scale, autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) propulsion systems. The catalytic substrate was synthesized through the reduction of chloroplatinic acid to create a thick film of Pt coral-like microstructures coated with Pt urchin-like nanowires that are arrayed in three dimensions on a two-dimensional MFC film. This organic/inorganic nanohybrid displays high catalytic ability (reduced activation energy of 50-63% over conventional materials and 13-19% for similar Pt nanoparticle-based structures) during hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) decomposition as well as sufficient propulsive thrust (>0.5 N) from reagent grade H2O2 (30% w/w) fuel within a small underwater reaction vessel. The results demonstrate that these layered nanohybrid sheets are robust and catalytically effective for green, H2O2-based micro-AUV propulsion where the storage and handling of highly explosive, toxic fuels are prohibitive due to size-requirements, cost limitations, and close person-to-machine contact.

A membrane-free baffled microbial fuel cell for cathodic reduction of Cu(II) with electricity generation.

PubMed

Tao, Hu-Chun; Li, Wei; Liang, Min; Xu, Nan; Ni, Jin-Ren; Wu, Wei-Min

2011-04-01

A membrane-free baffled microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed to treat synthetic Cu(II) sulfate containing wastewater in cathode chamber and synthetic glucose-containing wastewater fed to anode chamber. Maximum power density of 314 mW/m(3) with columbic efficiency of 5.3% was obtained using initial Cu(2+) concentration of 6400 mg/L. Higher current density favored the cathodic reduction of Cu(2+), and removal of Cu(2+) by 70% was observed within 144 h using initial concentration of 500 mg/L. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis indicated that the Cu(2+) was reduced to Cu(2)O or Cu(2)O plus Cu which deposited on the cathode, and the deficient cathodic reducibility resulted in the formation of Cu(4)(OH)(6)SO(4) at high initial Cu(2+) concentration (500-6400 mg/L). This study suggested a novel low-cost approach to remove and recover Cu(II) from Cu(2+)-containing wastewater using MFC-type reactor. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) power performance improvement through enhanced microbial electrogenicity.

PubMed

Li, Ming; Zhou, Minghua; Tian, Xiaoyu; Tan, Chaolin; McDaniel, Cameron T; Hassett, Daniel J; Gu, Tingyue

Within the past 5 years, tremendous advances have been made to maximize the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for both "clean" bioenergy production and bioremediation. Most research efforts have focused on parameters including (i) optimizing reactor configuration, (ii) electrode construction, (iii) addition of redox-active, electron donating mediators, (iv) biofilm acclimation and feed nutrient adjustment, as well as (v) other parameters that contribute to enhanced MFC performance. To date, tremendous advances have been made, but further improvements are needed for MFCs to be economically practical. In this review, the diversity of electrogenic microorganisms and microbial community changes in mixed cultures are discussed. More importantly, different approaches including chemical/genetic modifications and gene regulation of exoelectrogens, synthetic biology approaches and bacterial community cooperation are reviewed. Advances in recent years in metagenomics and microbiomes have allowed researchers to improve bacterial electrogenicity of robust biofilms in MFCs using novel, unconventional approaches. Taken together, this review provides some important and timely information to researchers who are examining additional means to enhance power production of MFCs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Electricity Production and Characterization of High-Strength Industrial Wastewaters in Microbial Fuel Cell.

PubMed

Cetinkaya, Afsin Y; Ozdemir, Oguz Kaan; Demir, Ahmet; Ozkaya, Bestami

2017-06-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) convert electrochemical energy into electrical energy immediately and have a big potential usage for the same time wastewater treatment and energy recovery via electro-active microorganisms. However, MFCs must be efficiently optimized due to its limitations such as high cost and low power production. Finding new materials to increase the cell performance and reduce cost for MFC anodes is mandatory. In the first step of this study, different inoculation sludges such as anaerobic gum industry wastewater, anaerobic brewery wastewater and anaerobic phosphate were tested, and MFC that was set up with anaerobic gum industry wastewater inoculation sludge exhibited the highest performance. In the second step of this study, various wastewaters such as chocolate industry, gum industry and slaughterhouse industry were investigated for anode bacteria sources. Several electrochemical techniques have been employed to elucidate how wastewaters affect the MFCs' performance. Among all the mentioned wastewaters, the best performance was achieved by the MFCs fed with slaughterhouse wastewater; this device produced a maximum power density of 267 mW·m -2 .

Substrate removal and electricity generation in a membrane-less microbial fuel cell for biological treatment of wastewater.

PubMed

Wang, Haiping; Jiang, Sunny C; Wang, Yun; Xiao, Bo

2013-06-01

Microbial fuel cells have gained popularity in recent years due to its promise in converting organic wastewater into renewable electrical energy. In this study, a membrane-less MFC with a biocathode was developed to evaluate its performance in electricity generation while simultaneously treating wastewater. The MFC fed with a continuous flow of 2g/day acetate produced a power density of 30 mW/m(2) and current density of 245 mA/m(2). A substrate degradation efficiency (SDE) of 75.9% was achieved with 48.7% attributed to the anaerobic process and 27.2% to the aerobic process. Sequencing analysis of the microbial consortia using 16S rDNA pryosequencing showed the predominance of Bacteroidia in the anode after one month of operation, while the microbial community in the cathode chamber was dominated by Gamma-proteobacteria and Beta-proteobacteria. Coulombic efficiencies varied from 19.8% to 58.1% using different acetate concentrations, indicating power density can be further improved through the accumulation of electron-transferring bacteria. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brewery and liquid manure wastewaters as potential feedstocks for microbial fuel cells: a performance study.

PubMed

Angosto, J M; Fernández-López, J A; Godínez, C

2015-01-01

This work aims at the comparison of the electrical and chemical performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) fed with several types of brewery and manure industrial wastewaters. Experiments were conducted in a single-cell MFC with the cathode exposed to air operated in batch and fed-batch modes. In fed-batch mode, after 4 days of operation, a standard MFC was refilled with crude wastewater to regenerate the biofilm and recreate initial feeding conditions. Brewery wastewater (CV1) mixed with pig-farm liquid manure (PU sample) gave the highest voltage (199.8 mV) and power density (340 mW/m3) outputs than non-mixed brewery waste water. Also, coulombic efficiency is much larger in the mixture (11%) than in the others (2-3%). However, in terms of chemical oxygen demand removal, the performance showed to be poorer (53%) for the mixed sample than in the pure brewery sample (93%). Fed-batch operation showed to be a good alternate for quasi-continuous operation, with equivalent electrical and chemical yields as compared with normal batchwise operation.

Elimination of pyraclostrobin by simultaneous microbial degradation coupled with the Fenton process in microbial fuel cells and the microbial community.

PubMed

Zhao, Huanhuan; Kong, Chui-Hua

2018-06-01

The elimination of pyraclostrobin by simultaneous microbial degradation and Fenton oxidation was achieved in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system. After 12 h of incubation, the removal rate of pyraclostrobin was 1.4 mg/L/h at the anode and 1.7 mg/L/h at the cathode. The pyraclostrobin concentration was less than the detection limit (0.1 mg/L) after 72 h at the anode and 24 h at the cathode. The air flow rate, temperature, and pH of the catholyte had significant effects on the generation of H 2 O 2 . The maximum production of H 2 O 2 was 1.2 mg/L after reaction for 20 h during the Fenton process. Microbial community analysis indicated that functional bacteria in the genera Chryseobacterium, Stenotrophomonas, Arcobacter, and Comamonas were predominant in the anodic biofilm. In conclusion, the MFC-Fenton system provides an effective approach for treating environmental contaminants. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Upflow bio-filter circuit (UBFC): biocatalyst microbial fuel cell (MFC) configuration and application to biodiesel wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Sukkasem, Chontisa; Laehlah, Sunee; Hniman, Adilan; O'thong, Sompong; Boonsawang, Piyarat; Rarngnarong, Athirat; Nisoa, Mudtorlep; Kirdtongmee, Pansak

2011-11-01

A biodiesel wastewater treatment technology was investigated for neutral alkalinity and COD removal by microbial fuel cell. An upflow bio-filter circuit (UBFC), a kind of biocatalyst MFC was renovated and reinvented. The developed system was combined with a pre-fermented (PF) and an influent adjusted (IA) procedure. The optimal conditions were operated with an organic loading rate (OLR) of 30.0 g COD/L-day, hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1.04 day, maintained at pH level 6.5-7.5 and aerated at 2.0 L/min. An external resistance of circuit was set at 10 kΩ. The purposed process could improve the quality of the raw wastewater and obtained high efficiency of COD removal of 15.0 g COD/L-day. Moreover, the cost of UBFC system was only US$1775.7/m3 and the total power consumption was 0.152 kW/kg treated COD. The overall advantages of this invention are suitable for biodiesel wastewater treatment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surface-oxidized cobalt phosphide used as high efficient electrocatalyst in activated carbon air-cathode microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Tingting; Wang, Zhong; Li, Kexun; Liu, Yi; Liu, Di; Wang, Junjie

2017-09-01

Herein, we report a simplistic method to fabricate the surface-oxidized cobalt phosphide (CoP) nanocrystals (NCs), which is used as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in microbial fuel cell (MFC) for the first time. The corallite-like CoP NCs are successfully prepared by a hydrothermal reaction following a phosphating treatment in N2 atmosphere. When used as an ORR catalyst, cobalt phosphide shows comparable onset potential, inferior resistance, as well as a small Tafel slope with long-term stability in neutral media. The maximum power density of MFC embellished with 10% CoP reached 1914.4 ± 59.7 mW m-2, which is 108.5% higher than the control. The four-electron pathway, observed by the RDE, plays a crucial role in electrochemical catalytic activity. In addition, material characterizations indicate that the surface oxide layer (CoOx) around the metallic CoP core is important and beneficial for ORR. Accordingly, it can be expected that the as-synthesized CoP will be a promising candidate of the non-precious metal ORR electrocatalysts for electrochemical energy applications.

Influence of ionic conductivity in bioelectricity production from saline domestic sewage sludge in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Karthikeyan, Rengasamy; Selvam, Ammayaippan; Cheng, Ka Yu; Wong, Jonathan Woon-Chung

2016-01-01

This study aimed at manipulating ionic conductivity (EC) to harvest the maximum electrical energy from seawater-based domestic wastewater sewage sludge (SWS), unique to only a few cities, through microbial fuel cell (MFC). SWS has never been investigated as a MFC substrate before, and thus the influence of high in-situ EC on the energy recovery was unknown. In this study, the EC of the SWS was reduced through mixing it with fresh water-based domestic wastewater sewage sludge (FWS) or diluted 50% using deionized water while FWS and SWS were individually served as reference treatments. SWS:FWS mix (1:1) exhibited a maximum Coulombic efficiency of 28.6±0.5% at a COD removal of 59±3% while the peak power density was 20-fold higher than FWS. The improved performance was due to the lower ohmic internal resistance (36.8±4.2Ω) and optimal conductivity (12.8±0.2mScm(-1)). Therefore, dilution with FWS could enhance energy recovery from SWS. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Graphitic biochar as a cathode electrocatalyst support for microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Huggins, Tyler M; Pietron, Jeremy J; Wang, Heming; Ren, Zhiyong Jason; Biffinger, Justin C

2015-11-01

Graphitic biochar (BC) was generated using high temperature gasification and alkaline post-treatment (BCw) of wood-based biomass. The BCw was evaluated as a manganese oxide electrocatalytic support (MnO/BCw) and microbial fuel cell (MFC) air cathode. Nano-structured MnO2 crystals were successfully immobilized on biomass-based graphitic sheets and characterized using physical, chemical, and electrochemical analyses. Cyclic voltammetry of MnO/BCw/Nafion inks showed electrochemical features typical of β-MnO2 with a current density of 0.9 mA cm(-2). BC showed satisfactory maximum power densities of 146.7 mW m(-2) (BCw) and 187.8 W m(-2) (MnO/BCw), compared with Vulcan Carbon (VC) (156.8 mW m(-2)) and manganese oxide VC composites (MnO/VC) (606.1 mW m(-2)). These materials were also tested as oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts for single chamber MFCs inoculated with anaerobic sludge. Our results demonstrate that BC can serve as an effective, low cost, and scalable material for MFC application. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Azo dyes wastewater treatment and simultaneous electricity generation in a novel process of electrolysis cell combined with microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Zou, Haiming; Wang, Yan

2017-07-01

A new process of electrolysis cell (EC) coupled with microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed here and its feasibility in methyl red (MR) wastewater treatment and simultaneous electricity generation was assessed. Results indicate that an excellent MR removal and electricity production performance was achieved, where the decolorization and COD removal efficiencies were 100% and 89.3%, respectively and a 0.56V of cell voltage output was generated. Electrolysis voltage showed a positive influence on decolorization rate (DR) but also cause a rapid decrease in current efficiency (CE). Although a low COD removal rate of 38.5% was found in EC system, biodegradability of MR solution was significantly enhanced, where the averaged DR was 85.6%. Importantly, COD removal rate in EC-MFC integrated process had a 50.8% improvement compared with the single EC system. The results obtained here would be beneficial to provide a prospective alternative for azo dyes wastewater treatment and power production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Overview of Electron Acceptors in Microbial Fuel Cells

PubMed Central

Ucar, Deniz; Zhang, Yifeng; Angelidaki, Irini

2017-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) have recently received increasing attention due to their promising potential in sustainable wastewater treatment and contaminant removal. In general, contaminants can be removed either as an electron donor via microbial catalyzed oxidization at the anode or removed at the cathode as electron acceptors through reduction. Some contaminants can also function as electron mediators at the anode or cathode. While previous studies have done a thorough assessment of electron donors, cathodic electron acceptors and mediators have not been as well described. Oxygen is widely used as an electron acceptor due to its high oxidation potential and ready availability. Recent studies, however, have begun to assess the use of different electron acceptors because of the (1) diversity of redox potential, (2) needs of alternative and more efficient cathode reaction, and (3) expanding of MFC based technologies in different areas. The aim of this review was to evaluate the performance and applicability of various electron acceptors and mediators used in MFCs. This review also evaluated the corresponding performance, advantages and disadvantages, and future potential applications of select electron acceptors (e.g., nitrate, iron, copper, perchlorate) and mediators. PMID:28469607

Simultaneous analysis of seven oligopeptides in microbial fuel cell by micro-fluidic chip with reflux injection mode.

PubMed

Wang, Wei; Wang, Zijian; Lin, Xiuli; Wang, ZongWen; Fu, FengFu

2012-10-15

In this work, a reflux injection mode for the cross form micro-fluidic chip was studied. This injection mode could flexibly control the length of sample plug from less than one channel width (<83 μm) to tens of channel widths (millimeter-sized) by adjusting the injection time. Namely, the separation resolution or sample detection sensitivity could be selectively improved by changing injection time. Composed of four steps, the reflux injection mode alleviated the electrophoretic sampling bias and prevented sample leakage successfully. On a micro-fluidic chip coupled with laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detector, the injection mode was applied to separate seven oligopeptides, namely GG, GL, RPP, KPV, VKK, WYD and YWS. All analytes were completely separated and detected within 12 min with detection limits of 25-625 nmol/L. At last, the proposed method had been successfully applied to detect oligopeptides consumed by bacillus licheniformis in anode chamber of microbial fuel cell (MFC) to study the effect of oligopeptides on the MFC running. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of Nitrite and Nitrate Concentrations on the Performance of AFB-MFC Enriched with High-Strength Synthetic Wastewater.

PubMed

Huang, Jian-Sheng; Yang, Ping; Li, Chong-Ming; Guo, Yong; Lai, Bo; Wang, Ye; Feng, Li; Zhang, Yun

2015-01-01

In order to study the effect of nitrite and nitrate on the performance of microbial fuel cell, a system combining an anaerobic fluidized bed (AFB) and a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was employed for high-strength nitrogen-containing synthetic wastewater treatment. Before this study, the AFB-MFC had been used to treat high-strength organic wastewater for about one year in a continuous flow mode. The results showed that when the concentrations of nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen were increased from 1700 mg/L to 4045 mg/L and 545 mg/L to 1427 mg/L, respectively, the nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen removal efficiencies were both above 99%; the COD removal efficiency went up from 60.00% to 88.95%; the voltage was about 375 ± 15 mV while the power density was at 70 ± 5 mW/m(2). However, when the concentrations of nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen were above 4045 mg/L and 1427 mg/L, respectively, the removal of nitrite nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, COD, voltage, and power density were decreased to be 86%, 88%, 77%, 180 mV, and 17 mW/m(2) when nitrite nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen were increased to 4265 mg/L and 1661 mg/L. In addition, the composition of biogas generated in the anode chamber was analyzed by a gas chromatograph. Nitrogen gas, methane, and carbon dioxide were obtained. The results indicated that denitrification happened in anode chamber.

Design of a microbial fuel cell and its transition to microbial electrolytic cell for hydrogen production by electrohydrogenesis.

PubMed

Gupta, Pratima; Parkhey, Piyush; Joshi, Komal; Mahilkar, Anjali

2013-10-01

Anaerobic bacteria were isolated from industrial wastewater and soil samples and tested for exoelectrogenic activity by current production in double chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC), which was further transitioned into a single chambered microbial electrolytic cell to test hydrogen production by electrohydrogenesis. Of all the cultures, the isolate from industrial water sample showed the maximum values for current = 0.161 mA, current density = 108.57 mA/m2 and power density = 48.85 mW/m2 with graphite electrode. Maximum voltage across the cell, however, was reported by the isolate from sewage water sample (506 mv) with copper as electrode. Tap water with KMnO4 was the best cathodic electrolyte as the highest values for all the measured MFC parameters were reported with it. Once the exoelectrogenic activity of the isolates was confirmed by current production, these were tested for hydrogen production in a single chambered microbial electrolytic cell (MEC) modified from the MFC. Hydrogen production was reported positive from co-culture of isolates of both the water samples and co-culture of one soil and one water sample. The maximum rate and yield of hydrogen production was 0.18 m3H2/m3/d and 3.2 mol H2/mol glucose respectively with total hydrogen production of 42.4 mL and energy recovery of 57.4%. Cumulative hydrogen production for a five day cycle of MEC operation was 0.16 m3H2/m3/d.

Biodegradation of phenol in batch and continuous flow microbial fuel cells with rod and granular graphite electrodes.

PubMed

Moreno, Lyman; Nemati, Mehdi; Predicala, Bernardo

2018-01-01

Phenol biodegradation was evaluated in batch and continuous flow microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In batch-operated MFCs, biodegradation of 100-1000 mg L -1 phenol was four to six times faster when graphite granules were used instead of rods (3.5-4.8 mg L -1  h -1 vs 0.5-0.9 mg L -1  h -1 ). Similarly maximum phenol biodegradation rates in continuous MFCs with granular and single-rod electrodes were 11.5 and 0.8 mg L -1  h -1 , respectively. This superior performance was also evident in terms of electrochemical outputs, whereby continuous flow MFCs with granular graphite electrodes achieved maximum current and power densities (3444.4 mA m -3 and 777.8 mW m -3 ) that were markedly higher than those with single-rod electrodes (37.3 mA m -3 and 0.8 mW m -3 ). Addition of neutral red enhanced the electrochemical outputs to 5714.3 mA m -3 and 1428.6 mW m -3 . Using the data generated in the continuous flow MFC, biokinetic parameters including μ m , K S , Y and K e were determined as 0.03 h -1 , 24.2 mg L -1 , 0.25 mg cell (mg phenol) -1 and 3.7 × 10 -4  h -1 , respectively. Access to detailed kinetic information generated in MFC environmental conditions is critical in the design, operation and control of large-scale treatment systems utilizing MFC technology.

Graphite fiber brush anodes for increased power production in air-cathode microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Logan, Bruce; Cheng, Shaoan; Watson, Valerie; Estadt, Garett

2007-05-01

To efficiently generate electricity using bacteria in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), highly conductive noncorrosive materials are needed that have a high specific surface area (surface area per volume) and an open structure to avoid biofouling. Graphite brush anodes, consisting of graphite fibers wound around a conductive, but noncorrosive metal core, were examined for power production in cube (C-MFC) and bottle (B-MFC) air-cathode MFCs. Power production in C-MFCs containing brush electrodes at 9600 m2/m3 reactor volume reached a maximum power density of 2400 mW/m2 (normalized to the cathode projected surface area), or 73 W/m3 based on liquid volume, with a maximum Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 60%. This power density, normalized by cathode projected area, is the highest value yet achieved by an air-cathode system. The increased power resulted from a reduction in internal resistance from 31 to 8 Q. Brush electrodes (4200 m2/m3) were also tested in B-MFCs, consisting of a laboratory media bottle modified to have a single side arm with a cathode clamped to its end. B-MFCs inoculated with wastewater produced up to 1430 mW/m2 (2.3 W/m3, CE = 23%) with brush electrodes, versus 600 mW/m2 with a plain carbon paper electrode. These findings show that brush anodes that have high surface areas and a porous structure can produce high power densities, and therefore have qualities that make them ideal for scaling up MFC systems.

Simultaneous selection of soil electroactive bacterial communities associated to anode and cathode in a two-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chiellini, Carolina; Bacci, Giovanni; Fani, Renato; Mocali, Stefano

2016-04-01

Different bacteria have evolved strategies to transfer electrons over their cell surface to (or from) their extracellular environment. This electron transfer enables the use of these bacteria in bioelectrochemical systems (BES) such as Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs). In MFC research the biological reactions at the cathode have long been a secondary point of interest. However, bacterial biocathodes in MFCs represent a potential advantage compared to traditional cathodes, for both their low costs and their low impact on the environment. The main challenge in biocathode set-up is represented by the selection of a bacterial community able to efficiently accept electrons from the electrode, starting from an environmental matrix. In this work, a constant voltage was supplied on a two-chamber MFC filled up with soil over three weeks in order to simultaneously select an electron donor bacterial biomass on the anode and an electron acceptor biomass on the cathode, starting from the same soil. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) analysis was performed to characterize the bacterial community of the initial soil, in the anode, in the cathode and in the control chamber not supplied with any voltage. Results highlighted that both the MFC conditions and the voltage supply affected the soil bacterial communities, providing a selection of different bacterial groups preferentially associated to the anode (Betaproteobacteria, Bacilli and Clostridia) and to the cathode (Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria). These results confirmed that several electroactive bacteria are naturally present within a top soil and, moreover, different soil bacterial genera could provide different electrical properties.

Microbiome characterization of MFCs used for the treatment of swine manure.

PubMed

Vilajeliu-Pons, Anna; Puig, Sebastià; Pous, Narcís; Salcedo-Dávila, Inmaculada; Bañeras, Lluís; Balaguer, Maria Dolors; Colprim, Jesús

2015-05-15

Conventional swine manure treatment is performed by anaerobic digestion, but nitrogen is not treated. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) allow organic matter and nitrogen removal with concomitant electricity production. MFC microbiomes treating industrial wastewaters as swine manure have not been characterized. In this study, a multidisciplinary approach allowed microbiome relation with nutrient removal capacity and electricity production. Two different MFC configurations (C-1 and C-2) were used to treat swine manure. In C-1, the nitrification and denitrification processes took place in different compartments, while in C-2, simultaneous nitrification-denitrification occurred in the cathode. Clostridium disporicum and Geobacter sulfurreducens were identified in the anode compartments of both systems. C. disporicum was related to the degradation of complex organic matter compounds and G. sulfurreducens to electricity production. Different nitrifying bacteria populations were identified in both systems because of the different operational conditions. The highest microbial diversity was detected in cathode compartments of both configurations, including members of Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexiaceae and Proteobacteria. These communities allowed similar removal rates of organic matter (2.02-2.09 kg COD m(-3)d(-1)) and nitrogen (0.11-0.16 kg Nm(-3)d(-1)) in both systems. However, they differed in the generation of electric energy (20 and 2 mW m(-3) in C-1 and C-2, respectively). Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Denitrification Characteristics and Microbial Community in the Cathode of an MFC with Aerobic Denitrification at High Temperatures.

PubMed

Zhao, Jianqiang; Wu, Jinna; Li, Xiaoling; Wang, Sha; Hu, Bo; Ding, Xiaoqian

2017-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have attracted much attention due to their ability to generate electricity while treating wastewater. The performance of a double-chamber MFC with simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) in the cathode for treating synthetic high concentration ammonia wastewater was investigated at different dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and high temperatures. The results showed that electrode denitrification and traditional heterotrophic denitrification co-existed in the cathode chamber. Electrode denitrification by aerobic denitrification bacterium (ADB) is beneficial for achieving a higher voltage of the MFC at high DO concentrations (3.0-4.2 mg/L), while traditional heterotrophic denitrification is conducive to higher total nitrogen (TN) removal at low DO (0.5-1.0 mg/L) concentrations. Under high DO conditions, the nitrous oxide production and TN removal efficiency were higher with a 50 Ω external resistance than with a 100 Ω resistance, which demonstrated that electrode denitrification by ADB occurred in the cathode of the MFC. Sufficient electrons were inferred to be provided by the electrode to allow ADB survival at low carbon:nitrogen ratios (≤0.3). Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) results showed that increasing the DO resulted in a change of the predominant species from thermophilic autotrophic nitrifiers and facultative heterotrophic denitrifiers at low DO concentrations to thermophilic ADB at high DO concentrations. The predominant phylum changed from Firmicutes to Proteobacteria , and the predominant class changed from Bacilli to Alpha, Beta , and Gamma Proteobacteria .

The role of riboflavin in decolourisation of Congo red and bioelectricity production using Shewanella oneidensis-MR1 under MFC and non-MFC conditions.

PubMed

Gomaa, Ola M; Fapetu, Segun; Kyazze, Godfrey; Keshavarz, Tajalli

2017-03-01

Dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria can exchange electrons extracellularly and hold great promise for their use in simultaneous wastewater treatment and electricity production. This study investigated the role of riboflavin, an electron carrier, in the decolourisation of Congo red in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 as a model organism. The contribution of the membrane-bound protein MtrC to the decolourisation process was also investigated. Within the range of riboflavin concentrations tested, 20 µM was found to be the best with >95% of the dye (initial concentration 200 mg/L) decolourised in MFCs within 50 h compared to 90% in the case where no riboflavin was added. The corresponding maximum power density was 45 mW/m 2 . There was no significant difference in the overall decolourisation efficiencies of Shewanela oneidensis MR-1 ΔMtrC mutants compared to the wild type. However, in terms of power production the mutant produced more power (P max 76 mW/m 2 ) compared to the wild type (P max 46 mW/m 2 ) which was attributed to higher levels of riboflavin secreted in solution. Decolourisation efficiencies in non-MFC systems (anaerobic bottles) were similar to those under MFC systems indicating that electricity generation in MFCs does not impair dye decolourisation efficiencies. The results suggest that riboflavin enhances both decolourisation of dyes and simultaneous electricity production in MFCs.

Controlled release of chlorhexidine digluconate using β-cyclodextrin and microfibrillated cellulose.

PubMed

Lavoine, Nathalie; Tabary, Nicolas; Desloges, Isabelle; Martel, Bernard; Bras, Julien

2014-09-01

This study aims to develop a high-performance delivery system using microfibrillated cellulose (MFC)-coated papers as a controlled release system combined with the well-known drug delivery agent, β-cyclodextrin (βCD). Chlorhexidine digluconate (CHX), an antibacterial molecule, was mixed with a suspension of MFC or a βCD solution or mixed with both the substances, before coating onto a cellulosic substrate. The intermittent diffusion of CHX (i.e., diffusion interrupted by the renewal of the release medium periodically) was conducted in an aqueous medium, and the release mechanism of CHX was elucidated by field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy, SEM, NMR, and Fourier transform infrared analyses. According to the literature, both βCD and MFC are efficient controlled delivery systems. This study indicated that βCD releases CHX more gradually and over a longer period of time compared to MFC, which is mainly due to the ability of βCD to form an inclusion complex with CHX. Furthermore from the release study, a complementary action when the two compounds were combined was deduced. MFC mainly affected the burst effect, while βCD primarily controlled the amount of CHX released over time. In this paper, two different types of controlled release systems are proposed and compared. Depending on the final application, the use of βCD alone would release low amounts of active molecules over time (slow delivery), whereas the combination of β-cyclodextrin and MFC would be more suitable for the release of higher amounts of active molecules over time (rapid delivery). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Progress of air-breathing cathode in microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zejie; Mahadevan, Gurumurthy Dummi; Wu, Yicheng; Zhao, Feng

2017-07-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging technology to produce green energy and vanquish the effects of environmental contaminants. Cathodic reactions are vital for high electrical power density generated from MFCs. Recently tremendous attentions were paid towards developing high performance air-breathing cathodes. A typical air-breathing cathode comprises of electrode substrate, catalyst layer, and air-diffusion layer. Prior researches demonstrated that each component influenced the performance of air-breathing cathode MFCs. This review summarized the progress in development of the individual component and elaborated main factors to the performance of air-breathing cathode.

Alternate charging and discharging of capacitor to enhance the electron production of bioelectrochemical systems.

PubMed

Liang, Peng; Wu, Wenlong; Wei, Jincheng; Yuan, Lulu; Xia, Xue; Huang, Xia

2011-08-01

A bioelectrochemical system (BES) can be operated in both "microbial fuel cell" (MFC) and "microbial electrolysis cell" (MEC) modes, in which power is delivered and invested respectively. To enhance the electric current production, a BES was operated in MFC mode first and a capacitor was used to collect power from the system. Then the charged capacitor discharged electrons to the system itself, switching into MEC mode. This alternate charging and discharging (ACD) mode helped the system produce 22-32% higher average current compared to an intermittent charging (IC) mode, in which the capacitor was first charged from an MFC and then discharged to a resistor, at 21.6 Ω external resistance, 3.3 F capacitance and 300 mV charging voltage. The effects of external resistance, capacitance and charging voltage on average current were studied. The average current reduced as the external resistance and charging voltage increased and was slightly affected by the capacitance. Acquisition of higher average current in the ACD mode was attributed to the shorter discharging time compared to the charging time, as well as a higher anode potential caused by discharging the capacitor. Results from circuit analysis and quantitatively calculation were consistent with the experimental observations.

Bioelectricity generation using two chamber microbial fuel cell treating wastewater from food processing.

PubMed

Mansoorian, Hossein Jafari; Mahvi, Amir Hossein; Jafari, Ahmad Jonidi; Amin, Mohammad Mehdi; Rajabizadeh, Ahmad; Khanjani, Narges

2013-05-10

Electricity generation from microbial fuel cells which treat food processing wastewater was investigated in this study. Anaerobic anode and aerobic cathode chambers were separated by a proton exchange membrane in a two-compartment MFC reactor. Buffer solutions and food industry wastewater were used as electrolytes in the anode and cathode chambers, respectively. The produced voltage and current intensity were measured using a digital multimeter. Effluents from the anode compartment were tested for COD, BOD5, NH3, P, TSS, VSS, SO4 and alkalinity. The maximum current density and power production were measured 527mA/m(2) and 230mW/m(2) in the anode area, respectively, at operation organic loading (OLR) of 0.364g COD/l.d. At OLR of 0.182g COD/l.d, maximum voltage and columbic efficiency production were recorded 0.475V and 21%, respectively. Maximum removal efficiency of COD, BOD5, NH3, P, TSS, VSS, SO4 and alkalinity were 86, 79, 73, 18, 68, 62, 30 and 58%, respectively. The results indicated that catalysts and mediator-less microbial fuel cells (CAML-MFC) can be considered as a better choice for simple and complete energy conversion from the wastewater of such industries and also this could be considered as a new method to offset wastewater treatment plant operating costs. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microbial fuel cells coupling with the three-dimensional electro-Fenton technique enhances the degradation of methyl orange in the wastewater.

PubMed

Huang, Tao; Liu, Longfei; Tao, Junjun; Zhou, Lulu; Zhang, Shuwen

2018-04-23

The emission of the source effluent of azo dyes has resulted in a serial of environmental problems including of the direct damage of the natural esthetics, the inhibition of the oxygen exchange, the shortage of the photosynthesis, and the reduction of the aquatic flora and fauna. A bioelectrochemical platform (3D-EF-MFCs) combining two-chamber microbial fuel cells and three dimensional electro-Fenton technique were delicately designed and assembled to explore the decolorization, bio-genericity performance of the methyl orange, and the possible biotic-abiotic degradation mechanisms. The 3D-EF-MFCs processes showed higher decolorization efficiencies, COD removals, and better bioelectricity performance than the pure electro-Fenton-microbial fuel cell (EF-MFC) systems. The two-chamber experiments filling with the granular activated carbons were better than the single-chamber packing system on the whole. The moderate increase of Fe 2+ ions dosing in the cathode chamber accelerated the formation of •OH, which further enhanced the degradation of the methyl orange (MO). The cathode-decolorization and COD removals were decreased with the increase of MO concentration. However, the degradation performance of MO was indirectly improved in the anode compartment at the same conditions. The bed electrodes played a mediator role in the anode and cathode chambers, certainly elevated the voltage output and the power density, and lowered the internal impedance of EF-MFC process.

C-H···O Hydrogen Bonding. The Prototypical Methane-Formaldehyde System: A Critical Assessment.

PubMed

Moore, Kevin B; Sadeghian, Keyarash; Sherrill, C David; Ochsenfeld, Christian; Schaefer, Henry F

2017-11-14

Distinguishing the functionality of C-H···O hydrogen bonds (HBs) remains challenging, because their properties are difficult to quantify reliably. Herein, we present a study of the model methane-formaldehyde complex (MFC). Six stationary points on the MFC potential energy surface (PES) were obtained at the CCSD(T)/ANO2 level. The CCSDT(Q)/CBS interaction energies of the conformers range from only -1.12 kcal mol -1 to -0.33 kcal mol -1 , denoting a very flat PES. Notably, only the lowest energy stationary point (MFC1) corresponds to a genuine minimum, whereas all other stationary points-including the previously studied ideal case of a e (C-H···O) = 180°-exhibit some degree of freedom that leads to MFC1. Despite the flat PES, we clearly see that the HB properties of MFC1 align with those of the prototypical water dimer O-H···O HB. Each HB property generally becomes less prominent in the higher-energy conformers. Only the MFC1 conformer prominently exhibits (1) elongated C-H donor bonds, (2) attractive C-H···O═C interactions, (3) n(O) → σ*(C-H) hyperconjugation, (4) critical points in the electron density from Bader's method and from the noncovalent interactions method, (5) positively charged donor hydrogen, and (6) downfield NMR chemical shifts and nonzero 2 J(C M -H M ···O F ) coupling constants. Based on this research, some issues merit further study. The flat PES hinders reliable determinations of the HB-induced shifts of the C-H stretches; a similarly difficult challenge is observed for the experiment. The role of charge transfer in HBs remains an intriguing open question, although our BLW and NBO computations suggest that it is relevant to the C-H···O HB geometries. These issues notwithstanding, the prominence of the HB properties in MFC1 serves as clear evidence that the MFC is predominantly bound by a C-H···O HB.

Denitrifying Bacterial Communities Affect Current Production and Nitrous Oxide Accumulation in a Microbial Fuel Cell

PubMed Central

Vilar-Sanz, Ariadna; Puig, Sebastià; García-Lledó, Arantzazu; Trias, Rosalia; Balaguer, M. Dolors; Colprim, Jesús; Bañeras, Lluís

2013-01-01

The biocathodic reduction of nitrate in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) is an alternative to remove nitrogen in low carbon to nitrogen wastewater and relies entirely on microbial activity. In this paper the community composition of denitrifiers in the cathode of a MFC is analysed in relation to added electron acceptors (nitrate and nitrite) and organic matter in the cathode. Nitrate reducers and nitrite reducers were highly affected by the operational conditions and displayed high diversity. The number of retrieved species-level Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) for narG, napA, nirS and nirK genes was 11, 10, 31 and 22, respectively. In contrast, nitrous oxide reducers remained virtually unchanged at all conditions. About 90% of the retrieved nosZ sequences grouped in a single OTU with a high similarity with Oligotropha carboxidovorans nosZ gene. nirS-containing denitrifiers were dominant at all conditions and accounted for a significant amount of the total bacterial density. Current production decreased from 15.0 A·m−3 NCC (Net Cathodic Compartment), when nitrate was used as an electron acceptor, to 14.1 A·m−3 NCC in the case of nitrite. Contrarily, nitrous oxide (N2O) accumulation in the MFC was higher when nitrite was used as the main electron acceptor and accounted for 70% of gaseous nitrogen. Relative abundance of nitrite to nitrous oxide reducers, calculated as (qnirS+qnirK)/qnosZ, correlated positively with N2O emissions. Collectively, data indicate that bacteria catalysing the initial denitrification steps in a MFC are highly influenced by main electron acceptors and have a major influence on current production and N2O accumulation. PMID:23717427

Electricity generation and nutrients removal from high-strength liquid manure by air-cathode microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Lin, Hongjian; Wu, Xiao; Nelson, Chad; Miller, Curtis; Zhu, Jun

2016-01-01

Air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are widely tested to recover electrical energy from waste streams containing organic matter. When high-strength wastewater, such as liquid animal manure, is used as a medium, inhibition on anode and cathode catalysts potentially impairs the effectiveness of MFC performance in power generation and pollutant removal. This study evaluated possible inhibitive effects of liquid swine manure components on MFC power generation, improved liquid manure-fed MFCs performance by pretreatment (dilution and selective adsorption), and modeled the kinetics of organic matter and nutrients removal kinetics. Parameters monitored included pH, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), volatile fatty acids (VFAs), total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN), nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate concentrations. The removals of VFA and TAN were efficient, indicated by the short half-life times of 4.99 and 7.84 d, respectively. The mechanism for phosphate decrease was principally the salt precipitation on cathode, but the removal was incomplete after 42-d operation. MFC with an external resistor of 2.2 kΩ and fed with swine wastewater generated relatively small power (28.2 μW), energy efficiency (0.37%) and Coulombic efficiency (1.5%). Dilution of swine wastewater dramatically improved the power generation as the inhibitory effect was decreased. Zeolite and granular activated carbon were effective in the selective adsorption of ammonia or organic matter in swine wastewater, and so substantially improved the power generation, energy efficiency, and Coulombic efficiency. A smaller external resistor in the circuit was also observed to promote the organic matter degradation and thus to shorten the treatment time. Overall, air-cathode MFCs are promising for generating electrical power from livestock wastewater and meanwhile reducing the level of organic matter and nutrients.

Synthetic Klebsiella pneumoniae-Shewanella oneidensis Consortium Enables Glycerol-Fed High-Performance Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Li, Feng; Yin, Changji; Sun, Liming; Li, Yuanxiu; Guo, Xuewu; Song, Hao

2018-05-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an eco-friendly bio-electrochemical sys-tem that uses microorganism as biocatalyst to convert biomass into electricity. Glycerol, as a waste in the biodiesel refinery processes, is an appealing substrate for MFC. Nevertheless, glycerol cannot be utilized as carbon source by well-known exoelectrogens such as Shewanella oneidensis. Herein, to generate electricity by rapidly harnessing glycerol, the authors rationally constructed a Klebsiella pneumoniae-Shewanella oneidensis microbial consortium to efficiently harvest electricity from glyc-erol, in which K. pneumoniae converted glycerol into lactate, fed to S. oneidensis as carbon source and electron donor. To improve electricity output, the authors systematically engineered the consortium in terms of carbon flux distribution and efficiency of extracellular electron transfer (EET). To direct more carbon flux to lactate biosynthesis in K. pneumoniae, the authors eliminated the ethanol pathway by knocking out the alcohol dehydrogenase gene (adhE), and enhanced lactate biosynthesis by heterologously expressing a lactate dehydrogen-ase gene (ldhD) from Lactobacillus bulgaricus and a lactate transporter gene (lldP) from Escherichia coli. To facilitate EET between S. oneidensis and anode surfaces, a biosynthetic flavins pathway from Bacillus subtilis is introduced into S. oneidensis. The author further optimized the glycerol concentration, thus S. oneidensis could be continuously fed with lactate synthesized from K. pneumoniae at a constant rate. Our glycerol-fed MFC generated a maximum power density of 19.9 mW/m 2 , significantly higher than that of the wild-type consor-tium. This work suggested that engineering microbial consortia is an effi-cient strategy to expand the spectrum of usable carbon sources and promote electricity power production in MFCs. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Microbial community composition and electricity generation in cattle manure slurry treatment using microbial fuel cells: effects of inoculum addition.

PubMed

Xie, Binghan; Gong, Weijia; Ding, An; Yu, Huarong; Qu, Fangshu; Tang, Xiaobin; Yan, Zhongsen; Li, Guibai; Liang, Heng

2017-10-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a sustainable technology to treat cattle manure slurry (CMS) for converting chemical energy to bioelectricity. In this work, two types of allochthonous inoculum including activated sludge (AS) and domestic sewage (DS) were added into the MFC systems to enhance anode biofilm formation and electricity generation. Results indicated that MFCs (AS + CMS) obtained the maximum electricity output with voltage approaching 577 ± 7 mV (~ 196 h), followed by MFCs (DS + CMS) (520 ± 21 mV, ~ 236 h) and then MFCs with autochthonous inoculum (429 ± 62 mV, ~ 263.5 h). Though the raw cattle manure slurry (RCMS) could facilitate electricity production in MFCs, the addition of allochthonous inoculum (AS/DS) significantly reduced the startup time and enhanced the output voltage. Moreover, the maximum power (1.259 ± 0.015 W/m 2 ) and the highest COD removal (84.72 ± 0.48%) were obtained in MFCs (AS + CMS). With regard to microbial community, Illumina HiSeq of the 16S rRNA gene was employed in this work and the exoelectrogens (Geobacter and Shewanella) were identified as the dominant members on all anode biofilms in MFCs. For anode microbial diversity, the MFCs (AS + CMS) outperformed MFCs (DS + CMS) and MFCs (RCMS), allowing the occurrence of the fermentative (e.g., Bacteroides) and nitrogen fixation bacteria (e.g., Azoarcus and Sterolibacterium) which enabled the efficient degradation of the slurry. This study provided a feasible strategy to analyze the anode biofilm formation by adding allochthonous inoculum and some implications for quick startup of MFC reactors for CMS treatment.

Potential of Electric Power Production from Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) in Evapotranspiration Reactor for Leachate Treatment Using Alocasia macrorrhiza Plant and Eleusine indica Grass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaman, Badrus; Wardhana, Irawan Wisnu

2018-02-01

Microbial fuel cell is one of attractive electric power generator from nature bacterial activity. While, Evapotranspiration is one of the waste water treatment system which developed to eliminate biological weakness that utilize the natural evaporation process and bacterial activity on plant roots and plant media. This study aims to determine the potential of electrical energy from leachate treatment using evapotranspiration reactor. The study was conducted using local plant, namely Alocasia macrorrhiza and local grass, namely Eleusine Indica. The system was using horizontal MFC by placing the cathodes and anodes at different chamber (i.e. in the leachate reactor and reactor with plant media). Carbon plates was used for chatode-anodes material with size of 40 cm x 10 cm x1 cm. Electrical power production was measure by a digital multimeter for 30 days reactor operation. The result shows electric power production was fluctuated during reactor operation from all reactors. The electric power generated from each reactor was fluctuated, but from the reactor using Alocasia macrorrhiza plant reach to 70 μwatt average. From the reactor using Eleusine Indica grass was reached 60 μwatt average. Electric power production fluctuation is related to the bacterial growth pattern in the soil media and on the plant roots which undergo the adaptation process until the middle of the operational period and then in stable growth condition until the end of the reactor operation. The results indicate that the evapotranspiration reactor using Alocasia macrorrhiza plant was 60-95% higher electric power potential than using Eleusine Indica grass in short-term (30-day) operation. Although, MFC system in evapotranspiration reactor system was one of potential system for renewable electric power generation.

Denitrifying bacterial communities affect current production and nitrous oxide accumulation in a microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Vilar-Sanz, Ariadna; Puig, Sebastià; García-Lledó, Arantzazu; Trias, Rosalia; Balaguer, M Dolors; Colprim, Jesús; Bañeras, Lluís

2013-01-01

The biocathodic reduction of nitrate in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) is an alternative to remove nitrogen in low carbon to nitrogen wastewater and relies entirely on microbial activity. In this paper the community composition of denitrifiers in the cathode of a MFC is analysed in relation to added electron acceptors (nitrate and nitrite) and organic matter in the cathode. Nitrate reducers and nitrite reducers were highly affected by the operational conditions and displayed high diversity. The number of retrieved species-level Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) for narG, napA, nirS and nirK genes was 11, 10, 31 and 22, respectively. In contrast, nitrous oxide reducers remained virtually unchanged at all conditions. About 90% of the retrieved nosZ sequences grouped in a single OTU with a high similarity with Oligotropha carboxidovorans nosZ gene. nirS-containing denitrifiers were dominant at all conditions and accounted for a significant amount of the total bacterial density. Current production decreased from 15.0 A · m(-3) NCC (Net Cathodic Compartment), when nitrate was used as an electron acceptor, to 14.1 A · m(-3) NCC in the case of nitrite. Contrarily, nitrous oxide (N2O) accumulation in the MFC was higher when nitrite was used as the main electron acceptor and accounted for 70% of gaseous nitrogen. Relative abundance of nitrite to nitrous oxide reducers, calculated as (qnirS+qnirK)/qnosZ, correlated positively with N2O emissions. Collectively, data indicate that bacteria catalysing the initial denitrification steps in a MFC are highly influenced by main electron acceptors and have a major influence on current production and N2O accumulation.

Quantification of the internal resistance distribution of microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Fan, Yanzhen; Sharbrough, Evan; Liu, Hong

2008-11-01

Identifying the limiting factors in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system requires qualifying the contribution of each component of an MFC to internal resistance. In this study, a new method was developed to calculate the internal resistance distribution of an MFC. Experiments were conducted to identify the limiting factors in single-chamber MFCs by varying the anode surface areas, cathode surface areas, and phosphate buffer concentrations. For the MFCs with equally sized electrodes (7 cm2) and 200 mM phosphate buffer, the anode contributed just 5.4% of the internal resistance, while the cathode and the electrolyte each contributed 47.3%, indicating that the anode was not the limiting factor in power generation. The limitation of the cathode was further revealed by the 780% higher area-specific resistance (284.4 omega cm2) than the 32.3 omega cm2 of the anode. The electrolyte limitation was also evidenced by the greatly increased contribution of electrolyte in internal resistance from 47.3 to 78.2% when the concentration of phosphate buffer was decreased from 200 to 50 mM. An anodic power density of 6860 mW/m2 was achieved at a current density of 2.62 mA/cm2 using the MFCs with an anode/cathode area ratio of 1/14 and 200 mM phosphate buffer. The method was also successfully applied to analyze the internal resistance distribution of the two chamber MFCs from a previously reported study. The comparison of the internal resistances of the two air cathode systems indicates that the much lower resistances, including anode, cathode, and membrane resistances, contributed to the much better performance of the single-chamber MFCs than the two-chamber system.

Electricity generation from cattle dung using microbial fuel cell technology during anaerobic acidogenesis and the development of microbial populations.

PubMed

Zhao, Guang; Ma, Fang; Wei, Li; Chua, Hong; Chang, Chein-Chi; Zhang, Xiao-Jun

2012-09-01

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed to investigate the possible generation of electricity using cattle dung as a substrate. After 30 days of operation, stable electricity was generated, and the maximum volumetric power density was 0.220 W/m(3). The total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) removal and coulombic efficiency (CE) of the MFC reached 73.9±1.8% and 2.79±0.6%, respectively, after 120 days of operation. Acetate was the main metabolite in the anolyte, and other volatile fatty acids (VFAs) (propionate and butyrate) were present in minor amounts. The PCR-DGGE analysis indicated that the following five groups of microbes were present: Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the dominant phyla in the sample; specifically, 36.3% and 24.2% of the sequences obtained were Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, respectively. Clostridium sp., Pseudomonas luteola and Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense were the most dominant groups during the electricity generation process. The diversity of archaea dramatically decreased after 20 days of operation. The detected archaea were hydrogenotrophic methanogens, and the Methanobacterium genus disappeared during the periods of stable electricity generation via acidogenesis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biomass production from electricity using ammonia as an electron carrier in a reverse microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Khunjar, Wendell O; Sahin, Asli; West, Alan C; Chandran, Kartik; Banta, Scott

2012-01-01

The storage of renewable electrical energy within chemical bonds of biofuels and other chemicals is a route to decreasing petroleum usage. A critical challenge is the efficient transfer of electrons into a biological host that can covert this energy into high energy organic compounds. In this paper, we describe an approach whereby biomass is grown using energy obtained from a soluble mediator that is regenerated electrochemically. The net result is a separate-stage reverse microbial fuel cell (rMFC) that fixes CO₂ into biomass using electrical energy. We selected ammonia as a low cost, abundant, safe, and soluble redox mediator that facilitated energy transfer to biomass. Nitrosomonas europaea, a chemolithoautotroph, was used as the biocatalyst due to its inherent capability to utilize ammonia as its sole energy source for growth. An electrochemical reactor was designed for the regeneration of ammonia from nitrite, and current efficiencies of 100% were achieved. Calculations indicated that overall bioproduction efficiency could approach 2.7±0.2% under optimal electrolysis conditions. The application of chemolithoautotrophy for industrial bioproduction has been largely unexplored, and results suggest that this and related rMFC platforms may enable biofuel and related biochemical production.

Electricity and disinfectant production from wastewater: Microbial Fuel Cell as a self-powered electrolyser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gajda, Iwona; Greenman, John; Melhuish, Chris; Ieropoulos, Ioannis A.

2016-05-01

This study presents a simple and sustainable Microbial Fuel Cell as a standalone, self-powered reactor for in situ wastewater electrolysis, recovering nitrogen from wastewater. A process is proposed whereby the MFC electrical performance drives the electrolysis of wastewater towards the self-generation of catholyte within the same reactor. The MFCs were designed to harvest the generated catholyte in the internal chamber, which showed that liquid production rates are largely proportional to electrical current generation. The catholyte demonstrated bactericidal properties, compared to the control (open-circuit) diffusate, and reduced observable biofilm formation on the cathode electrode. Killing effects were confirmed using bacterial kill curves constructed by exposing a bioluminescent Escherichia coli target, as a surrogate coliform, to catholyte where a rapid kill rate was observed. Therefore, MFCs could serve as a water recovery system, a disinfectant/cleaner generator that limits undesired biofilm formation and as a washing agent in waterless urinals to improve sanitation. This simple and ready to implement MFC system can convert organic waste directly into electricity and self-driven nitrogen along with water recovery. This could lead to the development of energy positive bioprocesses for sustainable wastewater treatment.

Novel mesoporous MnCo2O4 nanorods as oxygen reduction catalyst at neutral pH in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Kumar, Ravinder; Singh, Lakhveer; Wahid, Zularisam Ab; Mahapatra, Durga Madhab; Liu, Hong

2018-04-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate the comparative performance of hybrid metal oxide nanorods i.e. MnCo 2 O 4 nanorods (MCON) and single metal oxide nanorods i.e. Co 3 O 4 nanorods (CON) as oxygen reduction catalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFC). Compared to the single metal oxide, the hybrid MCON exhibited a higher BET surface area and provided additional positively charged ions, i.e., Co 2+ /Co 3+ and Mn 3+ /Mn 4+ on its surfaces, which increased the electro-conductivity of the cathode and improved the oxygen reduction kinetics significantly, achieved an i o of 6.01 A/m 2 that was 12.4% higher than CON. Moreover, the porous architecture of MCON facilitated the diffusion of electrolyte, reactants and electrons during the oxygen reduction, suggested by lower diffusion (R d ), activation (R act ) and ohmic resistance (R ohm ) values. This enhanced oxygen reduction by MCON boosted the power generation in MFC, achieving a maximum power density of 587 mW/m 2 that was ∼29% higher than CON. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Enhancing the performance of Escherichia coli-inoculated microbial fuel cells by introduction of the phenazine-1-carboxylic acid pathway.

PubMed

Feng, Jiao; Qian, Ying; Wang, Zhen; Wang, Xin; Xu, Sheng; Chen, Kequan; Ouyang, Pingkai

2018-06-10

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a renewable green energy source that uses microorganisms to catalytically convert chemical energy into electrical energy. The efficiency of extracellular electron transfer (EET) from the microbe cell to the anode electrode plays a key role in the MFC. However, the insulating properties of the cell membrane limit the efficiency of EET. Herein, EET efficiency was improved by introducing a phenazine synthesis pathway into Escherichia coli. Through the heterologous expression of phzA1B1C1D1E1F1G1, phenazine-1-carboxylic acid production increased, and the maximum power density increased from 16.7 mW/m 2 to 181.1 mW/m 2 . Furthermore, the charge transfer resistance of 6.7 Ω decreased to 4.2 Ω, which reflected the enhancement of the EET efficiency and the electricity power output. Our results imply that introducing a heterologous electron shuttle into E. coli could be an efficient approach to improving the EET efficiency and performance of an MFC. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Positive anodic poised potential regulates microbial fuel cell performance with the function of open and closed circuitry.

PubMed

Srikanth, S; Venkata Mohan, S; Sarma, P N

2010-07-01

Positive influence of poised potential on microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance was observed with increase in the applied potential up to 600 mV and decreased thereafter. Higher power output (79.33 mW/m(2)) was observed at 600 mV poised potential under open circuit operation (OC). Closed circuit operation (CC) showed almost negligible power output due to continuous electron discharge against an external load (100 Omega). However, CC operation resulted in the higher substrate (chemical oxygen demand (COD)) degradation [61.23% (control); 70.46% (OC; 600 mV); 74.15% (CC; 600 mV)] and total dissolved solids (TDS) removal [29.17% (control); 43.75% (OC; 600 mV); 72.92% (CC; 600 mV)] efficiencies compared to OC. Electron discharge and energy conversion efficiency was also observed to be higher with 600 mV poised potential. Poising potential showed additional redox couples (-0.29+/-0.05 mV) on cyclic voltammetry. Application of poised potential during startup phase will help to enrich electrochemically active consortia on anode resulting in improved performance of MFC. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and application of polypyrrole/carrageenan nano-bio composite as a cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Esmaeili, Chakavak; Ghasemi, Mostafa; Heng, Lee Yook; Hassan, Sedky H A; Abdi, Mahnaz M; Daud, Wan Ramli Wan; Ilbeygi, Hamid; Ismail, Ahmad Fauzi

2014-12-19

A novel nano-bio composite polypyrrole (PPy)/kappa-carrageenan(KC) was fabricated and characterized for application as a cathode catalyst in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). High resolution SEM and TEM verified the bud-like shape and uniform distribution of the PPy in the KC matrix. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has approved the amorphous structure of the PPy/KC as well. The PPy/KC nano-bio composites were then studied as an electrode material, due to their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) ability as the cathode catalyst in the MFC and the results were compared with platinum (Pt) as the most common cathode catalyst. The produced power density of the PPy/KC was 72.1 mW/m(2) while it was 46.8 mW/m(2) and 28.8 mW/m(2) for KC and PPy individually. The efficiency of the PPy/KC electrode system is slightly lower than a Pt electrode (79.9 mW/m(2)) but due to the high cost of Pt electrodes, the PPy/KC electrode system has potential to be an alternative electrode system for MFCs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electricity and disinfectant production from wastewater: Microbial Fuel Cell as a self-powered electrolyser

PubMed Central

Gajda, Iwona; Greenman, John; Melhuish, Chris; Ieropoulos, Ioannis A.

2016-01-01

This study presents a simple and sustainable Microbial Fuel Cell as a standalone, self-powered reactor for in situ wastewater electrolysis, recovering nitrogen from wastewater. A process is proposed whereby the MFC electrical performance drives the electrolysis of wastewater towards the self-generation of catholyte within the same reactor. The MFCs were designed to harvest the generated catholyte in the internal chamber, which showed that liquid production rates are largely proportional to electrical current generation. The catholyte demonstrated bactericidal properties, compared to the control (open-circuit) diffusate, and reduced observable biofilm formation on the cathode electrode. Killing effects were confirmed using bacterial kill curves constructed by exposing a bioluminescent Escherichia coli target, as a surrogate coliform, to catholyte where a rapid kill rate was observed. Therefore, MFCs could serve as a water recovery system, a disinfectant/cleaner generator that limits undesired biofilm formation and as a washing agent in waterless urinals to improve sanitation. This simple and ready to implement MFC system can convert organic waste directly into electricity and self-driven nitrogen along with water recovery. This could lead to the development of energy positive bioprocesses for sustainable wastewater treatment. PMID:27172836

Bio-Electron-Fenton (BEF) process driven by microbial fuel cells for triphenyltin chloride (TPTC) degradation.

PubMed

Yong, Xiao-Yu; Gu, Dong-Yan; Wu, Yuan-Dong; Yan, Zhi-Ying; Zhou, Jun; Wu, Xia-Yuan; Wei, Ping; Jia, Hong-Hua; Zheng, Tao; Yong, Yang-Chun

2017-02-15

The intensive use of triphenyltin chloride (TPTC) has caused serious environmental pollution. In this study, an effective method for TPTC degradation was proposed based on the Bio-Electron-Fenton process in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The maximum voltage of the MFC with graphite felt as electrode was 278.47% higher than that of carbon cloth. The electricity generated by MFC can be used for in situ generation of H 2 O 2 to a maximum of 135.96μmolL -1 at the Fe@Fe 2 O 3(*) /graphite felt composite cathode, which further reacted with leached Fe 2+ to produce hydroxyl radicals. While 100μmolL -1 TPTC was added to the cathodic chamber, the degradation efficiency of TPTC reached 78.32±2.07%, with a rate of 0.775±0.021μmolL -1 h -1 . This Bio-Electron-Fenton driving TPTC degradation might involve in SnC bonds breaking and the main process is probably a stepwise dephenylation until the formation of inorganic tin and CO 2 . This study provides an energy saving and efficient approach for TPTC degradation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modeling and validation of single-chamber microbial fuel cell cathode biofilm growth and response to oxidant gas composition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ou, Shiqi; Zhao, Yi; Aaron, Douglas S.; Regan, John M.; Mench, Matthew M.

2016-10-01

This work describes experiments and computational simulations to analyze single-chamber, air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance and cathodic limitations in terms of current generation, power output, mass transport, biomass competition, and biofilm growth. Steady-state and transient cathode models were developed and experimentally validated. Two cathode gas mixtures were used to explore oxygen transport in the cathode: the MFCs exposed to a helium-oxygen mixture (heliox) produced higher current and power output than the group of MFCs exposed to air or a nitrogen-oxygen mixture (nitrox), indicating a dependence on gas-phase transport in the cathode. Multi-substance transport, biological reactions, and electrochemical reactions in a multi-layer and multi-biomass cathode biofilm were also simulated in a transient model. The transient model described biofilm growth over 15 days while providing insight into mass transport and cathodic dissolved species concentration profiles during biofilm growth. Simulation results predict that the dissolved oxygen content and diffusion in the cathode are key parameters affecting the power output of the air-cathode MFC system, with greater oxygen content in the cathode resulting in increased power output and fully-matured biomass.

Microbial fuel cells for robotics: energy autonomy through artificial symbiosis.

PubMed

Ieropoulos, Ioannis A; Greenman, John; Melhuish, Chris; Horsfield, Ian

2012-06-01

The development of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has seen an enormous growth over the last hundred years since its inception by Potter in 1911. The technology has reached a level of maturity that it is now considered to be a field in its own right with a growing scientific community. The highest level of activity has been recorded over the last decade and it is perhaps considered commonplace that MFCs are primarily suitable for stationary, passive wastewater treatment applications. Sceptics have certainly not considered MFCs as serious contenders in the race for developing renewable energy technologies. Yet this is the only type of alternative system that can convert organic waste-widely distributed around the globe-directly into electricity, and therefore, the only technology that will allow artificial agents to autonomously operate in a plethora of environments. This Minireview describes the history and current state-of-the-art regarding MFCs in robotics and their vital role in artificial symbiosis and autonomy. Furthermore, the article demonstrates how pursuing practical robotic applications can provide insights of the core MFC technology in general. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Biomass Production from Electricity Using Ammonia as an Electron Carrier in a Reverse Microbial Fuel Cell

PubMed Central

West, Alan C.; Chandran, Kartik; Banta, Scott

2012-01-01

The storage of renewable electrical energy within chemical bonds of biofuels and other chemicals is a route to decreasing petroleum usage. A critical challenge is the efficient transfer of electrons into a biological host that can covert this energy into high energy organic compounds. In this paper, we describe an approach whereby biomass is grown using energy obtained from a soluble mediator that is regenerated electrochemically. The net result is a separate-stage reverse microbial fuel cell (rMFC) that fixes CO2 into biomass using electrical energy. We selected ammonia as a low cost, abundant, safe, and soluble redox mediator that facilitated energy transfer to biomass. Nitrosomonas europaea, a chemolithoautotroph, was used as the biocatalyst due to its inherent capability to utilize ammonia as its sole energy source for growth. An electrochemical reactor was designed for the regeneration of ammonia from nitrite, and current efficiencies of 100% were achieved. Calculations indicated that overall bioproduction efficiency could approach 2.7±0.2% under optimal electrolysis conditions. The application of chemolithoautotrophy for industrial bioproduction has been largely unexplored, and results suggest that this and related rMFC platforms may enable biofuel and related biochemical production. PMID:23028643

Modeling and validation of single-chamber microbial fuel cell cathode biofilm growth and response to oxidant gas composition

DOE PAGES

Ou, Shiqi; Zhao, Yi; Aaron, Douglas S.; ...

2016-08-15

This work describes experiments and computational simulations to analyze single-chamber, air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance and cathodic limitations in terms of current generation, power output, mass transport, biomass competition, and biofilm growth. Steady-state and transient cathode models were developed and experimentally validated. Two cathode gas mixtures were used to explore oxygen transport in the cathode: the MFCs exposed to a helium-oxygen mixture (heliox) produced higher current and power output than the group of MFCs exposed to air or a nitrogen-oxygen mixture (nitrox), indicating a dependence on gas-phase transport in the cathode. Multi-substance transport, biological reactions, and electrochemical reactions inmore » a multi-layer and multi-biomass cathode biofilm were also simulated in a transient model. The transient model described biofilm growth over 15 days while providing insight into mass transport and cathodic dissolved species concentration profiles during biofilm growth. Lastly, simulation results predict that the dissolved oxygen content and diffusion in the cathode are key parameters affecting the power output of the air-cathode MFC system, with greater oxygen content in the cathode resulting in increased power output and fully-matured biomass.« less

Microbial fuel cell as a biocapacitor by using pseudo-capacitive anode materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Zhisheng; Xie, Daohai; Li, Fusheng; Hu, Yun; Wei, Chaohai; Feng, Chunhua

2014-01-01

Here, we report that the microbial fuel cell (MFC) containing pseudo-capacitive anode materials such as polypyrrole (PPy)/9,10-anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid sodium salt (AQS) composite films and RuO2 nanoparticles can function as a biocapacitor, able to store bioelectrons generated from microbial oxidation of substrate and release the accumulated charge upon requirement. Influences of the specific capacitance of the PPy/AQS- and RuO2-modified carbon felt anodes on the extent of accumulated charge are examined. Results show that increasing anode capacitance is responsible for the increases in the amount of electrons stored and released, and thereby leading to more energy stored and average power dissipated. The long-term charging-discharging tests indicate that the RuO2-modified biocapacitor with a specific capacitance of 3.74 F cm-2 exhibits 6% loss in the amount of released charge over 10 cycles for one-month operation, and 40% loss over 60 cycles for six-month operation. Our findings suggest that the MFC anode incorporating pseudo-capacitive materials shows potential for storing energy from waste organic matter and releasing in a short time of high power to the electronic device.

Nickel oxide and carbon nanotube composite (NiO/CNT) as a novel cathode non-precious metal catalyst in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Huang, Jianjian; Zhu, Nengwu; Yang, Tingting; Zhang, Taiping; Wu, Pingxiao; Dang, Zhi

2015-10-15

Comparing with the precious metal catalysts, non-precious metal catalysts were preferred to use in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) due to the low cost and high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) efficiency. In this study, the transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffraction as well as Raman investigation revealed that the prepared nanoscale NiO was attached on the surface of CNT. Cyclic voltammogram and rotating ring-disk electrode tests showed that the NiO/CNT composite catalyst had an apparent oxygen reduction peak and 3.5 electron transfer pathway was acquired under oxygen atmosphere. The catalyst performance was highly dependent on the percentage of NiO in the CNT nanocomposites. When 77% NiO/CNT nano-sized composite was applied as cathode catalyst in membrane free single-chamber air cathode MFC, a maximum power density of 670 mW/m(2) and 0.772 V of OCV was obtained. Moreover, the MFC with pure NiO (control) could not achieve more than 0.1 V. All findings suggested that NiO/CNT could be a potential cathode catalyst for ORR in MFCs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Distant and Regional Atmospheric Circulation Influences Governing Integrated Water Vapor Transport and the Occurrence of Extreme Precipitation Events

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bosart, L. F.; Papin, P. P.; Bentley, A. M.

2017-12-01

This presentation will show how the evolution of the large-scale and regional-scale atmospheric circulation contributes to the occurrence of extreme precipitation events (EPEs). An EPE requires that tropospheric moisture flux convergence (MFC) and the associated removal of hydrometeors be balanced by moisture replenishment via integrated (water) vapor transport (IVT) to continuously replenish condensed moisture. Moisture source regions may be distant or regional. Distant moisture sources may require the interaction of lower- and upper-level jet streams with a pre-existing mobile atmospheric disturbance to produce sufficient lift to condense moisture. Pre-existing regional moisture sources may require frontal lifting the presence of MFC to condense moisture. In cases of long-range IVT, such as moisture from a western North Pacific typhoon being drawn poleward along an atmospheric river (AR) toward the west coast of North America, moisture may be transported 1000s of kilometers along a low-level jet before a combination of dynamic and orographic lift results in an EPE. Alternatively, in the case of a typical summer warm and humid air mass over the continental United States, unused moisture may exist for several days in this air mass before sufficient MFC associated with a thermally direct mesoscale frontal circulation can concentrate and condense the moisture. In this case, there may be no long-range IVT via ARs. Instead, the atmospheric circulations may evolve to produce sustained MFC associated with mesoscale frontal circulations, especially in the presence of complex terrain, to produce an EPE. During this presentation, examples of EPEs associated with long-range IVT and distant MFC versus EPEs associated with regional MFC and mesoscale frontal circulations will be illustrated.

Improved energy output levels from small-scale Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Ieropoulos, I; Greenman, J; Melhuish, C

2010-04-01

This study reports on the findings from the investigation into small-scale (6.25 mL) MFCs, connected together as a network of multiple units. The MFCs contained unmodified (no catalyst) carbon fibre electrodes and for initial and later experiments, a standard ion-exchange membrane for the proton transfer from the anode to the cathode. The anode microbial culture was of the type commonly found in domestic wastewater fed with 5 mM acetate as the carbon-energy (C/E) source. The cultures were mature and acclimatised in the MFC environment for approximately 2 months before being re-inoculated in the experimental MFC units. The cathode was of the O(2) diffusion open-to-air type, but for the purposes of the polarization experiments, the cathodic electrodes were moistened with ferricyanide. The main aim of this study was to investigate the effects of connecting multiples of MFC units together as a method of scale up by using stacks and comparison of the effects of different PEM and MFC structural materials on the performance. Impedance matching (maximum-power-transfer) was achieved through calculation of total internal impedance. Three different PEM materials were compared in otherwise identical MFCs in sets of three. For individual isolated MFCs, Hyflon E87-03 was shown to produce twice, whilst E87-10 produced approximately 1.5 times the power output of the control (standard) PEM. However, when MFCs containing the E87-03 and E87-10 membranes were connected in a stack, the system suffered from severe instability and cell reversal. To study the effects of the various polymeric MFC structural materials, four small-scale units were manufactured from three different types of RP material; acrylo-butadiene-styrene coated (ABS), ABS coated (ABS-MEK) and polycarbonate (polyC). The stack of four (4) units prototyped out of polyC produced the highest power density values in polarisation experiments (80 mW/m(2)). 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthetic Biology and Microbial Fuel Cells: Towards Self-Sustaining Life Support Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hogan, John Andrew

2014-01-01

NASA ARC and the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) collaborated to investigate the development of advanced microbial fuels cells (MFCs) for biological wastewater treatment and electricity production (electrogenesis). Synthetic biology techniques and integrated hardware advances were investigated to increase system efficiency and robustness, with the intent of increasing power self-sufficiency and potential product formation from carbon dioxide. MFCs possess numerous advantages for space missions, including rapid processing, reduced biomass and effective removal of organics, nitrogen and phosphorus. Project efforts include developing space-based MFC concepts, integration analyses, increasing energy efficiency, and investigating novel bioelectrochemical system applications

Electrochemical Performance and Microbial Characterization of Thermophilic Microbial Fuel Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wrighton, K. C.; Agbo, P.; Brodie, E. L.; Weber, K. A.; Desantis, T. Z.; Anderson, G. L.; Coates, J. D.

2007-12-01

Significant research effort is currently focused on microbial fuel cells (MFC) as a source of renewable energy. To date, most of these efforts have concentrated on MFCs operating at mesophilic temperatures. However, many previous studies have reported on the superiority of thermophilic conditions in anaerobic digestion and demonstrated a net gain in energy yield, in terms of methane, relative to the increased energy requirements of operation. Because of this, our recent studies on MFCs focused on investigating the operation and microbiology associated with thermophilic MFCs operating at 55°C. Over 100-day operation, these MFCs were highly stable and achieved a maximum power density of 24mW/m2 and a columbic efficiency of 89 percent with acetate as the sole electron donor. In order to characterize the microbial community involved in thermophilic electricity generation, DNA and RNA were isolated from the electrode and PhyloChip analyses performed. Exploring the changes in the microbial community over time in electricity producing MFC revealed an increase in relative abundance of populations belonging to the Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, and alpha Proteobacteria by at least one order of magnitude. In contrast, these populations decreased in the open circuit and no electron donor amended controls. In order to better characterize the active microbial populations, we enriched and isolated a novel organism, strain JR, from samples collected from an operating MFC. Based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis strain JR was a member of the family Peptococcaceae, within the Phylum Firmicutes, clustering with Thermincola ferriacetica (98 percent similarity). Phenotypic characterization revealed that strain JR was capable of thermophilic dissimilatory reduction of insoluble electron acceptors such as amorphous Fe(III); as well as reduction of the model quinone 2,6-anthraquinone disulfonate. Thermincola strain JR was also capable of producing current by coupling acetate oxidation to anodic electron transfer. This represents the first organism isolated from a thermophilic microbial fuel cell and also the first representative of this genus capable of anodic electron transfer. The results of this study indicate the potential advantages for thermophilic MFCs and the novel microbiology associated with their operation.

Nitrogen removal and power generation from treated municipal wastewater by its circulated irrigation for resource-saving rice cultivation.

PubMed

Watanabe, Toru; Mashiko, Takuma; Maftukhah, Rizki; Kaku, Nobuo; Pham, Dong Duy; Ito, Hiroaki

2017-02-01

This study aims at improving the performance of the cultivating system of rice for animal feed with circulated irrigation of treated municipal wastewater by applying a larger amount of wastewater, as well as adding a microbial fuel cell (MFC) to the system. The results of bench-scale experiments indicate that this modification has increased the rice yield, achieving the target for the rice cultivar used in the experiment. In addition, an assessment of protein content of the harvested rice showed that the value of the rice as animal fodder has improved. Compared with normal one-way irrigation, circulated irrigation significantly enhanced the plant growth and rice production. The direction of the irrigation (bottom-to-top or top-to-bottom) in the soil layer had no significant effect. This modified system demonstrated >96% for nitrogen removal from the treated wastewater used for the irrigation, with approximately 40% of the nitrogen being used for rice plant growth. The MFC installed in the system facilitated power generation comparable with that reported for normal paddy fields. The power generation appeared to be enhanced by bottom-to-top irrigation, which could provide organic-rich treated wastewater directly to the bacterial community living on the anode of the MFC set in the soil layer.

Promoting the bio-cathode formation of a constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell by using powder activated carbon modified alum sludge in anode chamber

PubMed Central

Xu, Lei; Zhao, Yaqian; Doherty, Liam; Hu, Yuansheng; Hao, Xiaodi

2016-01-01

MFC centered hybrid technologies have attracted attention during the last few years due to their compatibility and dual advantages of energy recovery and wastewater treatment. In this study, a MFC was integrated into a dewatered alum sludge (DAS)- based vertical upflow constructed wetland (CW). Powder activate carbon (PAC) was used in the anode area in varied percentage with DAS to explore its influences on the performance of the CW-MFC system. The trial has demonstrated that the inclusion of PAC improved the removal efficiencies of COD, TN and RP. More significantly, increasing the proportion of PAC from 2% to 10% can significantly enhance the maximum power densities from 36.58 mW/m2 to 87.79 mW/m2. The induced favorable environment for bio-cathode formation might be the main reason for this improvement since the content of total extracellular polymeric substances (TEPS) of the substrate in the cathode area almost doubled (from 44.59 μg/g wet sludge to 87.70 μg/g wet sludge) as the percentage of PAC increased to 10%. This work provides another potential usage of PAC in CW-MFCs with a higher wastewater treatment efficiency and energy recovery. PMID:27197845

SSHAC Level 1 Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis for the Idaho National Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Payne, Suzette Jackson; Coppersmith, Ryan; Coppersmith, Kevin

A Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) was completed for the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC), Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), and Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The PSHA followed the approaches and procedures for Senior Seismic Hazard Analysis Committee (SSHAC) Level 1 study and included a Participatory Peer Review Panel (PPRP) to provide the confident technical basis and mean-centered estimates of the ground motions. A new risk-informed methodology for evaluating the need for an update of an existing PSHA was developed as part of the Seismic Risk Assessment (SRA) project. To develop and implement the newmore » methodology, the SRA project elected to perform two SSHAC Level 1 PSHAs. The first was for the Fuel Manufacturing Facility (FMF), which is classified as a Seismic Design Category (SDC) 3 nuclear facility. The second was for the ATR Complex, which has facilities classified as SDC-4. The new methodology requires defensible estimates of ground motion levels (mean and full distribution of uncertainty) for its criteria and evaluation process. The INL SSHAC Level 1 PSHA demonstrates the use of the PPRP, evaluation and integration through utilization of a small team with multiple roles and responsibilities (four team members and one specialty contractor), and the feasibility of a short duration schedule (10 months). Additionally, a SSHAC Level 1 PSHA was conducted for NRF to provide guidance on the potential use of a design margin above rock hazard levels for the Spent Fuel Handling Recapitalization Project (SFHP) process facility.« less

Effect of biochar on bio-electrochemical dye degradation and energy production.

PubMed

Sophia Ayyappan, Carmalin; Bhalambaal, V M; Kumar, Sunil

2018-03-01

The effect of coconut shell biochar on dye degradation in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was investigated in the present study. Two different doses of biochar (0.5 g and 1 g) and one control without bio-char were studied. The highest COD removal efficiency was about 77.7% (0.5 g biochar), maximum current (1.07 mA) and voltage (722 mV) were obtained with 1 g biochar. Biofilm optical microscopy characterization revealed the micro colonies intricate plate-like structures. High adsorbent dosage might provide a high surface area for biofilm to generate electricity. BET results of coconut shell biochar showed the maximum surface area of 0.9669 m 2 /g and macroporosity (0.0032 cm 3 /g). The overall results highlighted the possibility of using biochar as an additive in MFC for efficient dye degradation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Parameter estimation and characterization of a single-chamber microbial fuel cell for dairy wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Sedaqatvand, Ramin; Nasr Esfahany, Mohsen; Behzad, Tayebeh; Mohseni, Madjid; Mardanpour, Mohammad Mahdi

2013-10-01

In this study, for the first time, the conduction-based model is extended, and then combined with Genetic Algorithm to estimate the design parameters of a MFC treating dairy wastewater. The optimized parameters are, then, validated. The estimated half-saturation potential of -0.13 V (vs. SHE) is in good agreement while the biofilm conductivity of 8.76×10(-4) mS cm(-1) is three orders of magnitude lower than that previously-reported for pure-culture biofilm. Simulations show that the ohmic and concentration overpotentials contribute almost equally in dropping cell voltage in which the concentration film and biofilm conductivity comprise the main resistances, respectively. Thus, polarization analysis and determining the controlling steps will be possible through that developed extension. This study introduces a reliable method to estimate the design parameters of a particular MFC and to characterize it. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A fluidized bed membrane bioelectrochemical reactor for energy-efficient wastewater treatment.

PubMed

Li, Jian; Ge, Zheng; He, Zhen

2014-09-01

A fluidized bed membrane bioelectrochemical reactor (MBER) was investigated using fluidized granular activated carbon (GAC) as a mean of membrane fouling control. During the 150-day operation, the MBER generated electricity with contaminant removal from either synthetic solution or actual wastewater, as a standalone or a coupled system. It was found that fluidized GAC could significantly reduce transmembrane pressure (TMP), although its function as a part of the anode electrode was minor. When the MBER was linked to a regular microbial fuel cell (MFC) for treating a wastewater from a cheese factory, the MFC acted as a major process for energy recovery and contaminant removal, and the coupled system removed more than 90% of chemical oxygen demand and >80% of suspended solids. The analysis showed that the ratio of energy recovery and consumption was slightly larger than one, indicating that the coupled system could be theoretically energy neutral. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Single chamber microbial fuel cell with Ni-Co cathode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Włodarczyk, Barbara; Włodarczyk, Paweł P.; Kalinichenko, Antonina

2017-10-01

The possibility of wastewater treatment and the parallel energy production using the Ni-Co alloy as cathode catalyst for single chamber microbial fuel cells is presented in this research. The research included a preparation of catalyst and comparison of COD, NH4+ and NO3- reduction in the reactor without aeration, with aeration and with using a single chamber microbial fuel cell with Ni-Co cathode. The reduction time for COD with the use of microbial fuel cell with the Ni-Co catalyst is similar to the reduction time with aeration. The current density (2.4 A·m-2) and amount of energy (0.48 Wh) obtained in MFC is low, but the obtained amount of energy allows elimination of the energy needed for reactor aeration. It has been shown that the Ni-Co can be used as cathode catalyst in single chamber microbial fuel cells.

Carbon foam anode modified by urea and its higher electrochemical performance in marine benthic microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Yubin; Lu, Zhikai; Zai, Xuerong; Wang, Jian

2015-08-01

Electrode materials have an important effect on the property of microbial fuel cell (MFC). Carbon foam is utilized as an anode and further modified by urea to improve its performance in marine benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC) with higher voltage and output power. The electrochemical properties of plain carbon foam (PC) and urea-modified carbon foam (UC) are measured respectively. Results show that the UC obtains better wettability after its modification and higher anti-polarization ability than the PC. A novel phenomenon has been found that the electrical potential of the modified UC anode is nearly 100 mV lower than that of the PC, reaching -570 ±10 mV ( vs. SCE), and that it also has a much higher electron transfer kinetic activity, reaching 9399.4 mW m-2, which is 566.2-fold higher than that from plain graphite anode (PG). The fuel cell containing the UC anode has the maximum power density (256.0 mW m-2) among the three different BMFCs. Urea would enhance the bacteria biofilm formation with a more diverse microbial community and maintain more electrons, leading to a lower anodic redox potential and higher power output. The paper primarily analyzes why the electrical potential of the modified anode becomes much lower than that of others after urea modification. These results can be utilized to construct a novel BMFC with higher output power and to design the conditioner of voltage booster with a higher conversion ratio. Finally, the carbon foam with a bigger pore size would be a potential anodic material in conventional MFC.

Electricity generation using an air-cathode single chamber microbial fuel cell in the presence and absence of a proton exchange membrane.

PubMed

Liu, Hong; Logan, Bruce E

2004-07-15

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are typically designed as a two-chamber system with the bacteria in the anode chamber separated from the cathode chamber by a polymeric proton exchange membrane (PEM). Most MFCs use aqueous cathodes where water is bubbled with air to provide dissolved oxygen to electrode. To increase energy output and reduce the cost of MFCs, we examined power generation in an air-cathode MFC containing carbon electrodes in the presence and absence of a polymeric proton exchange membrane (PEM). Bacteria present in domestic wastewater were used as the biocatalyst, and glucose and wastewater were tested as substrates. Power density was found to be much greater than typically reported for aqueous-cathode MFCs, reaching a maximum of 262 +/- 10 mW/m2 (6.6 +/- 0.3 mW/L; liquid volume) using glucose. Removing the PEM increased the maximum power density to 494 +/- 21 mW/m2 (12.5 +/- 0.5 mW/L). Coulombic efficiency was 40-55% with the PEM and 9-12% with the PEM removed, indicating substantial oxygen diffusion into the anode chamber in the absence of the PEM. Power output increased with glucose concentration according to saturation-type kinetics, with a half saturation constant of 79 mg/L with the PEM-MFC and 103 mg/L in the MFC without a PEM (1000 omega resistor). Similar results on the effect of the PEM on power density were found using wastewater, where 28 +/- 3 mW/m2 (0.7 +/- 0.1 mW/L) (28% Coulombic efficiency) was produced with the PEM, and 146 +/- 8 mW/m2 (3.7 +/- 0.2 mW/L) (20% Coulombic efficiency) was produced when the PEM was removed. The increase in power output when a PEM was removed was attributed to a higher cathode potential as shown by an increase in the open circuit potential. An analysis based on available anode surface area and maximum bacterial growth rates suggests that mediatorless MFCs may have an upper order-of-magnitude limit in power density of 10(3) mW/m2. A cost-effective approach to achieving power densities in this range will likely require systems that do not contain a polymeric PEM in the MFC and systems based on direct oxygen transfer to a carbon cathode.

Process contribution evaluation for COD removal and energy production from molasses wastewater in a BioH2-BioCH4-MFC-integrated system.

PubMed

Yun, Jeonghee; Lee, Yun-Yeong; Choi, Hyung Joo; Cho, Kyung-Suk

2017-01-01

In this study, a three-stage-integrated process using the hydrogenic process (BioH 2 ), methanogenic process (BioCH 4 ), and a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was operated using molasses wastewater. The contribution of individual processes to chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and energy production was evaluated. The three-stage integration system was operated at molasses of 20 g-COD L -1 , and each process achieved hydrogen production rate of 1.1 ± 0.24 L-H 2 L -1 day -1 , methane production rate of 311 ± 18.94 mL-CH 4 L -1 day -1 , and production rate per electrode surface area of 10.8 ± 1.4 g m -2 day -1 . The three-stage integration system generated energy production of 32.32 kJ g-COD -1 and achieved COD removal of 98 %. The contribution of BioH 2 , BioCH 4 , and the MFC reactor was 20.8, 72.2, and, 7.0 % of the total COD removal, and 18.7, 81.2, and 0.16 % of the total energy production, respectively. The continuous stirred-tank reactor BioH 2 at HRT of 1 day, up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket BioCH 4 at HRT of 2 days, and MFC reactor at HRT of 3 days were decided in 1:2:3 ratios of working volume under hydraulic retention time consideration. This integration system can be applied to various configurations depending on target wastewater inputs, and it is expected to enhance energy recovery and reduce environmental impact of the final effluent.

Exploration and comparison of inborn capacity of aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for microbial electrical current production.

PubMed

Mao, Longfei; Verwoerd, Wynand S

2013-01-01

Saccharomyces cerevisiae possesses numerous advantageous biological features, such as being robust, easily handled, mostly non-pathogenic and having high catabolic rates, etc., which can be considered as merits for being used as a promising biocatalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for electricity generation. Previous studies have developed efficient MFC configurations to convert metabolic electron shuttles, such as cytoplasmic NADH, into usable electric current. However, no studies have elucidated the maximum potential of S. cerevisiae for current output and the underlying metabolic pathways, resulting from the interaction of thousands of reactions inside the cell during MFC operation. To address these two key issues, this study used in silico metabolic engineering techniques, flux balance analysis (FBA), and flux variability analysis with target flux minimization (FATMIN), to model the metabolic perturbation of S. cerevisiae under the MFC-energy extraction. The FBA results showed that, in the cytoplasmic NADH-dependent mediated electron transfer (MET) mode, S. cerevisiae had a potential to produce currents at up to 5.781 A/gDW for the anaerobic and 6.193 A/gDW for the aerobic environments. The FATMIN results showed that the aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms are resilient, relying on six and five contributing reactions respectively for high current production. Two reactions, catalyzed by glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD) (EC 1.4.1.3) and methylene tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (NAD) (EC 1.5.1.5), were shared in both current-production modes and contributed to over 80% of the identified maximum current outputs. It is also shown that the NADH regeneration was much less energy costly than biomass production rate. Taken together, our finding suggests that S. cerevisiae should receive more research effort for MFC electricity production.

Exploration and comparison of inborn capacity of aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for microbial electrical current production

PubMed Central

Mao, Longfei; Verwoerd, Wynand S

2013-01-01

Saccharomyces cerevisiae possesses numerous advantageous biological features, such as being robust, easily handled, mostly non-pathogenic and having high catabolic rates, etc., which can be considered as merits for being used as a promising biocatalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for electricity generation. Previous studies have developed efficient MFC configurations to convert metabolic electron shuttles, such as cytoplasmic NADH, into usable electric current. However, no studies have elucidated the maximum potential of S. cerevisiae for current output and the underlying metabolic pathways, resulting from the interaction of thousands of reactions inside the cell during MFC operation. To address these two key issues, this study used in silico metabolic engineering techniques, flux balance analysis (FBA), and flux variability analysis with target flux minimization (FATMIN), to model the metabolic perturbation of S. cerevisiae under the MFC-energy extraction. The FBA results showed that, in the cytoplasmic NADH-dependent mediated electron transfer (MET) mode, S. cerevisiae had a potential to produce currents at up to 5.781 A/gDW for the anaerobic and 6.193 A/gDW for the aerobic environments. The FATMIN results showed that the aerobic and anaerobic metabolisms are resilient, relying on six and five contributing reactions respectively for high current production. Two reactions, catalyzed by glutamate dehydrogenase (NAD) (EC 1.4.1.3) and methylene tetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (NAD) (EC 1.5.1.5), were shared in both current-production modes and contributed to over 80% of the identified maximum current outputs. It is also shown that the NADH regeneration was much less energy costly than biomass production rate. Taken together, our finding suggests that S. cerevisiae should receive more research effort for MFC electricity production. PMID:23969939

Hexavalent chromium removal and bioelectricity generation by Ochrobactrum sp. YC211 under different oxygen conditions.

PubMed

Chen, Chih-Yu; Cheng, Chiu-Yu; Chen, Ching-Kuo; Hsieh, Min-Chi; Lin, Ssu-Ting; Ho, Kuo-Ying; Li, Jo-Wei; Lin, Chia-Pei; Chung, Ying-Chien

2016-01-01

Bioremediation is an environmentally friendly method of reducing heavy metal concentration and toxicity. A chromium-reducing bacterial strain, isolated from the vicinity of an electroplate factory, was identified as Ochrobactrum sp. YC211. The efficiency and capacity per time of Ochrobactrum sp. YC211 for hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) removal under anaerobic conditions were superior to those under aerobic conditions. An acceptable removal efficiency (96.5 ± 0.6%) corresponding to 30.2 ± 0.8 mg-Cr (g-dry cell weight-h)(-1) was achieved by Ochrobactrum sp. YC211 at 300 mg L(-1) Cr(VI). A temperature of 30°C and pH 7 were the optimal parameters for Cr(VI) removal. By examining reactivated cells, permeabilized cells, and cell-free extract, we determined that Cr(VI) removal by Ochrobactrum sp. YC211 under anaerobic conditions mainly occurred in the soluble fraction of the cell and can be regarded as an enzymatic reaction. The results also indicated that an Ochrobactrum sp. YC211 microbial fuel cell (MFC) with an anaerobic anode was considerably superior to that with an aerobic anode in bioelectricity generation and Cr(VI) removal. The maximum power density and Cr(VI) removal efficiency of the MFC were 445 ± 3.2 mW m(-2) and 97.2 ± 0.3%, respectively. Additionally, the effects of coexisting ions (Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Ni(2+), SO4(2-), and Cl(-)) in the anolyte on the MFC performance and Cr(VI) removal were nonsignificant (P > 0.05). To our knowledge, this is the first report to compare Cr(VI) removal by different cells and MFC types under aerobic and anaerobic conditions.

Isolation and Analysis of Novel Electrochemically Active Bacteria for Enhanced Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-07

new exoelectrogenic bacteria during this project. We isolated Rhodopseudomonas palustris DX-1, and demonstrated for the first time that a pure culture...production in these systems. Here we report that the phototrophic purple non-sulfur bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris DX-1, isolated from an MFC...The exoelectrogenic PPNS bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas palustris DX- 1, was examined here for hydrogen production by electrohydrogenesis due to its

Bio-analytical applications of microbial fuel cell-based biosensors for onsite water quality monitoring.

PubMed

ElMekawy, A; Hegab, H M; Pant, D; Saint, C P

2018-01-01

Globally, sustainable provision of high-quality safe water is a major challenge of the 21st century. Various chemical and biological monitoring analytics are presently utilized to guarantee the availability of high-quality water. However, these techniques still face some challenges including high costs, complex design and onsite and online limitations. The recent technology of using microbial fuel cell (MFC)-based biosensors holds outstanding potential for the rapid and real-time monitoring of water source quality. MFCs have the advantages of simplicity in design and efficiency for onsite sensing. Even though some sensing applications of MFCs were previously studied, e.g. biochemical oxygen demand sensor, recently numerous research groups around the world have presented new practical applications of this technique, which combine multidisciplinary scientific knowledge in materials science, microbiology and electrochemistry fields. This review presents the most updated research on the utilization of MFCs as potential biosensors for monitoring water quality and considers the range of potentially toxic analytes that have so far been detected using this methodology. The advantages of MFCs over established technology are also considered as well as future work required to establish their routine use. © 2017 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

¹³C Pathway Analysis for the Role of Formate in Electricity Generation by Shewanella Oneidensis MR-1 Using Lactate in Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Luo, Shuai; Guo, Weihua; Nealson, Kenneth H; Feng, Xueyang; He, Zhen

2016-02-12

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising technology for direct electricity generation from organics by microorganisms. The type of electron donors fed into MFCs affects the electrical performance, and mechanistic understanding of such effects is important to optimize the MFC performance. In this study, we used a model organism in MFCs, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, and (13)C pathway analysis to investigate the role of formate in electricity generation and the related microbial metabolism. Our results indicated a synergistic effect of formate and lactate on electricity generation, and extra formate addition on the original lactate resulted in more electrical output than using formate or lactate as a sole electron donor. Based on the (13)C tracer analysis, we discovered decoupled cell growth and electricity generation in S. oneidensis MR-1 during co-utilization of lactate and formate (i.e., while the lactate was mainly metabolized to support the cell growth, the formate was oxidized to release electrons for higher electricity generation). To our best knowledge, this is the first time that (13)C tracer analysis was applied to study microbial metabolism in MFCs and it was demonstrated to be a valuable tool to understand the metabolic pathways affected by electron donors in the selected electrochemically-active microorganisms.

Electricity production and sludge reduction by integrating microbial fuel cells in anoxic-oxic process.

PubMed

Xiao, Benyi; Luo, Meng; Wang, Xiao; Li, Zuoxing; Chen, Hong; Liu, Junxin; Guo, Xuesong

2017-11-01

To produce energy and reduce sludge production from the treatment of municipal wastewater, four identical microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were constructed in an anoxic-oxic (A/O) process (MFCs-A/O system). Experimental results indicated that this system enhance the removals of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN). The electricity produced by each MFC were ranged from 0.371 to 0.477V (voltage) and from 138 to 227mW/m 3 (power density) at the stable stage, when the external resistance was fixed at 1000Ω. The coulombic efficiency of the MFCs-A/O system ranged from 0.31% to 1.68% (mean=0.72%) at the stable stage, respectively. The removals of COD and TN in the MFCs-A/O system were slightly higher than those in the control system. Compared with the control system, the MFCs-A/O system can reduce waste activated sludge production and sludge yield by 24.0% and 24.2%, respectively. The experimental results indicated that the MFC constructed in A/O system improves wastewater treatment and the MFCs-A/O system can produce electricity while reducing sludge production and increasing wastewater treatment efficiency. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ensemble engineering and statistical modeling for parameter calibration towards optimal design of microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Hongyue; Luo, Shuai; Jin, Ran; He, Zhen

2017-07-01

Mathematical modeling is an important tool to investigate the performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) towards its optimized design. To overcome the shortcoming of traditional MFC models, an ensemble model is developed through integrating both engineering model and statistical analytics for the extrapolation scenarios in this study. Such an ensemble model can reduce laboring effort in parameter calibration and require fewer measurement data to achieve comparable accuracy to traditional statistical model under both the normal and extreme operation regions. Based on different weight between current generation and organic removal efficiency, the ensemble model can give recommended input factor settings to achieve the best current generation and organic removal efficiency. The model predicts a set of optimal design factors for the present tubular MFCs including the anode flow rate of 3.47 mL min-1, organic concentration of 0.71 g L-1, and catholyte pumping flow rate of 14.74 mL min-1 to achieve the peak current at 39.2 mA. To maintain 100% organic removal efficiency, the anode flow rate and organic concentration should be controlled lower than 1.04 mL min-1 and 0.22 g L-1, respectively. The developed ensemble model can be potentially modified to model other types of MFCs or bioelectrochemical systems.

High speed municipal sewage treatment in microbial fuel cell integrated with anaerobic membrane filtration system.

PubMed

Lee, Y; Oa, S W

2014-01-01

A cylindrical two chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) integrated with an anaerobic membrane filter was designed and constructed to evaluate bioelectricity generation and removal efficiency of organic substrate (glucose or domestic wastewater) depending on organic loading rates (OLRs). The MFC was continuously operated with OLRs 3.75, 5.0, 6.25, and 9.38 kg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/(m(3)·d) using glucose as a substrate, and the cathode chamber was maintained at 5-7 mg/L of dissolved oxygen. The optimal OLR was found to be 6.25 kgCOD/(m(3)·d) (hydraulic retention time (HRT) 1.9 h), and the corresponding voltage and power density averaged during the operation were 0.15 V and 13.6 mW/m(3). With OLR 6.25 kgCOD/(m(3)·d) using domestic wastewater as a substrate, the voltage and power reached to 0.13 V and 91 mW/m(3) in the air cathode system. Even though a relatively short HRT of 1.9 h was applied, stable effluent could be obtained by the membrane filtration system and the following air purging. In addition, the short HRT would provide economic benefit in terms of reduction of construction and operating costs compared with a conventional aerobic treatment process.

The effect of chemical vapor deposition temperature on the performance of binder-free sewage sludge-derived anodes in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Feng, Huajun; Jia, Yufeng; Shen, Dongsheng; Zhou, Yuyang; Chen, Ting; Chen, Wei; Ge, Zhipeng; Zheng, Shuting; Wang, Meizhen

2018-04-13

Conversion of sewage sludge (SS) into value-added material has garnered increasing attention due to its potential applications. In this study, we propose a new application of the sewage sludge-derived carbon (SSC) as an electrode without binder in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). SS was firstly converted into SSC monoliths by methane chemical vapor method at different temperature (600, 800, 1000 or 1200°C). Scanning electron microscopy images showed that carbon micro-wires were present on the surfaces of the samples prepared at 1000 and 1200°C. The results showed that it was beneficial for converting sludge into a highly conductive electrode and increasing carbon content of the electrode at higher temperatures, thereby improving the current generation. The conductivity results show that a higher temperature favors the conversion of sludge into a highly conductive electrode. The MFC using an SSC anode processed at 1200°C generated the maximum power density of 2228mWm -2 and the maximum current density of 14.2Am -2 . This value was 5 times greater than that generated by an MFC equipped with a graphite anode. These results present a promising means of converting SS into electrode materials. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Anoxic biodegradation of triclosan and the removal of its antimicrobial effect in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Wang, Lu; Liu, Yulei; Wang, Chao; Zhao, Xiaodan; Mahadeva, Gurumurthy Dummi; Wu, Yicheng; Ma, Jun; Zhao, Feng

2018-02-15

Triclosan (TCS) is an emerging organic contaminant in the environment. Here, the anoxic bio-degradation of TCS in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was explored. It was found that anoxic biodegradation of TCS could be achieved in MFC, and the removal rate of TCS was accelerated after reactor acclimation. After 7 months of operation, 10mg/L TCS could be removed within 8days in MFCs. Fluorescence microscopy results revealed that the microbe cells in the reactors were intact, and the microbes were in active state. Flow cytometry test showed that the proliferation of inoculated microbe was higher in MFC effluent than that in TCS solution. These data indicate that the biotoxicity of TCS has been largely eliminated after the treatment. The microbial community shift during the TCS degradation process was investigated as well. Species such as Geothrix, Corynebacterium, Sulfobacillus, GOUTA19, Geobacter, Acidithiobacillus and Acinetobacter, which were capable for the degradation of benzene-related and dechlorination of chlorine-containing chemicals, were flourished in the electrode biofilm. They may participate in the biodegradation of TCS. This work provides a new perspective for the anoxic biodegradation of recalcitrant organics, and can be useful for the in-situ bioremediation of environmental pollutants with the removal of their biotoxicity. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A novel self-powered and sensitive label-free DNA biosensor in microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Asghary, Maryam; Raoof, Jahan Bakhsh; Rahimnejad, Mostafa; Ojani, Reza

2016-08-15

In this work, a novel self-powered, sensitive, low-cost, and label-free DNA biosensor is reported by applying a two-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) as a power supply. A graphite electrode and an Au nanoparticles modified graphite electrode (AuNP/graphite electrode) were used as anode and cathode in the MFC system, respectively. The active biocatalyst in the anodic chamber was a mixed culture of microorganisms. The sensing element of the biosensor was fabricated by the well-known Au-thiol binding the ssDNA probe on the surface of an AuNP/graphite cathode. Electrons produced by microorganisms were transported from the anode to the cathode through an external circuit, which could be detected by the terminal multi-meter detector. The difference between power densities of the ssDNA probe modified cathode in the absence and presence of complementary sequence served as the detection signal of the DNA hybridization with detection limit of 3.1nM. Thereafter, this biosensor was employed for diagnosis and determination of complementary sequence in a human serum sample. The hybridization specificity studies further revealed that the developed DNA biosensor could distinguish fully complementary sequences from one-base mismatched and non-complementary sequences. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

FePO4 based single chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cell for online monitoring levofloxacin.

PubMed

Zeng, Libin; Li, Xinyong; Shi, Yueran; Qi, Yefei; Huang, Daqiong; Tadé, Moses; Wang, Shaobin; Liu, Shaomin

2017-05-15

A bio-electrochemical strategy was developed for constructing a simple and sensitive levofloxacin (LEV) sensor based on a single chamber microbial fuel cell (SC-MFC) using FePO 4 nanoparticles (NPs) as the cathode catalyst instead of traditional Pt/C. In this assembled sensor device, FePO 4 NPs dramatically promoted the electrooxidation of oxygen on the cathode, which helps to accelerate the voltage output from SC-MFC and can provide a powerful guarantee for LEV detection. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to fully characterize the FePO 4 NPs. Under the optimized COD condition (3mM), the LEV with a concentration range of 0.1-1000µg/L could be detected successfully, and exhibited the excellent linear interval in the concentration range of 0.1-100µg/L. During this range of concentrations of LEV, a temporary effect on the anode of exoelectrogenic bacterial in less than 10min could occur, and then came back to the normal. It exhibited a long-term stability, maintaining the stable electricity production for 14 months of continuous running. Besides, the detection mechanism was investigated by quantum chemical calculation using density functional theory (DFT). Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Carbon nanotube dispersed conductive network for microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsumoto, S.; Yamanaka, K.; Ogikubo, H.; Akasaka, H.; Ohtake, N.

2014-08-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising devices for capturing biomass energy. Although they have recently attracted considerable attention, their power densities are too low for practical use. Increasing their electrode surface area is a key factor for improving the performance of MFC. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which have excellent electrical conductivity and extremely high specific surface area, are promising materials for electrodes. However, CNTs are insoluble in aqueous solution because of their strong intertube van der Waals interactions, which make practical use of CNTs difficult. In this study, we revealed that CNTs have a strong interaction with Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. CNTs attach to the cells and are dispersed in a mixture of water and S. cerevisiae, forming a three-dimensional CNT conductive network. Compared with a conventional two-dimensional electrode, such as carbon paper, the three-dimensional conductive network has a much larger surface area. By applying this conductive network to MFCs as an anode electrode, power density is increased to 176 μW/cm2, which is approximately 25-fold higher than that in the case without CNTs addition. Maximum current density is also increased to approximately 8-fold higher. These results suggest that three-dimensional CNT conductive network contributes to improve the performance of MFC by increasing surface area.

A Single-Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell without an Air Cathode

PubMed Central

Nimje, Vanita Roshan; Chen, Chien-Cheng; Chen, Hau-Ren; Chen, Chien-Yen; Tseng, Min-Jen; Cheng, Kai-Chien; Shih, Ruey-Chyuan; Chang, Young-Fo

2012-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent a novel technology for wastewater treatment with electricity production. Electricity generation with simultaneous nitrate reduction in a single-chamber MFC without air cathode was studied, using glucose (1 mM) as the carbon source and nitrate (1 mM) as the final electron acceptor employed by Bacillus subtilis under anaerobic conditions. Increasing current as a function of decreased nitrate concentration and an increase in biomass were observed with a maximum current of 0.4 mA obtained at an external resistance (Rext) of 1 KΩ without a platinum catalyst of air cathode. A decreased current with complete nitrate reduction, with further recovery of the current immediately after nitrate addition, indicated the dependence of B. subtilis on nitrate as an electron acceptor to efficiently produce electricity. A power density of 0.0019 mW/cm2 was achieved at an Rext of 220 Ω. Cyclic voltammograms (CV) showed direct electron transfer with the involvement of mediators in the MFC. The low coulombic efficiency (CE) of 11% was mainly attributed to glucose fermentation. These results demonstrated that electricity generation is possible from wastewater containing nitrate, and this represents an alternative technology for the cost-effective and environmentally benign treatment of wastewater. PMID:22489190

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Nanostructured Manganese Oxide as Cathodic Catalyst in a Microbial Fuel Cell Fed with Leachate

PubMed Central

Haoran, Yuan; Lifang, Deng; Tao, Lu; Yong, Chen

2014-01-01

Much effort has been devoted to the synthesis of novel nanostructured MnO2 materials because of their unique properties and potential applications as cathode catalyst in Microbial fuel cell. Hybrid MnO2 nanostructures were fabricated by a simple hydrothermal method in this study. Their crystal structures, morphology, and electrochemical characters were carried out by FESEM, N2-adsorption-desorption, and CV, indicating that the hydrothermally synthesized MnO2 (HSM) was structured by nanorods of high aspect ratio and multivalve nanoflowers and more positive than the naturally synthesized MnO2 (NSM), accompanied by a noticeable increase in oxygen reduction peak current. When the HSM was employed as the cathode catalyst in air-cathode MFC which fed with leachate, a maximum power density of 119.07 mW/m2 was delivered, 64.68% higher than that with the NSM as cathode catalyst. Furthermore, the HSM via a 4-e pathway, but the NSM via a 2-e pathway in alkaline solution, and as 4-e pathway is a more efficient oxygen reduction reaction, the HSM was more positive than NSM. Our study provides useful information on facile preparation of cost-effective cathodic catalyst in air-cathode MFC for wastewater treatment. PMID:24723824

Nano-molybdenum carbide/carbon nanotubes composite as bifunctional anode catalyst for high-performance Escherichia coli-based microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Wang, Yaqiong; Li, Bin; Cui, Dan; Xiang, Xingde; Li, Weishan

2014-01-15

A novel electrode, carbon felt-supported nano-molybdenum carbide (Mo2C)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composite, was developed as platinum-free anode of high performance microbial fuel cell (MFC). The Mo2C/CNTs composite was synthesized by using the microwave-assisted method with Mo(CO)6 as a single source precursor and characterized by using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The activity of the composite as anode electrocatalyst of MFC based on Escherichia coli (E. coli) was investigated with cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, and cell discharge test. It is found that the carbon felt electrode with 16.7 wt% Mo Mo2C/CNTs composite exhibits a comparable electrocatalytic activity to that with 20 wt% platinum as anode electrocatalyst. The superior performance of the developed platinum-free electrode can be ascribed to the bifunctional electrocatalysis of Mo2C/CNTs for the conversion of organic substrates into electricity through bacteria. The composite facilitates the formation of biofilm, which is necessary for the electron transfer via c-type cytochrome and nanowires. On the other hand, the composite exhibits the electrocatalytic activity towards the oxidation of hydrogen, which is the common metabolite of E. coli. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Identification and characterization of a highly variable region in mitochondrial genomes of fusarium species and analysis of power generation from microbial fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamzah, Haider Mousa

In the microbial fuel cell (MFC) project, power generation from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was analyzed looking for a novel system for both energy generation and sustainability. The results suggest the possibility of generating electricity from different organic substances, which include agricultural and industrial by-products. Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 generates usable electrons at 30°C using both submerged and solid state cultures. In the MFC biocathode experiment, most of the CO2 generated at the anodic chamber was converted into bicarbonate due the activity of carbonic anhydrase (CA) of the Gluconobacter sp.33 strain. These findings demonstrate the possibility of generation of electricity while at the same time allowing the biomimetic sequestration of CO2 using bacterial CA. In the mitochondrial genomes project, the filamentous fungal species Fusarium oxysporum was used as a model. This species causes wilt of several important agricultural crops. A previous study revealed that a highly variable region (HVR) in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of three species of Fusarium contained a large, variable unidentified open reading frame (LV-uORF). Using specific primers for two regions of the LV-uORF, six strains were found to contain the ORF by PCR and database searches identified 18 other strains outside of the Fusarium oxysporum species complex. The LV-uORF was also identified in three isolates of the F. oxysporum species complex. Interestingly, several F. oxysporum isolates lack the LV-uORF and instead contain 13 ORFs in the HVR, nine of which are unidentified. The high GC content and codon usage of the LV-uORF indicate that it did not co-evolve with other mt genes and was horizontally acquired and was introduced to the Fusarium lineage prior to speciation. The nonsynonymous/synonymous (dN/dS) ratio of the LV-uORFs (0.43) suggests it is under purifying selection and the putative polypeptide is predicted to be located in the mitochondrial membrane. Growth assays indicate that F. oxysporum strains containing the LV-uORF are able to tolerate high concentrations of zinc chloride, whereas those having the alternative HVR configuration are inhibited. This work suggests that fungal mitochondria can acquire additional genes and possibly novel functions and will guide studies that aim to assess the functional roles of hypothetical mitochondrial ORFs in filamentous fungi.

Electricity generation from synthesis gas by microbial processes: CO fermentation and microbial fuel cell technology.

PubMed

Kim, Daehee; Chang, In Seop

2009-10-01

A microbiological process was established to harvest electricity from the carbon monoxide (CO). A CO fermenter was enriched with CO as the sole carbon source. The DGGE/DNA sequencing results showed that Acetobacterium spp. were enriched from the anaerobic digester fluid. After the fermenter was operated under continuous mode, the products were then continuously fed to the microbial fuel cell (MFC) to generate electricity. Even though the conversion yield was quite low, this study proved that synthesis gas (syn-gas) can be converted to electricity with the aid of microbes that do not possess the drawbacks of metal catalysts of conventional methods.

Segregation of the Anodic Microbial Communities in a Microbial Fuel Cell Cascade

PubMed Central

Hodgson, Douglas M.; Smith, Ann; Dahale, Sonal; Stratford, James P.; Li, Jia V.; Grüning, André; Bushell, Michael E.; Marchesi, Julian R.; Avignone Rossa, C.

2016-01-01

Metabolic interactions within microbial communities are essential for the efficient degradation of complex organic compounds, and underpin natural phenomena driven by microorganisms, such as the recycling of carbon-, nitrogen-, and sulfur-containing molecules. These metabolic interactions ultimately determine the function, activity and stability of the community, and therefore their understanding would be essential to steer processes where microbial communities are involved. This is exploited in the design of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), bioelectrochemical devices that convert the chemical energy present in substrates into electrical energy through the metabolic activity of microorganisms, either single species or communities. In this work, we analyzed the evolution of the microbial community structure in a cascade of MFCs inoculated with an anaerobic microbial community and continuously fed with a complex medium. The analysis of the composition of the anodic communities revealed the establishment of different communities in the anodes of the hydraulically connected MFCs, with a decrease in the abundance of fermentative taxa and a concurrent increase in respiratory taxa along the cascade. The analysis of the metabolites in the anodic suspension showed a metabolic shift between the first and last MFC, confirming the segregation of the anodic communities. Those results suggest a metabolic interaction mechanism between the predominant fermentative bacteria at the first stages of the cascade and the anaerobic respiratory electrogenic population in the latter stages, which is reflected in the observed increase in power output. We show that our experimental system represents an ideal platform for optimization of processes where the degradation of complex substrates is involved, as well as a potential tool for the study of metabolic interactions in complex microbial communities. PMID:27242723

Engineering microbial fuels cells: recent patents and new directions.

PubMed

Biffinger, Justin C; Ringeisen, Bradley R

2008-01-01

Fundamental research into how microbes generate electricity within microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has far outweighed the practical application and large scale development of microbial energy harvesting devices. MFCs are considered alternatives to standard commercial polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology because the fuel supply does not need to be purified, ambient operating temperatures are maintained with biologically compatible materials, and the biological catalyst is self-regenerating. The generation of electricity during wastewater treatment using MFCs may profoundly affect the approach to anaerobic treatment technologies used in wastewater treatment as a result of developing this energy harvesting technology. However, the materials and engineering designs for MFCs were identical to commercial fuel cells until 2003. Compared to commercial fuel cells, MFCs will remain underdeveloped as long as low power densities are generated from the best systems. The variety of designs for MFCs has expanded rapidly in the last five years in the literature, but the patent protection has lagged behind. This review will cover recent and important patents relating to MFC designs and progress.

High Performance Microbial Fuel Cells and Supercapacitors Using Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Hao

A Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bio-inspired carbon-neutral, renewable electrochemical converter to extract electricity from catabolic reaction of micro-organisms. It is a promising technology capable of directly converting the abundant biomass on the planet into electricity and potentially alleviate the emerging global warming and energy crisis. The current and power density of MFCs are low compared with conventional energy conversion techniques. Since its debut in 2002, many studies have been performed by adopting a variety of new configurations and structures to improve the power density. The reported maximum areal and volumetric power densities range from 19 mW/m2 to 1.57 W/m2 and from 6.3 W/m3 to 392 W/m 3, respectively, which are still low compared with conventional energy conversion techniques. In this dissertation, the impact of scaling effect on the performance of MFCs are investigated, and it is found that by scaling down the characteristic length of MFCs, the surface area to volume ratio increases and the current and power density improves. As a result, a miniaturized MFC fabricated by Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) technology with gold anode is presented in this dissertation, which demonstrate a high power density of 3300 W/m3. The performance of the MEMS MFC is further improved by adopting anodes with higher surface area to volume ratio, such as carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene based anodes, and the maximum power density is further improved to a record high power density of 11220 W/m3. A novel supercapacitor by regulating the respiration of the bacteria is also presented, and a high power density of 531.2 A/m2 (1,060,000 A/m3) and 197.5 W/m2 (395,000 W/m3), respectively, are marked, which are one to two orders of magnitude higher than any previously reported microbial electrochemical techniques.

Cellulose fibres, nanofibrils and microfibrils: The morphological sequence of MFC components from a plant physiology and fibre technology point of view

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chinga-Carrasco, Gary

2011-06-01

During the last decade, major efforts have been made to develop adequate and commercially viable processes for disintegrating cellulose fibres into their structural components. Homogenisation of cellulose fibres has been one of the principal applied procedures. Homogenisation has produced materials which may be inhomogeneous, containing fibres, fibres fragments, fibrillar fines and nanofibrils. The material has been denominated microfibrillated cellulose (MFC). In addition, terms relating to the nano-scale have been given to the MFC material. Several modern and high-tech nano-applications have been envisaged for MFC. However, is MFC a nano-structure? It is concluded that MFC materials may be composed of (1) nanofibrils, (2) fibrillar fines, (3) fibre fragments and (4) fibres. This implies that MFC is not necessarily synonymous with nanofibrils, microfibrils or any other cellulose nano-structure. However, properly produced MFC materials contain nano-structures as a main component, i.e. nanofibrils.

Flavins secreted by bacterial cells of Shewanella catalyze cathodic oxygen reduction.

PubMed

Liu, Huan; Matsuda, Shoichi; Hashimoto, Kazuhito; Nakanishi, Shuji

2012-06-01

On Her Majesty's Secrete Service: Oxygen reduction is an important process for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and microbiologically-influenced corrosion (MIC). We demonstrate that flavins secreted by anode-respiring Shewanella cells can catalyze cathodic oxygen reduction via adsorption on the cathode. The findings will provide new insight for developing methods to improve MFC performance and to prevent MIC. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Continuous flow operation with appropriately adjusting composites in influent for recovery of Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) in self-driven MFC-MEC system.

PubMed

Li, Ming; Pan, Yuzhen; Huang, Liping; Zhang, Yong; Yang, Jinhui

2017-03-01

A self-driven microbial fuel cell (MFC) - microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) system, where electricity generated from MFCs is in situ utilized for powering MECs, has been previously reported for recovering Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) with individual metals fed in different units of the system in batch operation. Here it was advanced with treating synthetic mixed metals' solution at appropriately adjusting composites in fed-batch and continuous flow operations for complete separation of Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) from each other. Under an optimal condition of hydraulic residence time of 4 h, matching of two serially connected MFCs with one MEC, and fed with a composite of either 5 mg L -1 Cr(VI), 1 mg L -1 Cu(II) and 5 mg L -1 Cd(II), or 1 mg L -1 Cr(VI), 5 mg L -1 Cu(II) and 5 mg L -1 Cd(II), the self-driven MFC-MEC system can completely and sequentially recover Cu(II), Cr(VI) and Cd(II) from mixed metals. This study provides a true sustainable and zero-energy-consumed approach of using bioelectrochemical systems for completely recovering and separating Cr(VI), Cu(II) and Cd(II) from each other or from wastes or contaminated sites.

Effects of current generation and electrolyte pH on reverse salt flux across thin film composite membrane in osmotic microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Qin, Mohan; Abu-Reesh, Ibrahim M; He, Zhen

2016-11-15

Osmotic microbial fuel cells (OsMFCs) take advantages of synergy between forward osmosis (FO) and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to accomplish wastewater treatment, current generation, and high-quality water extraction. As an FO based technology, OsMFCs also encounter reverse salt flux (RSF) that is the backward transport of salt ions across the FO membrane into the treated wastewater. This RSF can reduce water flux, contaminate the treated wastewater, and increase the operational expense, and thus must be properly addressed before any possible applications. In this study, we aimed to understand the effects of current generation and electrolyte pH on RSF in an OsMFC. It was found that electricity generation could greatly inhibit RSF, which decreased from 16.3 ± 2.8 to 3.9 ± 0.7 gMH when the total Coulomb production increased from 0 to 311 C. The OsMFC exhibited 45.9 ± 28.4% lower RSF at the catholyte pH of 3 than that at pH 11 when 40 Ω external resistance was connected. The amount of sodium ions transported across the FO membrane was 18.3-40.7% more than that of chloride ions. Ion transport was accomplished via diffusion and electrically-driven migration, and the theoretical analysis showed that the inhibited electrically-driven migration should be responsible for the reduced RSF. These findings are potentially important to control and reduce RSF in OsMFCs or other osmotic-driven processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Active control of structures using macro-fiber composite (MFC)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kovalovs, A.; Barkanov, E.; Gluhihs, S.

2007-12-01

This paper presents the use of macro-fiber composites (MFC) for vibration reduces of structures. The MFC consist of polyimid films with IDE-electrodes that are glued on the top and the bottom of rectangular piezoceramic fibers. The interdigitated electrodes deliver the electric field required to activate the piezoelectric effect in the fibers and allows to invoke the stronger longitudinal piezoelectric effect along the length of the fibers. When this actuator embedded in a surface or attached to flexible structures, the MFC actuator provides distributed solid-state deflection and vibration control. The major advantages of the piezoelectric fibre composite actuators are their high performance, flexibility, and durability when compared with the traditional piezoceramic (PZT) actuators. In addition, the ability of MFC devices to couple the electrical and mechanical fields is larger than in monolithic PZT. In this study, we showed the experimental results that an MFC could be used as actuator to find modal parameters and reduce vibration for structures such as an aluminium beam and metal music plate. Two MFC actuators were attached to the surfaces of test subjects. First MFC actuator used to supply a signal as exciter of vibration and second MFC show his application for reduction of vibration in the range of resonance frequencies. Experimental results of aluminium beam with MFC actuators compared with finite element model which modelled in ANSYS software. The applied voltage is modelled as a thermal load according to thermal analogy for MFC. The experimental and numerical results presented in this paper confirm the potential of MFC for use in the vibration control of structures.

Bleached and unbleached MFC nanobarriers: properties and hydrophobisation with hexamethyldisilazane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chinga-Carrasco, Gary; Kuznetsova, Nina; Garaeva, Milyausha; Leirset, Ingebjørg; Galiullina, Guzaliya; Kostochko, Anatoly; Syverud, Kristin

2012-12-01

This study explores the production and surface modification of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), based on unbleached and bleached Pinus radiata pulp fibres. Unbleached Pinus radiata pulp fibres tend to fibrillate easier by homogenisation without pre-treatment, compared to the corresponding bleached MFC. The resulting unbleached MFC films have higher barrier against oxygen, lower water wettability and higher tensile strength than the corresponding bleached MFC qualities. In addition, it is demonstrated that carboxymethylation can also be applied for production of highly fibrillated unbleached MFC. The nanofibril size distribution of the carboxymethylated MFC is narrow with diameters less than 20 nm, as quantified on high-resolution field-emission scanning electron microscopy images. The carboxymetylation had a larger fibrillation effect on the bleached pulp fibres than on the unbleached one. Importantly, the suitability of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) as a new alternative for rendering MFC films hydrophobic was demonstrated. The HMDS-modified films made of carboxymethylated MFC had oxygen permeability levels better than 0.06 mL mm m-2 day-1 atm-1, which is a good property for some packaging applications.

Viscoelastic properties of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) produced from agricultural residue corn stover

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The rheological properties of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) produced from agricultural residue corn stover were investigated. The corn stover MFC gels exhibited concentration-dependent viscoelastic properties. Higher corn stover MFC concentrations resulted in stronger viscoelastic properties. Th...

Viscoelastic properties of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) produced from agricultural residue corn stover

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The rheological properties of microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) produced from agricultural residue corn stover were investigated. The corn stover MFC gels exhibited concentration-dependent viscoelastic solid properties. Higher corn stover MFC concentrations resulted in stronger viscoelastic propertie...

Retail Survey of Brazilian Milk and Minas Frescal Cheese and a Contaminated Dairy Plant To Establish Prevalence, Relatedness, and Sources of Listeria monocytogenes Isolates▿

PubMed Central

Brito, J. Renaldi F.; Santos, Emilia M. P.; Arcuri, Edna F.; Lange, Carla C.; Brito, Maria A. V. P.; Souza, Guilherme N.; Cerqueira, Mônica M. P. O.; Beltran, J. Marcela Soto; Call, Jeffrey E.; Liu, Yanhong; Porto-Fett, Anna C. S.; Luchansky, John B.

2008-01-01

A study was designed to recover Listeria monocytogenes from pasteurized milk and Minas frescal cheese (MFC) sampled at retail establishments (REs) and to identify the contamination source(s) of these products in the corresponding dairy processing plant. Fifty milk samples (9 brands) and 55 MFC samples (10 brands) were tested from REs located in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. All milk samples and 45 samples from 9 of 10 MFC brands tested negative for L. monocytogenes; however, “brand F” of MFC obtained from REs 119 and 159 tested positive. Thus, the farm/plant that produced brand F MFC was sampled; all samples from the milking parlor tested negative for L. monocytogenes, whereas several sites within the processing plant and the MFC samples tested positive. All 344 isolates recovered from retail MFC, plant F MFC, and plant F environmental samples were serotype 1/2a and displayed the same AscI or ApaI fingerprints. Since these results established that the storage coolers served as the contamination source of the MFC, plant F was closed so that corrective renovations could be made. Following renovation, samples from sites that previously tested positive for the pathogen were collected from the processing environment and from MFC on multiple visits; all tested negative for L. monocytogenes. In addition, on subsequent visits to REs 159 and 119, all MFC samples tested negative for the pathogen. Studies are ongoing to quantify the prevalence, levels, and types of L. monocytogenes in MFC and associated processing plants to lessen the likelihood of listeriosis in Brazil. PMID:18502929

Producing methane, methanol and electricity from organic waste of fermentation reaction using novel microbes.

PubMed

Dhiman, Saurabh Sudha; Shrestha, Namita; David, Aditi; Basotra, Neha; Johnson, Glenn R; Chadha, Bhupinder S; Gadhamshetty, Venkataramana; Sani, Rajesh K

2018-06-01

Residual solid and liquid streams from the one-pot CRUDE (Conversion of Raw and Untreated Disposal into Ethanol) process were treated with two separate biochemical routes for renewable energy transformation. The solid residual stream was subjected to thermophilic anaerobic digestion (TAD), which produced 95 ± 7 L methane kg -1 volatile solid with an overall energy efficiency of 12.9 ± 1.7%. A methanotroph, Methyloferula sp., was deployed for oxidation of mixed TAD biogas into methanol. The residual liquid stream from CRUDE process was used in a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) to produce electricity. Material balance calculations confirmed the integration of biochemical routes (i.e. CRUDE, TAD, and MFC) for developing a sustainable approach of energy regeneration. The current work demonstrates the utilization of different residual streams originated after food waste processing to release minimal organic load to the environment. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of sludge age on the performance of MFC treating winery wastewater.

PubMed

Penteado, Eduardo D; Fernandez-Marchante, Carmen Maria; Zaiat, Marcelo; Cañizares, Pablo; Gonzalez, Ernesto Rafael; Rodrigo, Manuel Andrés

2016-05-01

The objective of this paper was to determine the influence of sludge age on microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance for generating electricity and removing organic matter from winery wastewater. Six Solid Retention Times (SRT) were used: 1.2, 1.4, 1.8, 2.3, 3.5 and 7.0 d. Results demonstrate that the electricity generation increases by decreasing the SRT, selecting electrogenic microorganisms, once the specific organic loading rate (SOLR) increased and the competition for substrate was reduced. Decreasing the SRT, coulombic efficiency can be increased from 3.4% to almost 42.2% and maximum power density from 58 to 890 mW m(-2). However the SRT did not influence on organic matter removal in biological treatment, because only a small part of COD was removed oscillating around 600 mg L(-1) d(-1)and it was very similar at all SRT studied. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of bagasse microfibrillated cellulose and cationic polyacrylamide on key properties of bagasse paper.

PubMed

Djafari Petroudy, Seyed Rahman; Syverud, Kristin; Chinga-Carrasco, Gary; Ghasemain, Ali; Resalati, Hossein

2014-01-01

This study explores the benefits of using bagasse microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) in bagasse paper. Two different types of MFC were produced from DED bleached soda bagasse pulp. The MFC was added to soda bagasse pulp furnishes in different amounts. Cationic polyacrylamide (C-PAM) was selected as retention aid. The results show that addition of MFC increased the strength of paper as expected. Interestingly, 1% MFC in combination with 0.1% C-PAM yielded similar drainage time as the reference pulp, which did not contain MFC. In addition, the samples containing 1% MFC and 0.1% C-PAM yielded (i) a significant increment of the tensile index, (ii) a minor decrease of opacity and (iii) preserved Gurley porosity. Hence, this study proves that small fractions of MFC in combination with adequate retention aids can have positive effects with respect to paper properties, which is most interesting from an industrial point of view. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

13C Pathway Analysis for the Role of Formate in Electricity Generation by Shewanella Oneidensis MR-1 Using Lactate in Microbial Fuel Cells

PubMed Central

Luo, Shuai; Guo, Weihua; H. Nealson, Kenneth; Feng, Xueyang; He, Zhen

2016-01-01

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising technology for direct electricity generation from organics by microorganisms. The type of electron donors fed into MFCs affects the electrical performance, and mechanistic understanding of such effects is important to optimize the MFC performance. In this study, we used a model organism in MFCs, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, and 13C pathway analysis to investigate the role of formate in electricity generation and the related microbial metabolism. Our results indicated a synergistic effect of formate and lactate on electricity generation, and extra formate addition on the original lactate resulted in more electrical output than using formate or lactate as a sole electron donor. Based on the 13C tracer analysis, we discovered decoupled cell growth and electricity generation in S. oneidensis MR-1 during co-utilization of lactate and formate (i.e., while the lactate was mainly metabolized to support the cell growth, the formate was oxidized to release electrons for higher electricity generation). To our best knowledge, this is the first time that 13C tracer analysis was applied to study microbial metabolism in MFCs and it was demonstrated to be a valuable tool to understand the metabolic pathways affected by electron donors in the selected electrochemically-active microorganisms. PMID:26868848

In situ formation of graphene layers on graphite surfaces for efficient anodes of microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Tang, Jiahuan; Chen, Shanshan; Yuan, Yong; Cai, Xixi; Zhou, Shungui

2015-09-15

Graphene can be used to improve the performance of the anode in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) due to its good biocompatibility, high electrical conductivity and large surface area. However, the chemical production and modification of the graphene on the anode are environmentally hazardous because of the use of various harmful chemicals. This study reports a novel method based on the electrochemical exfoliation of a graphite plate (GP) for the in situ formation of graphene layers on the surface of a graphite electrode. When the resultant graphene-layer-based graphite plate electrode (GL/GP) was used as an anode in an MFC, a maximum power density of 0.67 ± 0.034 W/m(2) was achieved. This value corresponds to 1.72-, 1.56- and 1.26-times the maximum power densities of the original GP, exfoliated-graphene-modified GP (EG/GP) and chemically-reduced-graphene-modified GP (rGO/GP) anodes, respectively. Electrochemical measurements revealed that the high performance of the GL/GP anode was attributable to its macroporous structure, improved electron transfer and high electrochemical capacitance. The results demonstrated that the proposed method is a facile and environmentally friendly synthesis technique for the fabrication of high-performance graphene-based electrodes for use in microbial energy harvesting. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microbial electricity generation in rice paddy fields: recent advances and perspectives in rhizosphere microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Kouzuma, Atsushi; Kaku, Nobuo; Watanabe, Kazuya

2014-12-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that use living microbes for the conversion of organic matter into electricity. MFC systems can be applied to the generation of electricity at water/sediment interfaces in the environment, such as bay areas, wetlands, and rice paddy fields. Using these systems, electricity generation in paddy fields as high as ∼80 mW m(-2) (based on the projected anode area) has been demonstrated, and evidence suggests that rhizosphere microbes preferentially utilize organic exudates from rice roots for generating electricity. Phylogenetic and metagenomic analyses have been conducted to identify the microbial species and catabolic pathways that are involved in the conversion of root exudates into electricity, suggesting the importance of syntrophic interactions. In parallel, pot cultures of rice and other aquatic plants have been used for rhizosphere MFC experiments under controlled laboratory conditions. The findings from these studies have demonstrated the potential of electricity generation for mitigating methane emission from the rhizosphere. Notably, however, the presence of large amounts of organics in the rhizosphere drastically reduces the effect of electricity generation on methane production. Further studies are necessary to evaluate the potential of these systems for mitigating methane emission from rice paddy fields. We suggest that paddy-field MFCs represent a promising approach for harvesting latent energy of the natural world.

Investigation on electrical surface modification of waste to energy ash for possible use as an electrode material in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Webster, Megan; Lee, Hae Yang; Pepa, Kristi; Winkler, Nathan; Kretzschmar, Ilona; Castaldi, Marco J

2018-03-01

With the world population expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, demand for access to electricity and clean water will grow at unprecedented rates. Municipal solid waste combusted at waste to energy (WtE) facilities decreases waste volume and recovers energy, but yields ash as a byproduct, the beneficial uses of which are actively being investigated. Ash is intrinsically hydrophobic, highly oxidized, and exhibits high melting points and low conductivities. The research presented here explores the potential of ash to be used as an electrode material for a microbial fuel cell (MFC). This application requires increased conductivity and hydrophilicity, and a lowered melting point. Three ash samples were investigated. By applying an electric potential in the range 50-125 V across the ash in the presence of water, several key property changes were observed: lower melting point, a color change within the ash, evidence of changes in surface morphologies of ash particles, and completely wetting water-ash contact angles. We analyzed this system using a variety of analytical techniques including sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and tensiometry. Ability to make such surface modifications and significant property changes could allow ash to become useful in an application such as an electrode material for a MFC.

PEE POWER® urinal II - Urinal scale-up with microbial fuel cell scale-down for improved lighting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walter, Xavier Alexis; Merino-Jiménez, Irene; Greenman, John; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

2018-07-01

A novel design of microbial fuel cells (MFC) fuelled with undiluted urine was demonstrated to be an efficient power source for decentralised areas, but had only been tested under controlled laboratory conditions. Hence, a field-trial was carried out to assess its feasibility for practical implementation: a bespoke stack of 12 MFC modules was implemented as a self-sufficient lit urinal system at UK's largest music festival. Laboratory investigation showed that with a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 44 h, a cascade of 4 modules (19.2 L displacement volume) was continuously producing ≈150 mW. At the same HRT, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) was reduced from 5586 mg COD·L-1 to 625 mg COD·L-1. Field results of the system under uncontrolled usage indicate an optimal retention time for power production between 2h30 and ≈9 h. When measured (HRT of ≈11h40), the COD decreased by 48% and the total nitrogen content by 13%. Compared to the previous PEE POWER® field-trial (2015), the present system achieved a 37% higher COD removal with half the HRT. The 2016 set-up produced ≈30% more energy in a third of the total volumetric footprint (max 600 mW). This performance corresponds to ≈7-fold technological improvement.

Complete cobalt recovery from lithium cobalt oxide in self-driven microbial fuel cell - Microbial electrolysis cell systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Liping; Yao, Binglin; Wu, Dan; Quan, Xie

2014-08-01

Complete cobalt recovery from lithium cobalt oxide requires to firstly leach cobalt from particles LiCoO2 and then recover cobalt from aqueous Co(II). A self-driven microbial fuel cell (MFC)-microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) system can completely carry out these two processes, in which Co(II) is firstly released from particles LiCoO2 on the cathodes of MFCs and then reduced on the cathodes of MECs which are powered by the cobalt leaching MFCs. A cobalt leaching rate of 46 ± 2 mg L-1 h-1 with yield of 1.5 ± 0.1 g Co g-1 COD (MFCs) and a Co(II) reduction rate of 7 ± 0 mg L-1 h-1 with yield of 0.8 ± 0.0 g Co g-1 COD (MECs), as well as a overall system cobalt yield of 0.15 ± 0.01 g Co g-1 Co can be achieved in this self-driven MFC-MEC system. Coulombic efficiencies reach 41 ± 1% (anodic MFCs), 75 ± 0% (anodic MECs), 100 ± 2% (cathodic MFCs), and 29 ± 1% (cathodic MECs) whereas overall system efficiency averages 34 ± 1%. These results provide a new process of linking MFCs to MECs for complete recovery of cobalt and recycle of spent lithium ion batteries with no external energy consumption.

Hollow-spherical Co/N-C nanoparticle as an efficient electrocatalyst used in air cathode microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Yang, Tingting; Li, Kexun; Pu, Liangtao; Liu, Ziqi; Ge, Baochao; Pan, Yajun; Liu, Ying

2016-12-15

The hollow-spherical Co/N-C nanoparticle, which is synthesized via a simple hydrothermal reaction followed by heat treatment, is firstly used as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC). The maximum power density of MFC with 10% Co/N-C air-cathode is as high as 2514±59mWm(-2), which is almost 174% higher than the control. The exchange current density (i0) of cathode equipped with 10% Co/N-C is 238% higher than that of untreated AC. While the total resistance of treated samples decreases from 13.017 to 10.255Ω. The intensity ratio of Raman D to G band (ID/IG) decreases from 0.93 (N-C) to 0.73 (Co/N-C), indicating the catalyst forms graphite structure. Both XRD and XPS testify that Co is bonded to N within graphitic sheets and serves as the active sites in ORR. The four-electron pathway of the Co/N-C also plays a crucial role in electrochemical catalytic activity. As a result, it can be expected that the as-synthesized Co/N-C, with extraordinary electro-catalytic performance towards ORR, will be a promising alternative to the state-of-the-art non-precious metal ORR electro-catalysts for electrochemical energy applications. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Halophilic starch degrading bacteria isolated from Sambhar Lake, India, as potential anode catalyst in microbial fuel cell: A promising process for saline water treatment.

PubMed

Vijay, Ankisha; Arora, Shivam; Gupta, Sandeep; Chhabra, Meenu

2018-05-01

In this study, Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) capable of treating saline starch water was developed. Sodium chloride (NaCl) concentrations ranging from 500 mM to 3000 mM were tested at the anode. Nitrate was used as an electron acceptor at the biocathode. The halophilic bacteria were isolated from Sambhar Lake, India. Results indicated successful removal of starch (1.83 kg/m 3 -d) and nitrate (0.13 kg/m 3 -d NO 3 - -N) with concomitant power output of 207.05 mW/m 2 at 1000 mM NaCl concentration. An increase in power density from 71.06 mW/m 2 to 207.05 mW/m 2 (2.92 folds) was observed when NaCl concentration was increased from 500 mM to 1000 mM. A decline in power density was observed when the salt concentrations >1000 mM were used. Concentration of 3000 mM supported power output as well as the highest starch degradation (3.2 kg/m 3 -d) and amylase activity of 2.26 IU/ml. The halophilic exoelectrogens were isolated and identified. The present study demonstrates the utility of MFC for degrading starch in saline water. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of carbon electrode material on energy recovery from winery wastewater using a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Penteado, Eduardo D; Fernandez-Marchante, Carmen M; Zaiat, Marcelo; Gonzalez, Ernesto R; Rodrigo, Manuel A

2017-06-01

The aim of this work was to evaluate three carbon materials as anodes in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), clarifying their influence on the generation of electricity and on the treatability of winery wastewater, a highly organic-loaded waste. The electrode materials tested were carbon felt, carbon cloth and carbon paper and they were used at the same time as anode and cathode in the tests. The MFC equipped with carbon felt reached the highest voltage and power (72 mV and 420 mW m -2 , respectively), while the lowest values were observed when carbon paper was used as electrode (0.2 mV and 8.37·10 -6  mW m -2 , respectively). Chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal from the wastewater was observed to depend on the electrode material, as well. When carbon felt was used, the MFC showed the highest average organic matter consumption rate (650 mg COD L -1  d -1 ), whereas by using carbon paper the rate decreased to 270 mg COD L -1  d -1 . Therefore, both electricity generation and organic matter removal are strongly related not to the chemical composition of the electrode (which was graphite carbon in the three electrodes), but to its surface features and, consequently, to the amount of biomass adhered to the electrode surface.

Oxygen-reducing biocathodes operating with passive oxygen transfer in microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Xia, Xue; Tokash, Justin C; Zhang, Fang; Liang, Peng; Huang, Xia; Logan, Bruce E

2013-02-19

Oxygen-reducing biocathodes previously developed for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have required energy-intensive aeration of the catholyte. To avoid the need for aeration, the ability of biocathodes to function with passive oxygen transfer was examined here using air cathode MFCs. Two-chamber, air cathode MFCs with biocathodes produced a maximum power density of 554 ± 0 mW/m(2), which was comparable to that obtained with a Pt cathode (576 ± 16 mW/m(2)), and 38 times higher than that produced without a catalyst (14 ± 3 mW/m(2)). The maximum current density with biocathodes in this air-cathode MFC was 1.0 A/m(2), compared to 0.49 A/m(2) originally produced in a two-chamber MFC with an aqueous cathode (with cathode chamber aeration). Single-chamber, air-cathode MFCs with the same biocathodes initially produced higher voltages than those with Pt cathodes, but after several cycles the catalytic activity of the biocathodes was lost. This change in cathode performance resulted from direct exposure of the cathodes to solutions containing high concentrations of organic matter in the single-chamber configuration. Biocathode performance was not impaired in two-chamber designs where the cathode was kept separated from the anode solution. These results demonstrate that direct-air biocathodes can work very well, but only under conditions that minimize heterotrophic growth of microorganisms on the cathodes.

High power density from a miniature microbial fuel cell using Shewanella oneidensis DSP10.

PubMed

Ringeisen, Bradley R; Henderson, Emily; Wu, Peter K; Pietron, Jeremy; Ray, Ricky; Little, Brenda; Biffinger, Justin C; Jones-Meehan, Joanne M

2006-04-15

A miniature microbial fuel cell (mini-MFC) is described that demonstrates high output power per device cross-section (2.0 cm2) and volume (1.2 cm3). Shewanella oneidensis DSP10 in growth medium with lactate and buffered ferricyanide solutions were used as the anolyte and catholyte, respectively. Maximum power densities of 24 and 10 mW/m2 were measured using the true surface areas of reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) and graphite felt (GF) electrodes without the addition of exogenous mediators in the anolyte. Current densities at maximum power were measured as 44 and 20 mA/m2 for RVC and GF, while short circuit current densities reached 32 mA/m2 for GF anodes and 100 mA/m2 for RVC. When the power density for GF was calculated using the cross sectional area of the device or the volume of the anode chamber, we found values (3 W/m2, 500 W/m3) similar to the maxima reported in the literature. The addition of electron mediators resulted in current and power increases of 30-100%. These power densities were surprisingly high considering a pure S. oneidensis culture was used. We found that the short diffusion lengths and high surface-area-to-chamber volume ratio utilized in the mini-MFC enhanced power density when compared to output from similar macroscopic MFCs.

Control of malodorous hydrogen sulfide compounds using microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Eaktasang, Numfon; Min, Hyeong-Sik; Kang, Christina; Kim, Han S

2013-10-01

In this study, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was used to control malodorous hydrogen sulfide compounds generated from domestic wastewaters. The electricity production demonstrated a distinct pattern of a two-step increase during 170 h of system run: the first maximum current density was 118.6 ± 7.2 mA m⁻² followed by a rebound of current density increase, reaching the second maximum of 176.8 ± 9.4 mA m⁻². The behaviors of the redox potential and the sulfate level in the anode compartment indicated that the microbial production of hydrogen sulfide compounds was suppressed in the first stage, and the hydrogen sulfide compounds generated from the system were removed effectively as a result of their electrochemical oxidation, which contributed to the additional electricity production in the second stage. This was also directly supported by sulfur deposits formed on the anode surface, which was confirmed by analyses on those solids using a scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy as well as an elemental analyzer. To this end, the overall reduction efficiencies for HS⁻ and H₂S(g) were as high as 67.5 and 96.4 %, respectively. The correlations among current density, redox potential, and sulfate level supported the idea that the electricity signal generated in the MFC can be utilized as a potential indicator of malodor control for the domestic wastewater system.

Electricity production from beer brewery wastewater using single chamber microbial fuel cell.

PubMed

Wang, X; Feng, Y J; Lee, H

2008-01-01

The performance of electricity production from beer brewery wastewater in a single chamber membrane-free microbial fuel cell (MFC) was investigated. Experimental results showed that the MFCs could generate electricity from full-strength wastewater (2,239 mg-COD/L, 50 mM PBS added) with the maximum power density of 483 mW/m2 (12 W/m3) at 30 degrees C and 435 mW/m2 (11 W/m3) at 20 degrees C, respectively. Temperature was found to have bigger impact on cathode potential than anode potential. Results suggested that it is feasible to generate electricity with the treatment of beer brewery wastewater. Copyright IWA Publishing 2008.

[Detection of toxic substances in microbial fuel cells].

PubMed

Wang, Jiefu; Niu, Hao; Wu, Wenguo

2017-05-25

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is a highly promising bioelectrochemical technology and uses microorganisms as catalyst to convert chemical energy directly to electrical energy. Microorganisms in the anodic chamber of MFC oxidize the substrate and generate electrons. The electrons are absorbed by the anode and transported through an external circuit to the cathode for corresponding reduction. The flow of electrons is measured as current. This current is a linear measure of the activity of microorganisms. If a toxic event occurs, microbial activity will change, most likely decrease. Hence, fewer electrons are transported and current decreases as well. In this way, a microbial fuel cell-based biosensor provides a direct measure to detect toxicity for samples. This paper introduces the detection of antibiotics, heavy metals, organic pollutants and acid in MFCs. The existing problems and future application of MFCs are also analyzed.

Microbial fuel cells in saline and hypersaline environments: Advancements, challenges and future perspectives.

PubMed

Grattieri, Matteo; Minteer, Shelley D

2018-04-01

This review is aimed to report the possibility to utilize microbial fuel cells for the treatment of saline and hypersaline solutions. An introduction to the issues related with the biological treatment of saline and hypersaline wastewater is reported, discussing the limitation that characterizes classical aerobic and anaerobic digestions. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, and the possibility to be applied in the presence of high salinity, is discussed before reviewing the most recent advancements in the development of MFCs operating in saline and hypersaline conditions, with their different and interesting applications. Specifically, the research performed in the last 5years will be the main focus of this review. Finally, the future perspectives for this technology, together with the most urgent research needs, are presented. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The development of performance-monitoring function in the posterior medial frontal cortex

PubMed Central

Fitzgerald, Kate Dimond; Perkins, Suzanne C.; Angstadt, Mike; Johnson, Timothy; Stern, Emily R.; Welsh, Robert C.; Taylor, Stephan F.

2009-01-01

Background Despite its critical role in performance-monitoring, the development of posterior medial prefrontal cortex (pMFC) in goal-directed behaviors remains poorly understood. Performance monitoring depends on distinct, but related functions that may differentially activate the pMFC, such as monitoring response conflict and detecting errors. Developmental differences in conflict- and error-related activations, coupled with age-related changes in behavioral performance, may confound attempts to map the maturation of pMFC functions. To characterize the development of pMFC-based performance monitoring functions, we segregated interference and error-processing, while statistically controlling for performance. Methods Twenty-one adults and 23 youth performed an event-related version of the Multi-Source Interference Task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Linear modeling of interference and error contrast estimates derived from the pMFC were regressed on age, while covarying for performance. Results Interference- and error-processing were associated with robust activation of the pMFC in both youth and adults. Among youth, interference- and error-related activation of the pMFC increased with age, independent of performance. Greater accuracy associated with greater pMFC activity during error commission in both groups. Discussion Increasing pMFC response to interference and errors occurs with age, likely contributing to the improvement of performance monitoring capacity during development. PMID:19913101

Effects of Furnished Cage Type on Behavior and Welfare of Laying Hens.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Chen, Donghua; Li, Jianhong; Bao, Jun

2016-06-01

This study was conducted to compare the effects of layout of furniture (a perch, nest, and sandbox) in cages on behavior and welfare of hens. Two hundred and sixteen Hyline Brown laying hens were divided into five groups (treatments) with four replicates per group: small furnished cages (SFC), medium furnished cages type I (MFC-I), medium furnished cages type II (MFC-II), and medium furnished cages type III (MFC-III) and conventional cages (CC). The experiment started at 18 week of age and finished at 52 week of age. Hens' behaviors were filmed during the following periods: 8:00 to 10:00; 13:00 to 14:00; 16:00 to 17:00 on three separate days and two hens from each cage were measured for welfare parameters at 50 wk of age. The results showed that feeding and laying of all hens showed no effect by cage type (p>0.05), and the hens in the furnished cages had significantly lower standing and higher walking than CC hens (p<0.05). The birds in MFC-III had significant higher preening, scratching and feather-pecking behavior than in the other cages (p<0.05). No difference in nesting behavior was found in the hens between the furnished cages (p>0.05). The hens in MFC-I, -II, and -III showed a significant higher socializing behavior than SFC and CC (p<0.05). The lowest perching was for the hens in SFC and the highest perching found for the hens in MFC-III. Overall, the hens in CC showed poorer welfare conditions than the furnished cages, in which the feather condition score, gait score and tonic immobility duration of the hens in CC was significantly higher than SFC, MFC-I, MFC-II, and MFC-III (p<0.05). In conclusion, the furnished cage design affected both behavior and welfare states of hens. Overall, MFC-III cage design was better than SFC, MFC-I, and MFC-II cage designs.

Effects of Furnished Cage Type on Behavior and Welfare of Laying Hens

PubMed Central

Li, Xiang; Chen, Donghua; Li, Jianhong; Bao, Jun

2016-01-01

This study was conducted to compare the effects of layout of furniture (a perch, nest, and sandbox) in cages on behavior and welfare of hens. Two hundred and sixteen Hyline Brown laying hens were divided into five groups (treatments) with four replicates per group: small furnished cages (SFC), medium furnished cages type I (MFC-I), medium furnished cages type II (MFC-II), and medium furnished cages type III (MFC-III) and conventional cages (CC). The experiment started at 18 week of age and finished at 52 week of age. Hens’ behaviors were filmed during the following periods: 8:00 to 10:00; 13:00 to 14:00; 16:00 to 17:00 on three separate days and two hens from each cage were measured for welfare parameters at 50 wk of age. The results showed that feeding and laying of all hens showed no effect by cage type (p>0.05), and the hens in the furnished cages had significantly lower standing and higher walking than CC hens (p<0.05). The birds in MFC-III had significant higher preening, scratching and feather-pecking behavior than in the other cages (p<0.05). No difference in nesting behavior was found in the hens between the furnished cages (p>0.05). The hens in MFC-I, −II, and −III showed a significant higher socializing behavior than SFC and CC (p<0.05). The lowest perching was for the hens in SFC and the highest perching found for the hens in MFC-III. Overall, the hens in CC showed poorer welfare conditions than the furnished cages, in which the feather condition score, gait score and tonic immobility duration of the hens in CC was significantly higher than SFC, MFC-I, MFC-II, and MFC-III (p<0.05). In conclusion, the furnished cage design affected both behavior and welfare states of hens. Overall, MFC-III cage design was better than SFC, MFC-I, and MFC-II cage designs. PMID:26954171

Effect of conductive polymers coated anode on the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and its biodiversity analysis.

PubMed

Li, Chao; Zhang, Libin; Ding, Lili; Ren, Hongqiang; Cui, Hao

2011-06-15

Conductive polymer, one of the most attractive electrode materials, has been applied to coat anode of MFC to improve its performance recently. In this paper, two conductive polymer materials, polyaniline (PANI) and poly(aniline-co-o-aminophenol) (PAOA) were used to modify carbon felt anode and physical and chemical properties of the modified anodes were studied. The power output and biodiversity of modified anodes, along with unmodified carbon anode were compared in two-chamber MFCs. Results showed that the maximum power density of PANI and PAOA MFC could reach 27.4 mW/m(2) and 23.8 mW/m(2), comparing with unmodified MFC, increased by 35% and 18% separately. Low temperature caused greatly decrease of the maximum voltage by 70% and reduced the sorts of bacteria on anodes in the three MFCs. Anode biofilm analysis showed different bacteria enrichment: a larger mount of bacteria and higher biodiversity were found on the two modified anodes than on the unmodified one. For PANI anode, the two predominant bacteria were phylogenetically closely related to Hippea maritima and an uncultured clone MEC_Bicarb_Ac-008; for PAOA, Clostridiales showed more enrichment. Compare PAOA with PANI, the former introduced phenolic hydroxyl group by copolymerization o-aminophenol with aniline, which led to a different microbial community and the mechanism of group effect was proposed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sustainable design of high-performance microsized microbial fuel cell with carbon nanotube anode and air cathode.

PubMed

Mink, Justine E; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2013-08-27

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising alternative energy source that both generates electricity and cleans water. Fueled by liquid wastes such as wastewater or industrial wastes, the microbial fuel cell converts waste into energy. Microsized MFCs are essentially miniature energy harvesters that can be used to power on-chip electronics, lab-on-a-chip devices, and/or sensors. As MFCs are a relatively new technology, microsized MFCs are also an important rapid testing platform for the comparison and introduction of new conditions or materials into macroscale MFCs, especially nanoscale materials that have high potential for enhanced power production. Here we report a 75 μL microsized MFC on silicon using CMOS-compatible processes and employ a novel nanomaterial with exceptional electrochemical properties, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), as the on-chip anode. We used this device to compare the usage of the more commonly used but highly expensive anode material gold, as well as a more inexpensive substitute, nickel. This is the first anode material study done using the most sustainably designed microsized MFC to date, which utilizes ambient oxygen as the electron acceptor with an air cathode instead of the chemical ferricyanide and without a membrane. Ferricyanide is unsustainable, as the chemical must be continuously refilled, while using oxygen, naturally found in air, makes the device mobile and is a key step in commercializing this for portable technology such as lab-on-a-chip for point-of-care diagnostics. At 880 mA/m(2) and 19 mW/m(2) the MWCNT anode outperformed the others in both current and power densities with between 6 and 20 times better performance. All devices were run for over 15 days, indicating a stable and high-endurance energy harvester already capable of producing enough power for ultra-low-power electronics and able to consistently power them over time.

Experimental studies on fatigue behavior of macro fiber composite (MFC) under mechanical loading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandey, Akash; Arockiarajan, A.

2016-04-01

Macro fiber Composite (MFC) finds its application in active control, vibration control and sensing elements. MFC can be laminated to surfaces or embedded in the structures to be used as an actuator and sensors. Due to its attractive properties and applications, it may be subjected to continuous loading, which leads to the deterioration of the properties. This study is focused on the fatigue lifetime of MFC under tensile and compressive loading at room temperature. Experiments were performed using 4 point bending setup, with MFC pasted at the center of the mild steel beam, to maintain constant bending stress along MFC. MFC is pasted using vacuum bagging technique. Sinusoidal loading is given to sample while maintaining R=0.13 (for tensile testing) and R=10 (for compressive testing). For d31 and d33 type of MFC, test was conducted for the strain values of 727 μ strain, 1400 μ strain, 1700 μ strain and 1900 μ strain for fatigue under tensile loading. For fatigue under compressive loading, both d33 and d31, was subjected to minimum strain of -2000 μ strain. Decrease in the slope of dielectric displacement vs. strain is the measure for the degradation. 10 percent decrease in the slope is set as the failure criteria. Experimental results show that MFC is very reliable below 1700 μ strain (R=0.13) at the room temperature.

AGR-3/4 Irradiation Test Train Disassembly and Component Metrology First Look Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stempien, John Dennis; Rice, Francine Joyce; Harp, Jason Michael

2016-03-01

The AGR-3/4 experiment was designed to study fission product transport within graphitic matrix material and nuclear-grade graphite. To this end, this experiment consisted of 12 capsules, each fueled with 4 compacts containing UCO TRISO particles as driver fuel and 20 UCO designed-to-fail (DTF) fuel particles in each compact. The DTF fuel was fabricated with a thin pyrocarbon layer which was intended to fail during irradiation and provide a source of fission products. These fission products could then migrate through the compact and into the surrounding concentric rings of graphitic matrix material and/or nuclear graphite. Through post-irradiation examination (PIE) of themore » rings (including physical sampling and gamma scanning) fission product concentration profiles within the rings can be determined. These data can be used to elucidate fission product transport parameters (e.g. diffusion coefficients within the test materials) which will be used to inform and refine models of fission product transport. After irradiation in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) had been completed in April 2014, the AGR-3/4 experiment was shipped to the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) for inspection, disassembly, and metrology. The AGR-3/4 test train was received at MFC in two separate shipments between February and April 2015. Visual examinations of the test train exterior did not indicate dimensional distortion, and only two small discolored areas were observed at the bottom of Capsules 8 and 9. No corresponding discoloration was found on the inside of these capsules, however. Prior to disassembly, the two test train sections were subject to analysis via the Precision Gamma Scanner (PGS), which did not indicate that any gross fuel relocation had occurred. A series of specialized tools (including clamps, cutters, and drills) had been designed and fabricated in order to carry out test train disassembly and recovery of capsule components (graphite rings and fuel compacts). This equipment performed well for separating each capsule in the test train and extracting the capsule components. Only a few problems were encountered. In one case, the outermost ring (the sink ring) was cracked during removal of the capsule through tubes. Although the sink ring will be analyzed in order to obtain a mass balance of fission products in the experiment, these cracks do not pose a major concern because the sink ring will not be analyzed in detail to obtain the spatial distribution of fission products. In Capsules 4 and 5, the compacts could not be removed from the inner rings. Strategies for removing the compacts are being evaluated. Sampling the inner rings with the compacts in-place is also an option. Dimensional measurements were made on the compacts, inner rings, outer rings, and sink rings. The diameters of all compacts decreased by 0.5 to 2.0 %. Generally, the extent of diametric shrinkage increased linearly with increasing neutron fluence. Most compact lengths also decreased. Compact lengths decreased with increasing fluence, reaching maximum shrinkage of about 0.9 % at a fast fluence of 4.0x10 25 n/m 2 E > 0.18 MeV. Above this fluence, the extent of length shrinkage appeared to decrease with fluence, and two compacts from Capsule 7 were found to have slightly increased in length (< 0.1 %) after a fluence of 5.2x10 25 n/m 2.« less

AGR-3/4 Irradiation Test Train Disassembly and Component Metrology First Look Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stempien, John Dennis; Rice, Francine Joyce; Harp, Jason Michael

The AGR-3/4 experiment was designed to study fission product transport within graphitic matrix material and nuclear-grade graphite. To this end, this experiment consisted of 12 capsules, each fueled with 4 compacts containing UCO TRISO particles as driver fuel and 20 UCO designed-to-fail (DTF) fuel particles in each compact. The DTF fuel was fabricated with a thin pyrocarbon layer which was intended to fail during irradiation and provide a source of fission products. These fission products could then migrate through the compact and into the surrounding concentric rings of graphitic matrix material and/or nuclear graphite. Through post-irradiation examination (PIE) of themore » rings (including physical sampling and gamma scanning) fission product concentration profiles within the rings can be determined. These data can be used to elucidate fission product transport parameters (e.g. diffusion coefficients within the test materials) which will be used to inform and refine models of fission product transport. After irradiation in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) had been completed in April 2014, the AGR-3/4 experiment was shipped to the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) for inspection, disassembly, and metrology. The AGR-3/4 test train was received at MFC in two separate shipments between February and April 2015. Visual examinations of the test train exterior did not indicate dimensional distortion, and only two small discolored areas were observed at the bottom of Capsules 8 and 9. No corresponding discoloration was found on the inside of these capsules, however. Prior to disassembly, the two test train sections were subject to analysis via the Precision Gamma Scanner (PGS), which did not indicate that any gross fuel relocation had occurred. A series of specialized tools (including clamps, cutters, and drills) had been designed and fabricated in order to carry out test train disassembly and recovery of capsule components (graphite rings and fuel compacts). This equipment performed well for separating each capsule in the test train and extracting the capsule components. Only a few problems were encountered. In one case, the outermost ring (the sink ring) was cracked during removal of the capsule through tubes. Although the sink ring will be analyzed in order to obtain a mass balance of fission products in the experiment, these cracks do not pose a major concern because the sink ring will not be analyzed in detail to obtain the spatial distribution of fission products. In Capsules 4 and 5, the compacts could not be removed from the inner rings. Strategies for removing the compacts are being evaluated. Sampling the inner rings with the compacts in-place is also an option. Dimensional measurements were made on the compacts, inner rings, outer rings, and sink rings. The diameters of all compacts decreased by 0.5 to 2.0 %. Generally, the extent of diametric shrinkage increased linearly with increasing neutron fluence. Most compact lengths also decreased. Compact lengths decreased with increasing fluence, reaching maximum shrinkage of about 0.9 % at a fast fluence of 4.0x1025 n/m2 E > 0.18 MeV. Above this fluence, the extent of length shrinkage appeared to decrease with fluence, and two compacts from Capsule 7 were found to have slightly increased in length (< 0.1 %) after a fluence of 5.2x1025 n/m2.« less

Microbial fuel cells for biosensor applications.

PubMed

Yang, Huijia; Zhou, Minghua; Liu, Mengmeng; Yang, Weilu; Gu, Tingyue

2015-12-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) face major hurdles for real-world applications as power generators with the exception of powering small sensor devices. Despite tremendous improvements made in the last two decades, MFCs are still too expensive to build and operate and their power output is still too small. In view of this, in recently years, intensive researches have been carried out to expand the applications into other areas such as acid and alkali production, bioremediation of aquatic sediments, desalination and biosensors. Unlike power applications, MFC sensors have the immediate prospect to be practical. This review covers the latest developments in various proposed biosensor applications using MFCs including monitoring microbial activity, testing biochemical oxygen demand, detection of toxicants and detection of microbial biofilms that cause biocorrosion.

Microbial Fuel Cell Possibilities on American Indian Tribal Lands

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cameron, Kimberlynn

The purpose of this paper is to present a brief background of tribal reservations, the process of how Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) work, and the potential benefits of using MFCs on tribal reservations to convert waste water to energy as a means to sustainably generate electricity. There have been no known studies conducted on tribal lands that would be able to add to the estimated percentage of all renewable energy resources identified. Not only does MFC technology provide a compelling, innovative solution, it could also address better management of wastewater, using it as a form of energy generation. Using wastewatermore » for clean energy generation could provide a viable addition to community infrastructure systems improvements.« less

Immobilization of a Metal-Nitrogen-Carbon Catalyst on Activated Carbon with Enhanced Cathode Performance in Microbial Fuel Cells.

PubMed

Yang, Wulin; Logan, Bruce E

2016-08-23

Applications of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are limited in part by low power densities mainly due to cathode performance. Successful immobilization of an Fe-N-C co-catalyst on activated carbon (Fe-N-C/AC) improved the oxygen reduction reaction to nearly a four-electron transfer, compared to a twoelectron transfer achieved using AC. With acetate as the fuel, the maximum power density was 4.7±0.2 W m(-2) , which is higher than any previous report for an air-cathode MFC. With domestic wastewater as a fuel, MFCs with the Fe-N-C/AC cathode produced up to 0.8±0.03 W m(-2) , which was twice that obtained with a Pt-catalyzed cathode. The use of this Fe-N-C/AC catalyst can therefore substantially increase power production, and enable broader applications of MFCs for renewable electricity generation using waste materials. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Exterior egg quality as affected by enrichment resources layout in furnished laying-hen cages.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Chen, Donghua; Meng, Fanyu; Su, Yingying; Wang, Lisha; Zhang, Runxiang; Li, Jianhong; Bao, Jun

2017-10-01

This study aimed to investigate the effects of enrichment resources (a perch, dustbath, and nest) layout in furnished laying-hen cages (FC) on exterior quality of eggs. One hundred and sixty-eight (168) Hy-Line Brown laying hens at 16 weeks of age were randomly distributed to four treatments: small furnished cages (SFC), medium furnished cages type I (MFC-I), medium furnished cages type II (MFC-II), and medium furnished cages type III (MFC-III). Each treatment had 4 replicates or cages with 6 hens for SFC (24 birds for each SFC) and 12 hen/cage for MFC-I, -II, and -III (48 birds for each MFC-I, -II and -III). Following a 2-week acclimation, data collection started at 18 weeks of age and continued till 52 weeks of age. Dirtiness of egg surface or cracked shell as indicators of the exterior egg quality were recorded each week. The results showed that the proportion of cracked or dirty eggs was significantly affected by the FC type (p<0.01) in that the highest proportion of cracked or dirty eggs was found in MFC-I and the lowest proportion of dirty eggs in SFC. The results of this showed that furnished cage types affected both dirty eggs and cracked eggs (p<0.01). The results also indicated that not nest but dustbath lead to more dirty eggs. Only MFC-I had higher dirty eggs at nest than other FC (p< 0.01). The results of dirty eggs in MFC-I and MFC-II compared with SFC and MFC-III seemed suggest that a low position of dustbath led to more dirty eggs. SFC design affected exterior egg quality and the low position of dustbath in FC resulted in higher proportion of dirty eggs.

[Electricity generation using high concentration terephthalic acid solution by microbial fuel cell].

PubMed

Ye, Ye-Jie; Song, Tian-Shun; Xu, Yuan; Chen, Ying-Wen; Zhu, She-Min; Shen, Shu-Bao

2009-04-15

The high concentration terephthalic acid (TA) solution as the substrate of microbial fuel cell (MFC) was studied to generate electricity. The open circuit voltage was 0.54 V after inoculating for 210 h with anaerobic activated sludge, which proved that TA can be the substrate of microbial fuel cell to generate electricity. The influence of pH and substrate concentration on generating electricity was studied deeply. The voltage output of external resistance (R = 1,000 Omega) was the highest when pH was 8.0. It increased as the substrate concentration increasing and tended towards a maximum value. The maximum voltage output Umax was 0.5 V and Ks was 785.2 mg/L by Monod equation regression. When the substrate concentration (according to COD) was 4000 mg/L, the maximum power density was 96.3 mW/m2, coulomb efficiency was 2.66% and COD removal rate was 80.3%.

Sustainable power generation in continuous flow microbial fuel cell treating actual wastewater: influence of biocatalyst type on electricity production.

PubMed

Ismail, Zainab Z; Jaeel, Ali Jwied

2013-01-01

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have the potential to simultaneously treat wastewater for reuse and to generate electricity. This study mainly considers the performance of an upflow dual-chambered MFC continuously fueled with actual domestic wastewater and alternatively biocatalyzed with aerobic activated sludge and strain of Bacillus Subtilis. The behavior of MFCs during initial biofilm growth and characterization of anodic biofilm were studied. After 45 days of continuous operation, the biofilms on the anodic electrode were well developed. The performance of MFCs was mainly evaluated in terms of COD reductions and electrical power output. Results revealed that the COD removal efficiency was 84% and 90% and the stabilized power outputs were clearly observed achieving a maximum value of 120 and 270 mW/m(2) obtained for MFCs inoculated with mixed cultures and Bacillus Subtilis strain, respectively.

Molecular factor computing for predictive spectroscopy.

PubMed

Dai, Bin; Urbas, Aaron; Douglas, Craig C; Lodder, Robert A

2007-08-01

The concept of molecular factor computing (MFC)-based predictive spectroscopy was demonstrated here with quantitative analysis of ethanol-in-water mixtures in a MFC-based prototype instrument. Molecular computing of vectors for transformation matrices enabled spectra to be represented in a desired coordinate system. New coordinate systems were selected to reduce the dimensionality of the spectral hyperspace and simplify the mechanical/electrical/computational construction of a new MFC spectrometer employing transmission MFC filters. A library search algorithm was developed to calculate the chemical constituents of the MFC filters. The prototype instrument was used to collect data from 39 ethanol-in-water mixtures (range 0-14%). For each sample, four different voltage outputs from the detector (forming two factor scores) were measured by using four different MFC filters. Twenty samples were used to calibrate the instrument and build a multivariate linear regression prediction model, and the remaining samples were used to validate the predictive ability of the model. In engineering simulations, four MFC filters gave an adequate calibration model (r2 = 0.995, RMSEC = 0.229%, RMSECV = 0.339%, p = 0.05 by f test). This result is slightly better than a corresponding PCR calibration model based on corrected transmission spectra (r2 = 0.993, RMSEC = 0.359%, RMSECV = 0.551%, p = 0.05 by f test). The first actual MFC prototype gave an RMSECV = 0.735%. MFC was a viable alternative to conventional spectrometry with the potential to be more simply implemented and more rapid and accurate.

Hydrogen and electricity production from a food processing wastewater using fermentation and microbial fuel cell technologies.

PubMed

Oh, Sang Eun; Logan, Bruce E

2005-11-01

Hydrogen can be produced from fermentation of sugars in wastewaters, but much of the organic matter remains in solution. We demonstrate here that hydrogen production from a food processing wastewater high in sugar can be linked to electricity generation using a microbial fuel cell (MFC) to achieve more effective wastewater treatment. Grab samples were taken from: plant effluent at two different times during the day (Effluents 1 and 2; 735+/-15 and 3250+/-90 mg-COD/L), an equalization tank (Lagoon; 1670+/-50mg-COD/L), and waste stream containing a high concentration of organic matter (Cereal; 8920+/-150 mg-COD/L). Hydrogen production from the Lagoon and effluent samples was low, with 64+/-16 mL of hydrogen per liter of wastewater (mL/L) for Effluent 1, 21+/-18 mL/L for Effluent 2, and 16+/-2 mL/L for the Lagoon sample. There was substantially greater hydrogen production using the Cereal wastewater (210+/-56 mL/L). Assuming a theoretical maximum yield of 4 mol of hydrogen per mol of glucose, hydrogen yields were 0.61-0.79 mol/mol for the Cereal wastewater, and ranged from 1 to 2.52 mol/mol for the other samples. This suggests a strategy for hydrogen recovery from wastewater based on targeting high-COD and high-sugar wastewaters, recognizing that sugar content alone is an insufficient predictor of hydrogen yields. Preliminary tests with the Cereal wastewater (diluted to 595 mg-COD/L) in a two-chambered MFC demonstrated a maximum of 81+/-7 mW/m(2) (normalized to the anode surface area), or 25+/-2 mA per liter of wastewater, and a final COD of <30 mg/L (95% removal). Using a one-chambered MFC and pre-fermented wastewater, the maximum power density was 371+/-10 mW/m(2) (53.5+/-1.4 mA per liter of wastewater). These results suggest that it is feasible to link biological hydrogen production and electricity producing using MFCs in order to achieve both wastewater treatment and bioenergy production.

Preparation of Surlyn films reinforced with cellulose nanofibres and feasibility of applying the transparent composite films for organic photovoltaic encapsulation

PubMed Central

Lertngim, Anantaya; Phiriyawirut, Manisara; Yuwawech, Kitti; Sangkhun, Weradesh; Kumnorkaew, Pisist; Muangnapoh, Tanyakorn

2017-01-01

This research concerns the development of Surlyn film reinforced with micro-/nanofibrillated celluloses (MFC) for use as an encapsulant in organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of fibre types and the mixing methods on the structure–properties of the composite films. Three types of cellulose micro/nanofibrils were prepared: the as-received MFC, the dispersed MFC and the esterified MFC. The fibres were mixed with Surlyn via an extrusion process, using two different mixing methods. It was found that the extent of fibre disintegration and tensile modulus of the composite films prepared by the master-batching process was superior to that of the composite system prepared by the direct mixing method. Using the esterified MFC as a reinforcement, compatibility between polymer and the fibre increased, accompanied with the improvement of the percentage elongation of the Surlyn composite film. The percentage of light transmittance of the Surlyn/MFC films was above 88, regardless of the fibre types and fibre concentrations. The water vapour transmission rate of the Surlyn/esterified MFC film was 65% lower than that of the neat Surlyn film. This contributed to the longer lifetime of the OPV encapsulated with the Surlyn/esterified MFC film. PMID:29134083

Preparation of Surlyn films reinforced with cellulose nanofibres and feasibility of applying the transparent composite films for organic photovoltaic encapsulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lertngim, Anantaya; Phiriyawirut, Manisara; Wootthikanokkhan, Jatuphorn; Yuwawech, Kitti; Sangkhun, Weradesh; Kumnorkaew, Pisist; Muangnapoh, Tanyakorn

2017-10-01

This research concerns the development of Surlyn film reinforced with micro-/nanofibrillated celluloses (MFC) for use as an encapsulant in organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. The aim of this work was to investigate the effects of fibre types and the mixing methods on the structure-properties of the composite films. Three types of cellulose micro/nanofibrils were prepared: the as-received MFC, the dispersed MFC and the esterified MFC. The fibres were mixed with Surlyn via an extrusion process, using two different mixing methods. It was found that the extent of fibre disintegration and tensile modulus of the composite films prepared by the master-batching process was superior to that of the composite system prepared by the direct mixing method. Using the esterified MFC as a reinforcement, compatibility between polymer and the fibre increased, accompanied with the improvement of the percentage elongation of the Surlyn composite film. The percentage of light transmittance of the Surlyn/MFC films was above 88, regardless of the fibre types and fibre concentrations. The water vapour transmission rate of the Surlyn/esterified MFC film was 65% lower than that of the neat Surlyn film. This contributed to the longer lifetime of the OPV encapsulated with the Surlyn/esterified MFC film.

Simultaneous sulfide removal, nitrification, and electricity generation in a microbial fuel cell equipped with an oxic cathode.

PubMed

Bao, Renbing; Zhang, Shaohui; Zhao, Li; Zhong, Liuxiang

2017-02-01

With sulfide as an anodic electron donor and ammonium as a cathodic substrate, the feasibility of simultaneous sulfide removal, nitrification, and electricity generation was investigated in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) equipped with an oxic cathode. Successful simultaneous sulfide removal, nitrification, and electricity generation in this MFC were achieved in 35 days, with the sulfide and ammonium removal percent of 92.7 ± 1.4 and 96.4 ± 0.3%, respectively. The maximum power density increased, but the internal resistance decreased with the increase of feeding sulfide concentration from 62.9 ± 0.3 to 238.5 ± 0.2 mg S/L. Stable ammonium removal with complete nitrification, preparing for future denitrification, was obtained throughout the current study. Sulfide removal loading significantly increased with the increase of feeding sulfide concentration at each external resistance, but no significant correlation between sulfide removal loading and external resistance was found at each feeding sulfide concentration. The charge recovery and anodic coulombic efficiency (CE) significantly decreased with the increase of external resistance. High feeding sulfide concentration led to low anodic CE. Granular sulfur deposition was found on the anode graphite fiber. The appropriate feeding sulfide concentration for sulfide removal and sulfur deposition was deemed to be 178.0 ± 1.7 mg S/L, achieving a sulfur deposition percent of 69.7 ± 0.6%.

Electricity generation from real industrial wastewater using a single-chamber air cathode microbial fuel cell with an activated carbon anode.

PubMed

Mohamed, Hend Omar; Obaid, M; Sayed, Enas Taha; Liu, Yang; Lee, Jinpyo; Park, Mira; Barakat, Nasser A M; Kim, Hak Yong

2017-08-01

This study introduces activated carbon (AC) as an effective anode for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) using real industrial wastewater without treatment or addition of external microorganism mediators. Inexpensive activated carbon is introduced as a proper electrode alternative to carbon cloth and carbon paper materials, which are considered too expensive for the large-scale application of MFCs. AC has a porous interconnected structure with a high bio-available surface area. The large surface area, in addition to the high macro porosity, facilitates the high performance by reducing electron transfer resistance. Extensive characterization, including surface morphology, material chemistry, surface area, mechanical strength and biofilm adhesion, was conducted to confirm the effectiveness of the AC material as an anode in MFCs. The electrochemical performance of AC was also compared to other anodes, i.e., Teflon-treated carbon cloth (CCT), Teflon-treated carbon paper (CPT), untreated carbon cloth (CC) and untreated carbon paper (CP). Initial tests of a single air-cathode MFC display a current density of 1792 mAm -2 , which is approximately four times greater than the maximum value of the other anode materials. COD analyses and Coulombic efficiency (CE) measurements for AC-MFC show the greatest removal of organic compounds and the highest CE efficiency (60 and 71%, respectively). Overall, this study shows a new economical technique for power generation from real industrial wastewater with no treatment and using inexpensive electrode materials.

Three-dimensional graphene nanosheets as cathode catalysts in standard and supercapacitive microbial fuel cell

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santoro, Carlo; Kodali, Mounika; Kabir, Sadia; Soavi, Francesca; Serov, Alexey; Atanassov, Plamen

2017-07-01

Three-dimensional graphene nanosheets (3D-GNS) were used as cathode catalysts for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) operating in neutral conditions. 3D-GNS catalysts showed high performance towards oxygen electroreduction in neutral media with high current densities and low hydrogen peroxide generation compared to activated carbon (AC). 3D-GNS was incorporated into air-breathing cathodes based on AC with three different loadings (2, 6 and 10 mgcm-2). Performances in MFCs showed that 3D-GNS had the highest performances with power densities of 2.059 ± 0.003 Wm-2, 1.855 ± 0.007 Wm-2 and 1.503 ± 0.005 Wm-2 for loading of 10, 6 and 2 mgcm-2 respectively. Plain AC had the lowest performances (1.017 ± 0.009 Wm-2). The different cathodes were also investigated in supercapacitive MFCs (SC-MFCs). The addition of 3D-GNS decreased the ohmic losses by 14-25%. The decrease in ohmic losses allowed the SC-MFC with 3D-GNS (loading 10 mgcm-2) to have the maximum power (Pmax) of 5.746 ± 0.186 Wm-2. At 5 mA, the SC-MFC featured an "apparent" capacitive response that increased from 0.027 ± 0.007 F with AC to 0.213 ± 0.026 F with 3D-GNS (loading 2 mgcm-2) and further to 1.817 ± 0.040 F with 3D-GNS (loading 10 mgcm-2).

Single-chamber microbial fuel cells as on-line shock-sensors for volatile fatty acids in anaerobic digesters.

PubMed

Schievano, Andrea; Colombo, Alessandra; Cossettini, Alessandra; Goglio, Andrea; D'Ardes, Vincenzo; Trasatti, Stefano; Cristiani, Pierangela

2018-01-01

In anaerobic digesters (AD), volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentration is a critical operative parameter, which is usually manually monitored to prevent inhibition of microbial consortia. An on-line VFAs monitoring system as early-warning for increasing concentrations would be of great help for operators. Here, air-cathode membraneless microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were investigated as potential biosensors, whose electrical signal instantaneously moves from its steady value with the accumulation of VFAs in the anodic solution. MFCs were operated equipping four lab-scale ADs with carbon-based electrodes. Reactors were filled with the digestate from a full-scale AD and fed in batch with four kinds of feedstock (cheese whey, kitchen waste, citrus pulp and fishery waste). The MFC signal initially increased in parallel to VFAs production, then tended to a steady value for VFAs concentrations above 1000mg Ac L -1 . Peak concentrations of tVFAs (2500-4500mg Ac L -1 ) and MFCs potentials were negatively correlated (r=0.916, p<0.05), regardless of the type of substrate. Inhibition of the MFC system occurred when VFAs increased fast above 4000mg Ac L -1 . Polarization curves of electrodes stressed that electroactive bacteria on bioanodes were strongly subjected to inhibition. The inhibition of electroactivity on bioanode trended like typical shock-sensors, opening to direct application as early-warning monitoring system in full-scale ADs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Porous Ni0.1Mn0.9O1.45 microellipsoids as high-performance anode electrocatalyst for microbial fuel cells.

PubMed

Zeng, Lizhen; Zhang, Wenguang; Xia, Pan; Tu, Wenqiang; Ye, Changchun; He, Miao

2018-04-15

A novel bi-component composite of porous self-assembled micro-/nanostructured Ni 0.1 Mn 0.9 O 1.45 microellipsoids as high-performance anode electrocatalyst for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is successfully synthesized via a simple coprecipitation reaction in microemulsion and calcination method in air atmosphere. The morphology and structural characterization indicate that the as-fabricated Ni 0.1 Mn 0.9 O 1.45 product is consist of Mn 2 O 3 and NiMn 2 O 4 (n(Mn 2 O 3) : n(NiMn 2 O 4 ) = 0.35: 0.1) and has a porous microellipsoidal morphology. The microellipsoids are compose of numerous layered micro-/nanostructured blocks and the special porous microellipsoids structure of Ni 0.1 Mn 0.9 O 1.45 offers a large specific surface area for bacteria adhesion. The porous Ni 0.1 Mn 0.9 O 1.45 microellipsoids as anode electrocatalyst for MFCs exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity to promote the extracellular electron transfer (EET) between the anode and bacteria, hence improves the performance of MFC. The MFC equipped with Ni 0.1 Mn 0.9 O 1.45 /CF anode achieves a maximum power density of 1.39 ± 0.02Wm -2 , is significantly higher than that of commercial carbon felt anode. This work proposes a new method for the synthesis of high-performance and environmentally friendly anode electrocatalyst for MFCs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Industrial wastewater treatment with a bioelectrochemical process: assessment of depuration efficiency and energy production.

PubMed

Molognoni, Daniele; Chiarolla, Stefania; Cecconet, Daniele; Callegari, Arianna; Capodaglio, Andrea G

2018-01-01

Development of renewable energy sources, efficient industrial processes, energy/chemicals recovery from wastes are research issues that are quite contemporary. Bioelectrochemical processes represent an eco-innovative technology for energy and resources recovery from both domestic and industrial wastewaters. The current study was conducted to: (i) assess bioelectrochemical treatability of industrial (dairy) wastewater by microbial fuel cells (MFCs); (ii) determine the effects of the applied organic loading rate (OLR) on MFC performance; (iii) identify factors responsible for reactor energy recovery losses (i.e. overpotentials). For this purpose, an MFC was built and continuously operated for 72 days, during which the anodic chamber was fed with dairy wastewater and the cathodic chamber with an aerated mineral solution. The study demonstrated that industrial effluents from agrifood facilities can be treated by bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) with >85% (average) organic matter removal, recovering power at an observed maximum density of 27 W m -3 . Outcomes were better than in previous (shorter) analogous experiences, and demonstrate that this type of process could be successfully used for dairy wastewater with several advantages.

Power output of microbial fuel cell emphasizing interaction of anodic binder with bacteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Hongying; Liao, Bo; Xiong, Juan; Zhou, Xingwang; Zhi, Huozhen; Liu, Xiang; Li, Xiaoping; Li, Weishan

2018-03-01

Electrochemically active biofilm is necessary for the electron transfer between bacteria and anodic electrode in microbial fuel cells and selecting the type of anodic electrode material that favours formation of electrochemically active biofilm is crucial for the microbial fuel cell operation. We report a new finding that the interaction of anodic binder with bacteria plays more important role than its hydrophilicity for forming an electrochemically active biofilm, which is emphasized by applying poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin) as an anodic binder of the microbial fuel cell based on carbon nanotubes as anodic electrode and Escherichia coli as bacterium. The physical characterizations and electrochemical measurements demonstrate that poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin) exhibits a strong interaction with bacteria and thus provides the microbial fuel cell with excellent power density output. The MFC using poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin) reaches a maximum power density output of 3.8 W m-2. This value is larger than that of the MFCs using polytetrafluoroethylene that has poorer hydrophilicity, or polyvinyl alcohol that has better hydrophilicity but exhibits weaker interaction with bacteria than poly(bisphenol A-co-epichorohydrin).

Taking the Test Taker's Perspective: Response Process and Test Motivation in Multidimensional Forced-Choice Versus Rating Scale Instruments.

PubMed

Sass, Rachelle; Frick, Susanne; Reips, Ulf-Dietrich; Wetzel, Eunike

2018-03-01

The multidimensional forced-choice (MFC) format has been proposed as an alternative to the rating scale (RS) response format. However, it is unclear how changing the response format may affect the response process and test motivation of participants. In Study 1, we investigated the MFC response process using the think-aloud technique. In Study 2, we compared test motivation between the RS format and different versions of the MFC format (presenting 2, 3, 4, and 5 items simultaneously). The response process to MFC item blocks was similar to the RS response process but involved an additional step of weighing the items within a block against each other. The RS and MFC response format groups did not differ in their test motivation. Thus, from the test taker's perspective, the MFC format is somewhat more demanding to respond to, but this does not appear to decrease test motivation.

Augmenting atrazine and hexachlorobenzene degradation under different soil redox conditions in a bioelectrochemistry system and an analysis of the relevant microorganisms.

PubMed

Wang, Hui; Cao, Xian; Li, Lei; Fang, Zhou; Li, Xianning

2018-01-01

Soil microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a sustainable technology that degrades organic pollutants while generating electricity. However, there have been no detailed studies of the mechanisms of pollutant degradation in soil MFCs. In this study, the effects of external resistance and electrode effectiveness on atrazine and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) degradation were evaluated, the performance of soil MFCs in the degradation of these pollutants under different soil redox conditions was assessed, and the associated microorganisms in the anode were investigated. With an external resistance of 20Ω, the degradation efficiencies of atrazine and HCB were 95% and 78%, respectively. The degradation efficiency, degradation rate increased with decreasing external resistance, while the half-life decreased. There were different degradation trends for different pollutants under different soil redox conditions. The fastest degradation rate of atrazine was in the upper MFC section (aerobic), whereas that of HCB was in the lower MFC section (anaerobic). The results showed that electrode effectiveness played a significant role in pollution degradation. In addition, the microbial community analysis demonstrated that Proteobacteria, especially Deltaproteobacteria involved in current generation was extremely abundant (27.49%) on soil MFC anodes, although the percentage abundances of atrazine degrading Rhodocyclaceae (8.77%), Desulfitobacterium (0.64%), and HCB degrading Desulfuromonas (0.73%), were considerably lower. The results of the study suggested that soil MFCs can enhance the degradation of atrazine and HCB, and bioelectrochemical reduction was the main mechanism for the pollutants degradation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microbial fuel cells: From fundamentals to applications. A review.

PubMed

Santoro, Carlo; Arbizzani, Catia; Erable, Benjamin; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

2017-07-15

In the past 10-15 years, the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has captured the attention of the scientific community for the possibility of transforming organic waste directly into electricity through microbially catalyzed anodic, and microbial/enzymatic/abiotic cathodic electrochemical reactions. In this review, several aspects of the technology are considered. Firstly, a brief history of abiotic to biological fuel cells and subsequently, microbial fuel cells is presented. Secondly, the development of the concept of microbial fuel cell into a wider range of derivative technologies, called bioelectrochemical systems, is described introducing briefly microbial electrolysis cells, microbial desalination cells and microbial electrosynthesis cells. The focus is then shifted to electroactive biofilms and electron transfer mechanisms involved with solid electrodes. Carbonaceous and metallic anode materials are then introduced, followed by an explanation of the electro catalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction and its behavior in neutral media, from recent studies. Cathode catalysts based on carbonaceous, platinum-group metal and platinum-group-metal-free materials are presented, along with membrane materials with a view to future directions. Finally, microbial fuel cell practical implementation, through the utilization of energy output for practical applications, is described.

Diversifying biological fuel cell designs by use of nanoporous filters.

PubMed

Biffinger, Justin C; Ray, Ricky; Little, Brenda; Ringeisen, Bradley R

2007-02-15

The use of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in biological fuel cells limits the diversity of novel designs for increasing output power or enabling autonomous function in unique environments. Here we show that selected nanoporous polymer filters (nylon, cellulose, or polycarbonate) can be used effectively in place of PEMs in a miniature microbial fuel cell (mini-MFC, device cross-section 2 cm2), generating a power density of 16 W/m3 with an uncoated graphite felt oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) cathode. The incorporation of polycarbonate or nylon membranes into biological fuel cell designs produced comparable power and durability to Nafion-117 membranes. Also, high power densities for novel larger (5 cm3 anode volume, 0.6 W/m3) and smaller (0.025 cm3 projected geometric volume, average power density 10 W/m3) chamberless and pumpless microbial fuel cells were observed. As an additional benefit, the nanoporous membranes isolated the anode from invading natural bacteria, increasing the potential applications for MFCs beyond aquatic sediment environments. This work is a practical solution for decreasing the cost of biological fuel cells while incorporating new features for powering long-term autonomous devices.

Microbial fuel cells: From fundamentals to applications. A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santoro, Carlo; Arbizzani, Catia; Erable, Benjamin; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

2017-07-01

In the past 10-15 years, the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has captured the attention of the scientific community for the possibility of transforming organic waste directly into electricity through microbially catalyzed anodic, and microbial/enzymatic/abiotic cathodic electrochemical reactions. In this review, several aspects of the technology are considered. Firstly, a brief history of abiotic to biological fuel cells and subsequently, microbial fuel cells is presented. Secondly, the development of the concept of microbial fuel cell into a wider range of derivative technologies, called bioelectrochemical systems, is described introducing briefly microbial electrolysis cells, microbial desalination cells and microbial electrosynthesis cells. The focus is then shifted to electroactive biofilms and electron transfer mechanisms involved with solid electrodes. Carbonaceous and metallic anode materials are then introduced, followed by an explanation of the electro catalysis of the oxygen reduction reaction and its behavior in neutral media, from recent studies. Cathode catalysts based on carbonaceous, platinum-group metal and platinum-group-metal-free materials are presented, along with membrane materials with a view to future directions. Finally, microbial fuel cell practical implementation, through the utilization of energy output for practical applications, is described.

Frontal Theta Dynamics during Response Conflict in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators

PubMed Central

Jo, Han-Gue; Malinowski, Peter; Schmidt, Stefan

2017-01-01

Mindfulness meditators often show greater efficiency in resolving response conflicts than non-meditators. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the improved behavioral efficiency are unclear. Here, we investigated frontal theta dynamics—a neural mechanism involved in cognitive control processes—in long-term mindfulness meditators. The dynamics of EEG theta oscillations (4–8 Hz) recorded over the medial frontal cortex (MFC) were examined in terms of their power (MFC theta power) and their functional connectivity with other brain areas (the MFC-centered theta network). Using a flanker-type paradigm, EEG data were obtained from 22 long-term mindfulness meditators and compared to those from 23 matched controls without meditation experience. Meditators showed more efficient cognitive control after conflicts, evidenced by fewer error responses irrespective of response timing. Furthermore, meditators exhibited enhanced conflict modulations of the MFC-centered theta network shortly before the response, in particular for the functional connection between the MFC and the motor cortex. In contrast, MFC theta power was comparable between groups. These results suggest that the higher behavioral efficiency after conflicts in mindfulness meditators could be a function of increased engagement to control the motor system in association with the MFC-centered theta network. PMID:28638334

European emissions of HFC-365mfc, a chlorine-free substitute for the foam blowing agents HCFC-141b and CFC-11.

PubMed

Stemmler, Konrad; Folini, Doris; Ubl, Sandy; Vollmer, Martin K; Reimann, Stefan; O'Doherty, Simon; Greally, Brian R; Simmonds, Peter G; Manning, Alistair J

2007-02-15

HFC-365mfc (1,1,1,3,3-pentafluorobutane) is an industrial chemical used for polyurethane foam blowing. From early 2003, HFC-365mfc has been commercially produced as a substitute for HCFC-141b, whose use in Europe has been banned since January 2004. We describe the first detection of HFC-365mfc in the atmosphere and report on a 2 year long record at the high Alpine station of Jungfraujoch (Switzerland) and the Atlantic coast station of Mace Head (Ireland). The measurements at Jungfraujoch are used to estimate the central European emissions of HFC-365mfc, HCFC-141b, and CFC-11. For HFC-365mfc, we estimate the central European emissions (Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg) in 2003 and 2004 as 400-500 tonnes year(-1). These emissions are about one-third lower on a per capita basis than what we estimate from the Mace Head measurements for the total of Europe. The estimated emissions of HCFC-141b for central Europe are higher (i.e., 7.2-3.5 ktonnes year(-1)) with a decreasing trend in the period from 2000 to 2004. Residual emissions of CFC-11 are estimated at 2.4-4.7 ktonnes year(-1) in the same time period. The Po Valley (northern Italy) appears to be a main source region for HFC-365mfc and for the former blowing agents HCFC-141b and CFC-11. In 2004, the emissions of HFC-365mfc arose from a wider region of Europe, which we attribute to an increased penetration of HFC-365mfc into the European market.

Allometric scaling of microbial fuel cells and stacks: The lifeform case for scale-up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greenman, John; Ieropoulos, Ioannis A.

2017-07-01

This case study reports for the first time on the comparison between allometric scaling of lifeforms and scale-up of microbial fuel cell entities; enlarging individual units in volume, footprint and electrode surface area but also multiplying a static size/footprint and electrode surface area to scale-up by stacking. A study published in 2010 by DeLong et al. showed for the first time that Kleiber's law does not apply uniformly to all lifeforms, and that in fact growth rate for prokaryotes is superlinear, for protists is linear and for metazoa is sublinear. The current study, which is utilising data from previous experiments, is showing for the first time that for individual MFC units, which are enlarged, growth rate/power is sublinear, whereas for stacks this is superlinear.

Effect of growth solution, membrane size and array connection on microbial fuel cell power supply for medical devices.

PubMed

Roxby, Daniel N; Nham Tran; Pak-Lam Yu; Nguyen, Hung T

2016-08-01

Implanted biomedical devices typically last a number of years before their batteries are depleted and a surgery is required to replace them. A Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a device which by using bacteria, directly breaks down sugars to generate electricity. Conceptually there is potential to continually power implanted medical devices for the lifetime of a patient. To investigate the practical potential of this technology, H-Cell Dual Chamber MFCs were evaluated with two different growth solutions and measurements recorded for maximum power output both of individual MFCs and connected MFCs. Using Luria-Bertani media and connecting MFCs in a hybrid series and parallel arrangement with larger membrane sizes showed the highest power output and the greatest potential for replacing implanted batteries.

Microfibrillated cellulose - its barrier properties and applications in cellulosic materials: a review.

PubMed

Lavoine, Nathalie; Desloges, Isabelle; Dufresne, Alain; Bras, Julien

2012-10-01

Interest in microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) has been increasing exponentially. During the last decade, this bio-based nanomaterial was essentially used in nanocomposites for its reinforcement property. Its nano-scale dimensions and its ability to form a strong entangled nanoporous network, however, have encouraged the emergence of new high-value applications. In previous years, its mode of production has completely changed, as many forms of optimization have been developed. New sources, new mechanical processes, and new pre- and post-treatments are currently under development to reduce the high energy consumption and produce new types of MFC materials on an industrial scale. The nanoscale characterization possibilities of different MFC materials are thus increasing intensively. Therefore, it is critical to review such MFC materials and their properties. Moreover, very recent studies have proved the significant barrier properties of MFC. Hence, it is proposed to focus on the barrier properties of MFC used in films, in nanocomposites, or in paper coating. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Theta dynamics reveal domain-specific control over stimulus and response conflict.

PubMed

Nigbur, Roland; Cohen, Michael X; Ridderinkhof, K Richard; Stürmer, Birgit

2012-05-01

Cognitive control allows us to adjust to environmental changes. The medial frontal cortex (MFC) is thought to detect conflicts and recruit additional resources from other brain areas including the lateral prefrontal cortices. Here we investigated how the MFC acts in concert with visual, motor, and lateral prefrontal cortices to support adaptations of goal-directed behavior. Physiologically, these interactions may occur through local and long-range synchronized oscillation dynamics, particularly in the theta range (4-8 Hz). A speeded flanker task allowed us to investigate conflict-type-specific control networks for perceptual and response conflicts. Theta power over MFC was sensitive to both perceptual and response conflict. Interareal theta phase synchrony, however, indicated a selective enhancement specific for response conflicts between MFC and left frontal cortex as well as between MFC and the presumed motor cortex contralateral to the response hand. These findings suggest that MFC theta-band activity is both generally involved in conflict processing and specifically involved in linking a neural network controlling response conflict.

Catastrophic complication following injection and extracorporeal shock wave therapy of a medial femoral condyle subchondral cystic lesion in a 14 year old Arabian mare.

PubMed

Moser, Darla K; Schoonover, Mike J; Sippel, Kate M; Dieterly, Alix M; Ritchey, Jerry W; Wall, Corey R

2017-01-01

This report describes fibrous cyst lining injection and extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) of a medial femoral condyle (MFC) subchondral cystic lesion (SCL) resulting in catastrophic MFC fracture in an Arabian mare. The mare was presented for evaluation of a severe hind limb lameness of approximately 4 months duration. On presentation, a non-weight bearing lameness of the left hind limb with severe effusion and soft tissue swelling of the stifle region was noted. Radiographic evaluation of the stifle revealed a large SCL of the MFC with associated osteoarthritis. Arthroscopic guided intra-lesional injection of the SCL with corticosteroids and autologous bone marrow concentrate was performed followed by ESWT of the MFC. The mare was discharged walking comfortably 48-hours post-operatively. An acute increase in lameness was noted 14 days post-operatively. Imaging revealed catastrophic fracture of the left MFC. Possible mechanisms leading to failure of the MFC secondary to the described treatment are discussed.