Carmen Fuentes‐Albarrán, Katy Juárez, Sergio Gamboa et al.

Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology • 2020

Abstract BACKGROUND Microbial fuel cell (MFC) power production is limited by the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The quest for platinum‐free materials for improving the cathodic ORR in MFCs is a challenging task. Birnessite‐type MnO 2 /carbon cathodes in MFCs have been rarely reported so far. In this work, a birnessite/C cathode was tested in a MFC. RESULTS A birnessite/C cathode was synthesized (using a rapid, facile and low‐cost method) and its structural and morphological characteristics were assessed. The ORR on such a cathode was investigated using linear sweep voltammetry in a catholyte of 0.8 mol L –1 Na 2 SO 4 , pH 2 (same conditions as those of experimental MFCs). The current density values were higher than those for a plain C cathode. The volumetric power density improved from 224 to 6201 mW m −3 on replacing the plain C cathode with the birnessite/C cathode in a MFC. Deltaproteobacteria were found at the C anode and they were associated with the high power densities obtained. CONCLUSIONS Birnessite/C is a promising cathodic electrode because its synthesis is straightforward, it is not expensive and it could promote the ORR and improve the power density in MFCs. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

Siwen Wang, Xiaoling Yang, Yihua Zhu et al.

RSC Adv. • 2013

A solar-assisted microbial fuel cell (MFC) was prepared with flower-like CuInS 2 (CIS) as the photocathode. CIS with flower flakes and monodispersity could be beneficial to electron transfer under irradiation. The solar MFC achieved a maximum power density of 0.108 mW cm −2 and a current density of 0.62 mA cm −2 .

Hyeong Jae Kim, Jun Hyun Kim, Yongwon Jeon et al.

Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society • 2022

Abstract A microbial fuel cell (MFC) could be adopted as one of the biotechnological new approaches for removing groundwater contaminants of petroleum hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene, and simultaneously producing electricity. In this study, we have compared performances of single‐chamber MFCs in terms of power density and removal efficiency when operated under two different feeding conditions. In one experiment, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and phenol (BTEP) were individually fed to the MFC reactor without acetate. In another experiment, acetate was added as a co‐substrate. When operated in a batch mode, both cases showed almost complete BTEP removal efficiency while the former case produced negligible power density of ca. 1 mW/m 2 and the latter case 0.13–0.44 W/m 2 . These results imply that MFCs are promising technology for removing petroleum contaminants and for simultaneously producing electricity when suitable organic substances are provided.

Vajihe Yousefi

Energy Harvesting and Systems • 2022

Abstract The performance of four different commercial ceramic separators is inspected using response surface methodology (RSM). The thickness (A), porosity (B), SiO 2 (C), and Al 2 O 3 (D) contents of ceramics are statistically significant ( P -value<0.05) for both responses of the maximum power density (MPD) and the coulombic efficiency (CE). The interactions of AB and AC have significant influences on the MPD. For highly porous ceramics, including the unglazed wall ceramic (MFC-UGWC, 30.45% porosity) and Yellow ceramic (MFC-Y, 28.9% porosity), the MPD and CE are boosted by raising the thickness of membranes. The MPD and CE values have been enhanced from 225.07 to 321.11 mW/m 2 and from 51 to 68%, respectively, by thickening the UGWC from 3 to 9 mm. Similarly, the power performance and CE of the MFC-Y have been grown by 32% and 148.6%, respectively. However, both the MPD and CE responses have been reduced from 106.89 to 57.65 mW/m 2 and from 29 to 18.3% for the denser unglazed floor ceramic (UGFC, 11% porosity) as a consequence of thickness increment from 3 to 6 mm. Furthermore, the chemical composition of ceramics has a crucial impact on the overall performance. Richer ceramics in SiO 2 are utilized, the higher performance is achieved.

N.E. Adesiji, M. Adeoye, A.O. Omojokun et al.

Nigeria Journal of Pure and Applied Physics • 2021

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that coverts the chemical energy contents of organic matter to electrical energy by the catalytic action of microorganisms. Cow dungs as organic substrates were used in three sets of dual chambered MFCs to study the effects ofelectrodes on the open circuit voltage (OCV) generation of MFC. The anode and cathode compartments were connected using a protonexchange membrane, 1 kg of the cow dung diluted with 500 ml of water was introduced in the anode compartment of each of the setups. The electrode configurations for set-up 1, 2 and 3 respectively were Carbon-Carbon(C-C), carbon-copper(C-Cu) and carbon- zinc(C-Zn). Samples for microbial load count were collected every two days from the anode compartment of the MFC and analyzed using standard microbiological methods. The OCV of the three setups were measured daily for two weeks using a digital multimeter. The microbial load ranged from 4.2 × 104 to 8.5 × 104 CFU/ml for bacteria and 2.1 × 102 to 2.3 × 103 CFU/ml for fungi. The range (average) of the OCV obtained from the set-ups were 0.06 to 0.72 V (0.42 V) for the C–C; 0.02 to 0.67 V (0.26 V) for C-Cu and 0.11 to 0.78 V (0.39 V) for the C-Zn. The OCV for the C-C electrode combination showed an increasing trend while the OCV of C-Cu and C-Zn showed decreasing trends with increasing number of days. The C-C electrode combination gave the best OCV.
 Keywords: microbial fuel cell, open circuit voltage, electrodes, organic substrate

Yuan Liu, Zhimei Liu, Hong Liu et al.

Nanomaterials • 2019

To improve the power generation of a microbial fuel cell (MFC), a porous nitrogen-doped graphene/carbon black (NG/CB) composite as efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst was successfully synthesized by pyrolyzing graphene oxide (GO) encapsulated CB with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as a bridge. This concept-to-proof synthesis can be considered as a template-like method. Based on this method, one composite named as NG/CB-10 was acquired using the optimized GO-to-CB mass ratio of 10:1. Electrochemical tests demonstrate that NG/CB-10 can catalyze ORR in neutral-pH medium through a four-electron pathway with positively shifted the onset potential, the enhanced current density and reduced charge transfer resistance. CB addition also prolongs the stability of NG/CB-10. The enhancement in electrochemical performance of NG/CB-10 was attributed to the enlarged surface area, abundant mesopores and high content of pyridinic nitrogen. The maximum power density of MFC equipping NG/CB-10 as cathode electrocatalyst reached 936 mW·m−2, which was 26% higher than that of NG and equal to that of platinum/carbon. The cost of NG/CB-10 was reduced by 25% compared with that of NG. This work provides a novel method to synthesize promising ORR electrocatalyst for MFC in the future.

Kiran Sethia, Alka Kaushik, S. K. Jadhav et al.

World Journal of Engineering • 2015

A new approach in the field of renewable energy is- the microbial fuel cells (MFCs). It is a technique to produce bioelectricity from available organic waste. It is helpful to fulfill the lighting requirements of rural areas. The aim of our research work is to construct twocompartment system and to study various parameters like performance of the different combination of electrodes, optimization of pH and temperature. In this study, using bacteria as biocatalyst, the naturally found cow dung was used to generate an open circuit voltage of 0.84 ± 0.010 V and a current of 3.51 ± 0.620 mA. Optimization of various parameters shows that among different temperature range, 37°C temperature gives the highest voltage production of 0.84 ± 0.091 V and current of 3.08 ± 0.512 mA. In case of pH there are not any significant changes were found when pH range is changed. Although, pH 4.0 is found to be more efficient as it produces voltage of 0.90 ± 0.045 V and current of 4.85 ± 0.587 mA. Furthermore, three electrogenic bacterial strains were isolated and studied for their electrogenic properties individually and among them CDB-3 was found best in their performance.

Yohanes A Cahyono, Tilana Madurani, Widya F Azzahra et al.

Advance Sustainable Science, Engineering and Technology • 2019

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a technology developed to obtain new sources of renewable energy to produce electricity. It can be an alternative for wastewater treatment and bioenergy producers of renewable electricity. This method requires bacteria to convert substrate in wastewater into electrical energy. The mechanism of MFC were oxidation of substrate by bacteria to produce electrons and protons at the anode. The proton in anode chamber passes through a membrane exchange to the cathode chamber, however the electrons couldn’t through. It caused accumulation of electron in anode chamber and then both of electrode had a potential difference, so electron in anode chamber passed through membrane exchange to cathode chamber. In this study used dual-chambers reactors with each compartment having 8 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm of dimensions and 5 mm of thickness. This study was subjected to evaluate the performance of MFC in soybean washing wastewater treatment with bacteria of EM4 to analyze the potentials production of electricity energy. The focus of this study was to evaluate the effect of time to electricity. MFC system was observed for 40 hours, measurement of voltages and electric currents performed every 4 hours. The results showed that there was potential of electricity production from soybean wastewater treatment by MFC. The maximum electricity reached in soybean wastewater media were voltage 441 mV (at 24 h), the electric currents 170 µA and the power density 51, 35 mW/m2 (at 24 h after acclimatization). Increasing of time effect to decreasing of electricity produced.Keywords: bioenergy, electricity, microbial fuel cell, membrane, wastewater soybean

Yayah Luthfiah, Pedy Artsanti

Proceeding International Conference on Science and Engineering • 2017

The performance of electricity producing of Dual Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) using wastewater of tempe industries without glucose addition (as control substrate) and with (2% and 4%) glucose addition was observed. The anode chamber contained a waste substrate and a cathode chamber contained a 0.1 M Potassium Permanganate electrolyte solution. The salt bridge was required to stabilize the charge between the cathode and anode chambers, and the electrodes attached to the anode and cathode chambers as the electron catcher. Voltages and currents were measured using multimeter. Optical Density measured at 486 nm wavelengths was performed to estimate bacterial growth activity. All of the cells were observed for 72 hours of running time. The results of Optical Density curves showed an increasing trend of absorbance during 72 hours of running time. These were in agreement with the resulting power density, which tended to increase until the 48th hour and then relatively stable especially for the substrate with 4% glucose addition. These MFCs system could also reduce COD by 1.52%, 9.76%, and 9.64% on control substrate, 2% glucose addition substrate, and 4% glucose addition substrate, respectively.

Hui-Xu Wei, Rui Qiu, Ai-Yi Li et al.

Research Square • 2023

Abstract Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising technology for obtaining energy in wastewater. Effective extracellular electron transfer is one of the key factors for its practical application. In this work, carbon dots (CDs) enriched with oxygen-containing groups on the surface were synthesized as an efficient anode modifier using a simple hydrothermal method and common reactants. The experimental results showed that CDs-modified anodes had higher electrical conductivity, and higher hydrophilicity, could load more microorganisms, enhanced electrochemical processes in the anode biofilm, and did not affect the total content of electrobacteria in the biofilm. The CDs-modified MFCs exhibited higher maximum power density (661.1 ± 42.6 mW m − 2 ) and open-circuit voltage (534.50 ± 6.4 mV), which were significantly better than those of the blank group MFCs (484.1 ± 14.1 mW m − 2 and 447.50 ± 12.1 mV). The use of simple carbon materials to improve the microbial loading on the MFCs anode and the electron transfer between the microbial-electrode may provide a new idea for the design of efficient MFCs.

Y. Y. Yan, L. Y. Sung, H. S. Chu et al.

1st International Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology Conference • 2002

The conditions of water content in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are studied in this research. It is known that the hydrogen proton should accompany with water molecule in order to drift through the membrane from anode to cathode. This drift force will concern to the fuel cell performance. However, too much water content may result of flooding. When flooding appears, some catalyst surfaces may be covered with water and result of the catalysts inactive. This will reduce the electrochemical reaction rate. Furthermore, due to the water molecule will occupy the space, this will hinder the reactant molecules approaching to the catalyst. Therefore, the management of water for the fuel cells is very important. The performance can be optimized with a better control of cell conditions. Some important conditions that concern to the heat and water management are investigated. They include cell temperature, reactant flow rate, humidity and pressure. A standard single cell stack with active area of 25cm2 was set for this study.

Shinichi Motoda, Motoaki Morita, Sho Tamura

ECS Meeting Abstracts • 2016

For these recent several years, biomass, geothermal, wind power, and the solar power becomes the urgent issues from a development demand that arise from global environment such as the running out crisis of the fossil fuel. However, there are not so many electric power generation systems in conjunction with the ocean accounting for 70% of the surface area of the earth. In the present work, we tried it using marine environment and solar for the purpose of improving a performance of the biofilm battery which was one of the microbial fuel cells (MFC). The biofilm formed to a cathode electrode ennoble the electrode potential and the photocatalytic effect of the TiO 2 film coated metal surface of an anode electrode makes it possible to be an renewable energy source. However, we are not yet put it to a practical use by a reason such the lack of stability in the photocatalytic effect of the titanium dioxide coated on to the stainless steel anode by a plasma spraying technique. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to improve the photocatalytic activity of the anode electrode by developing the electrode which layered titanium dioxide by two phases using the the squeegee method and a plasma gas arc spraying method by improving those properties in the biofilm battery. As a result of measured electrode potential of the TiO 2 electrode, following results were obtained; 1) The photocatalytic potential of the TiO 2 single-layered electrode showed -0.63V (SCE). This made the electrode potential lower 0.13V than that of an electrode conventionally, and improvement of the photocatalytic activity. In addition, reproducibility and stability were observed in the time variations of photo potential. When this electrode assembled in a biofilm battery, the open circuit voltage rose 0.09V in comparison with a battery conventionally, and the maximum power increase 1.33 times enabled. 2) The output of the biofilm battery which assembling double layer TiO 2 anode electrode rose 1.81 times electric power in comparison with previous one. It is thought that the electron which moves from the anatase outer layer to substrate stainless steel through the rutile intermediate layer accelerated by the heterojunction effect at the anatase / rutile interface.

Bustami Ibrahim, Uju Uju, Mudji Ana Yanti

Jurnal Perikanan Terpadu • 2024

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a technology that uses exoelectrogenic bacteria to produce electrical energy. This study aims to determine the effect of the ratio of natural chitosan and zeolite on the characteristics of the chitosan / zeolite composite membrane as a PEM separator in MFC, to determine the performance of MFC in producing electricity, and to determine the performance of reducing the organic load of fishery wastewater in MFC technology applications. The chitosan/zeolite separator membrane was made with different ratio of chitosan and natural zeolite 1: 3, 1:1, 3: 1, and without a membrane (w/w). The chitosan / zeolite separator membrane is a proton exchange membrane that can transfer 20% positive ions. Separator membrane with a ratio of 3: 1 resulted in a tensile strength value of 0,855 MPa and a water uptake value of 1,8%, and ratio of 1:1 produced the highest conductivity value of 10,57 S/cm, the highest electric voltage was 0,59 V, the highest electric current was 0,51 mA, and the highest electric power was 0,30 mW. The values of COD, BOD, and TAN decreased by 45%, 46%, and 92%, and the pH value increased to 8,4.

Masoud Safarishaal, Mohammad Sarvi

AIP Advances • 2023

An efficient way to raise the proton exchange membrane fuel cell’s (PEMFC’s) power generation efficiency and power supply quality is to use maximum power point tracking (MPPT). Conventional MPPT approaches often have difficulty producing an effective control effect due to the PEMFC’s inherent nonlinear characteristics. Another challenge for systems that track maximum power points is dealing with fast changes in operational conditions that affect FC’s maximum power point (MPP). The main contribution of this study is the introduction of two artificial intelligence-based MPP control approaches for fuel cells operating under rapidly changing operating conditions. These methods are based on imperialist competitive algorithm-trained neural networks and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) (ICA NN). The proposed approaches determine the fuel cell voltage that corresponds to the maximum power point. Following that, a fuzzy logic controller is used to modify the duty cycle of a DC/DC boost converter for FC MPP tracking. The MATLAB environment is used to run simulations. The results of the proposed method are compared with those of the conventional fuzzy method. The results demonstrate that the suggested solutions function excellently in both normal operating conditions and quickly varying operating conditions. On the other hand, the suggested approaches can quickly locate and monitor the MPP of FC. Additionally, the suggested techniques increase the FC system’s efficiency by absorbing more power.

Richa Srivastava, Kumar Gaurav

Journal of Polymer Engineering • 2024

Abstract The urgent need for clean and affordable energy solutions to combat energy scarcity and global warming is paramount. Fuel cells, particularly microbial fuel cells (MFCs), offer a promising avenue for sustainable energy production. Proton exchange membranes (PEMs) are critical components in MFCs, but the high cost of Nafion, the gold standard PEM, poses a significant challenge. In this pioneering study, we tried to fabricate PEMs by crafting them from polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), coupled with innovative combinations of potassium thiocyanate (KSCN) and citric acid. The synthesized membranes were studied for their water uptake capacity, ion exchange capacity and potential applications in MFC. The maximum remarkable water uptake capacities of up to 70 % for 10 % KSCN and 64 % for 7.5 % citric acid compositions was observed. Furthermore, these PEMs exhibit ion exchange capacities (IEC) ranging from 0.024 to an impressive 0.69 meq/gm, with the 7.5 % citric acid variant showcasing the highest IEC (0.69 meq/gm). The membranes having better IEC were applied to microbial fuel cell. This results in maximum power density of 50.03 μw/cm 2 , underscoring the tremendous potential these membranes hold as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to conventional PEMs in MFCs.

Liang Zhang, Xun Zhu, Jun Li et al.

RSC Advances • 2016

Step-feed was introduced to enhance proton transfer in unbuffered MFCs and improved power generation and Coulombic efficiency.

Chi-Yuan Lee, Ya-Ni Huang

Water Science and Technology • 2013

In this study, the electricity generation and organic removal in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were examined for electrode spacing (ES) covering 5.8, 10.2, 15.1, and 19.5 cm, and for each ES the MFCs were discharged with a series of influent substrates (CODin). Results indicate that organic removal was related to CODin but not to ES. Best chemical oxygen demand (COD) removals of 64–71% could be achieved at CODin around 100 mg COD/L (0.11–0.14 kg COD/m3-day). Best power output 3.32 mW/m2 occurred at ES 5.8 cm and nominal CODin 300 mg COD/L. For every ES, the relationship of electricity generation to local substrate near anode (CODad) could be adequately modeled by Monod-type kinetics. The estimated kinetic constants involve maximum current production, Imax, 15.3–19.6 mA/m2; maximum attainable power output, Pp,max, 4.0–2.5 mW/m2; half-saturation constant of current, Ksi, 22–30 mg COD/L; and half-saturation constant of power, Ksp, 24–90 mg COD/L. This study reveals that the control over ES for improving electricity generation is dependent on the level of CODad, which profoundly affects the optimal design of electrode placement.

Yong Juan Zhang, Zhang Min, Zheng Yang et al.

Advanced Materials Research • 2010

The electrode material has the very important influence to the microbial fuel cell. The different electrode materials were studied for producing the electricity performance to MFC by the activated sludge as the substrate. The results indicated that the anode of graphite pole was 0.63 mW/cm 2 of the area power density. The carbon paper was 60 (0.50mW/cm 2 ). Carbon paper 90 was 0.23mW/cm 2 . Although having the biggest area power density, the general trend of the graphite pole is much lower than others and production of the electricity was not good. Even though the maximum of area power density of graphite pole, it might be the reason for increasing nutritive compound and elevation of temperature. The carbon paper 90 produce the area power density is the steadiest among three poles and its output voltage is a quite stable and low. MFC is excellent under carbon paper 90. The area power density had strong fluctuating scope, the power density is big and the overall value is high under carbon paper 60.

Sarita Ramsaran Yadav, Mangala Lakshmi Ragavan, Sanjeeb Kumar Mandal et al.

Fungal Territory • 2018

In the present study, the efficiency of yeast mediated microbial fuel cell (MFC) was investigated towards degradation of Trypan blue (azo dye) and electricity generation. Five yeast strains viz. SC1, SC2, SCD1, SCD2, and SCD3 were isolated from different sources. The internal resistance of yeast isolates was tested using ferric oxide reduction method. To maximize the power density of MFC, NaCl was added to the medium and NaCl tolerance of yeast strains was tested. Among the five isolates, SC1 and SCD2 showed maximum ferric oxide reduction and NaCl tolerance. Initially, 5 % of SC1 and SCD2 yeast culture were inoculated in wastewater containing azo dye (100 µg/ml) in a H-type MFC chamber and 250 ml conical flask used as a control. Increased growth of yeast strain in MFC chamber was noted compared to conical flask culture. The data of electricity generation was taken for 15 days and electricity generation was measured using the multimeter. Maximum electricity generation was noted in SC1 (950mV) followed by SCD2 (750mV). In addition, SC1 could degrade azo dye more efficiently than SCD2. Therefore, it may be concluded thatSC1 yeast mediated MFC can be used as a potential technology for electricity generation and degradation of azo dye in wastewater.

N. Evelin Paucar, Chikashi Sato

Energies • 2022

The world is predicted to face serious threats from the depletion of non-renewable energy resources, freshwater shortage, and food scarcity. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are innovative bio-electrochemical devices capable of directly converting chemical energy into electrical energy using microorganisms as a catalyst. This ability has been explored for generating electricity using wastewater as an energy source, while simultaneously treating wastewater. On the other hand, hydroponics is the cultivation of plants in water without soil. The goal of this study was to develop a novel integrated microbial fuel cell-hydroponic system (MFC-Hyp system) that possesses the ability to concurrently generate electricity while degrading organic pollutants (Chemical oxygen demand, COD) in wastewater, remove and recover nutrients (phosphorus, P and nitrogen, N) from the wastewater, and produce edible plants. The MFC-Hyp system developed in this study produced a power density of 250.7 mW/m2. The power density increased by approximately 19% and the phosphorus recovery increased to 7.5% in the presence of Allium tuberosum compared to 4.9% without the plant (e.g., in the control). The removal efficiencies of nitrate, phosphate, and COD are 32%, 11%, and 80%, respectively. The results indicate that the novel integrated MFC-Hyp system can remove COD from wastewater, generate electricity using wastewater as an energy source, and utilize nutrients for growing plants; however, this system requires further improvement for field implementation.

Raphael Policarpio

Southeast Asian Journal of Agriculture and Allied Sciences • 2023

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a system that can efficiently and directly transform several non-purified organic substrates and various waste classes into electrical energy from the activity of bacteria. The performance of the dual chamber MFC system using cow and carabao wastewater were compared under identical conditions. Each set-up comprised anode and cathode with 25L wastewater (cow or carabao), microbial inoculant derived from effective microorganisms and molasses, stainless-steel electrodes, and salt bridge as proton exchange membrane (PEM). In these conditions, the MFC was operated for twenty (20) days and three (3) replications. Maximum power densities per surface area generated were 29.19 mW/m2 for cow wastewater and 10.88 mW/m2 for carabao wastewater. Meanwhile, peak power densities per volume were recorded at 583.87 mW/m3 and 217.51 mW/m3 for cow and carabao wastewater, respectively. Deductively, cow wastewater shows significantly higher results in bioelectricity generation than carabao wastewater. Furthermore, in terms of wastewater treatment, cow wastewater provided a greater TDS reduction efficiency of 41.23% than carabao wastewater, with only 28.59%.

Alaa A Abbas, Ehab N El Sawy

ECS Meeting Abstracts • 2020

Fossil foil depletion and their environmental impact make it inevitable to find alternative energy resources. One of the promising energy sources is to generate electricity through degrading organic compounds, using biofuel cells. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are biofuel cells that produce electricity while treating wastewater, allowing for more sustainable wastewater treatment and energy production 1 . For MFC to be a real-life application, the material of its components should be efficient, cost-effective, and commercially available. MFCs anodes are the interface where the bio-electrochemical reaction takes place through electron transfer from the bacteria to the electrode to produce an electrical current 2 . Herein we test a 3D nanostructured 316L stainless steel (SS) anode to provide a high specific surface area for the bacteria to adhere to the surface, and in turn, enhances the bacterial catalytic behavior. Furthermore, the SS nanostructured samples were annealed in various gaseous atmospheres to identify the effect of different surface oxidation states on MFC anodes performance. The surface of the bare SS and the nanostructured anodes were imaged using the field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), before and after using them in the MFCs. The as anodized SS had a 3D nanostructured surface of interconnected nanorods that kept its morphology upon annealing. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was performed at a glancing angle (θ <5°), which interpreted that 316 L as received SS had a face-centered cubic structure that has gamma phase iron with the γ(111), γ (200), γ (220), γ (311), and γ (222) facets 3 , while the film formed on the as anodized SS had amorphous regions that were transferred to crystalline film upon annealing for one hour in 450 C temperature. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to characterize the composition of the fabricated SS anodes that interpreted that the film formed on SS was iron-chromium oxyhydroxide film 4 and upon annealing the ratio of metal oxides especially Fe 2 O 3 and Fe 3 O 4 increased which increased the metal surface conductivity. The surface conductivity of annealed anodes was tested using cyclic voltammetry (CVs) in the ferricyanide solution. The annealed samples had enhanced to electron transfer kinetics on its surface relative to both the as-received and as anodized samples that showed nearly no redox activity. The fabricated SS samples were tested using a dual-chamber MFCs inoculated with sludge, using acetate as a substrate and potassium ferricyanide as the oxidant in the cathode. The power output of the MFCs with different anodes was observed using a data acquisition system for 20 days. CVs were done on the anodes on the 10th day. The results emphasized that the nanostructured SS samples highly increased cell voltage (≈ 80 times). This enhancement in the MFCs power performance is explained by the enhanced biofilm growth offered by the high specific area for the nanostructured SS. The FESEM images taken after the end of the experiment showed an obvious biomass growth on the surface of the as anodized SS relative to the biofilm on the as-received one. In addition, the annealed samples showed an enhanced activity after annealing. Annealing, especially in O 2 , increased the surface content of the more biocompatible Fe 2 O 3 component, as interpreted by the XPS, which in turn increased the voltage production (≈ 120 times) relative to the as-received sample. The enhancement of the power generation was further supported using the CVs, with the anodized anode annealed in O 2 showing an enhancement anodic current in comparison to smooth SS samples. References 1. B. E. Logan, Nat. Rev. Microbiol. (2009). 2. J. Hou, Z. Liu, S. Yang, and Y. Zhou, J. Power Sources (2014). 3. O. Gokcekaya, S. Yilmaz, C. Ergun, B. Kaya, and O. Yücel, in, p. 135–146, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd (2010) http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9780470943960.ch11. 4. M. Ray and V. B. Singh, J. Electrochem. Soc. , 158 , C359 (2011) http://jes.ecsdl.org/cgi/doi/10.1149/2.047111jes.

Rahmat Tubagus Hakiem, Ganjar Samudro Samudro, Muhammad Arief Budiharjo

Prosiding Sains Nasional dan Teknologi • 2017

Solid Phase Microbial Fuel Cells (SMFC) bisa menjadi alternatif metode pengolahan sampah yang ramah lingkungan sekaligus menghasilkan energi. Sampah yang digunakan sebagai substrat merupakan sumber nutrisi bagi mikroorganisme pada SMFC. Banyak volume sampah yang dimasukkan tersebut akan berpengaruh pada pengoptimalan kinerja SMFC. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan variasi volume sampah daun yang optimal terhadap kinerja SMFC. Variasi volume sampah daun yang diteliti yaitu 1/3, 1/2 dan 2/3 volume dari volume reaktor. Sumber bakteri yang digunakan diambil dari sedimen sungai. Pengujian dilakukan secara batch selama 14 hari untuk seeding-aklimatisasi dan running-batch selama 30 hari. Parameter yang diuji yaitu COD (Chemical Oxigen Demand) dan PD (Power Density) serta pH dan suhu sebagai kontrol penelitian. Dari hasil penelitian yang dilakukan, diketahui kinerja SMFC yang optimal terdapat pada reaktor volume sampah 1/2 dengan power density tertinggi pada hari-15 yaitu sebesar 52,8 mW/m2 dan efisiensi penurunan COD optimal sebesar 88,1%.Kata kunci: Sampah daun, volume sampah, bakteri MFC, kinerja SMFC, power density

Sudarlin Sudarlin, Andika Wahyu Afrianto, Melly Khoerunnisa et al.

Jurnal Kimia Sains dan Aplikasi • 2020

Modifications of the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) membrane need to be carried out to increase its electric potential energy. This research aims to determine the effect of montmorillonite from bentonite-Ca as a composite in modified earthenware (GT), which is then used as a membrane of the MFC-based on tempe wastewater as substrate. The results obtained were compared to MFC that used pure earthenware membrane (GM). The ratio of bentonite-Ca and clay in GT was 50:50, while GM used 100% of clay. Characterizations of GT dan GM were performed using FTIR, XRD, and SAA. MFC testing was carried out for 24 hours, where every 2 hours, measurements of potential difference (V), current (A), and power density (W/cm2) were carried out. FTIR and XRD data showed an increase in montmorillonite content in GT, while SAA data showed a decrease in pore volume in GT. The decrease in pore volume GT occurs due to an increase in the number of trivalent cations (Al3+, Fe3+) and bivalent (Mg2+). These cations help transfer protons from the anode to the cathode, which causes a decrease in the potential difference and an increase in the current strength and the MFC-GT power density. The average difference between the decrease in potential difference from MFC-GM to MFC-GT is 0.043 V, while the increase in current is 0.022 mA, and the increase in power density is 0.163 mW/cm2.

Olja Simoska, Shelley D. Minteer

ECS Meeting Abstracts • 2023

Establishing an efficient and successful extracellular electron transfer (EET) between microorganisms and electrode surfaces plays a critical role in the design, development, and application of mediated microbial electrochemical technologies, such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Most microbial-based systems require the use of artificial, redox-active mediator systems in order to facilitate and/or increase electron transfer. Our previous work established an exogenous phenazine-based library as a mediator system to enable electron transfer from the model microorganism Escherichia coli . However, the addition of exogenous mediators to a microbial electrochemical system has certain limiting downsides, specifically with regard to mediator toxicity to cells and increased operational expenses. Herein, we demonstrate the metabolic and genetic engineering of E. coli to self-generate phenazine metabolites endogenously by introducing the phenazine biosynthetic pathway from Pseudomonas aeruginosa into E. coli . This pathway consists of a seven-gene phenazine biosynthetic cluster phzA-G responsible for the synthesis of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) and two phenazine accessory genes phzM and phzS to produce pyocyanin (PYO). We present the characterization of the engineered E. coli cells via electrochemical measurements, RNA sequencing, and microscopy imaging. Finally, the engineered E. coli cells were used for the design of a microbial fuel cell with enhanced performances, demonstrating a maximum power density increase from 305 mW/m 2 with non-engineered E. coli cells to 1555 mW/m 2 with the genetically engineered, phenazine-producing E. coli . Our results indicate that introducing a heterologous electron shuttle into E. coli can be an efficient approach to establishing efficacious mediation in living bioelectrochemical systems and improving the performance of MFCs.

Priji Chandran, Sundara Ramaprabhu

• 2020

One of the effective ways to increase the electrocatalytic activity of carbon based electrocatalyst in a fuel cell is by in-situ incorporation of heteroatom into the carbon nanostructure. Herein, a cost effective catalyst support material, nitrogen rich carbon nanostructure (NCNS) with high surface area and tubular morphology was synthesized. NCNS supported palladium-alloy based electrocatalyst (Pd 3 Co/NCNS) was successfully prepared and used on both sides of a fuel cell as potential alternative to expensive Pt-based electrocatalysts. The large number of nitrogen-carbon moieties present in NCNS served as anchoring sites for catalyst nanoparticles. Moreover, the tubular morphology and high surface area plays an important role in enhanced electrochemical activity of the prepared nanocomposite. The Pd-based bimetallic alloy dispersed on NCNS exhibited high activity towards both oxidation of hydrogen and reduction of oxygen in acidic medium. Thus, a fully Pt-free electrocatalyst was constructed using a cost effective electrocatalyst. The peak power density achieved using Pd 3 Co/NCNS at both anode and cathode simultaneously was found to be almost 25 % of the maximum power density attained using commercial Pt/C on both sides, which is the maximum value reported so far in PEMFC without using Pt on either side.

Tae-Jin Park, Weijun Ding, Shaoan Cheng et al.

AMB Express • 2014

Abstract High power densities have been obtained from MFC reactors having a purple color characteristic of Rhodopseudomonas . We investigated the microbial community structure and population in developed purple MFC medium (DPMM) and MFC effluent (DPME) using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. In DPMM, dominant bacteria were Comamonas (44.6%), Rhodopseudomonas (19.5%) and Pseudomonas (17.2%). The bacterial community of DPME mainly consisted of bacteria related to Rhodopseudomonas (72.2%). Hydrogen oxidizing bacteria were identified in both purple-colored samples: Hydrogenophaga and Sphaerochaeta in the DPMM, and Arcobacter , unclassified Ignavibacteriaceae , Acinetobacter, Desulfovibrio and Wolinella in the DPME. The methanogenic community of both purple-colored samples was dominated by hydrogenotrophic methanogens including Methanobacterium, Methanobrevibacter and Methanocorpusculum with significantly lower numbers of Methanosarcina . These results suggeste that hydrogen is actively produced by Rhodopseudomonas that leads to the dominance of hydrogen consuming microorganisms in both purple-colored samples. The syntrophic relationship between Rhodopseudomonas and hydrogenotrophic microbes might be important for producing high power density in the acetate-fed MFC under light conditions.

Lo Gorton, Minling Shao, Muhammed Nadeem Zafar et al.

ECS Meeting Abstracts • 2013

Abstract not Available.

Victoria M Ehlinger, Andrew R Crothers, Ahmet Kusoglu et al.

Journal of Physics: Energy • 2020

Abstract One of the primary limiting factors for proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel-cell lifetime is membrane degradation driven by operational stressors such as generation of highly reactive radical species, which result in cell failure and voltage decay. To extend the lifetime of the membrane, cerium ions are added to the membrane to mitigate the effects of chemical degradation by scavenging radicals produced by crossover of reactant gases across the PEM. Although cerium has shown to be very effective at reducing chemical degradation during PEM fuel cell operation, the cerium ions also lead to a decrease in performance due to changes in the membrane transport properties and possible site blockage in the catalyst layers. In this paper, a full-cell, transient performance and durability model is presented in which a micro-kinetic framework accounts for gas crossover induced degradation and concentrated-solution theory describes transport in the PEM. The transport model takes into account the coupled nature of the electrochemical driving forces that cause transport of cerium ions, protons, and water. The cell model predicts the migration of cerium out of the membrane and into the catalyst layers and its impact on performance. A comparison between dilute-solution-theory and concentrated-solution-theory models shows how water management in the cell also effects cerium distribution, where higher relative humidity leads to better retention of cerium in the membrane. A voltage loss breakdown shows that cerium leads to performance losses in the cell both by decreasing proton activity and by modifying transport properties of water and protons through the membrane. Transient simulations show that the optimal tradeoff between performance and durability metrics is reached at low cerium concentrations in the membrane (less than 1% of membrane sulfonic acid sites occupied by cerium for our analysis). Finally, analysis of membrane thickness and catalyst layer thickness as design parameters shows that thicker membranes and thinner catalyst layers best optimize both performance and durability.

M. Golzarian, M. Ghiasvand, S. Shokri et al.

International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology • 2024

Abstract Plant microbial fuel cells (PMFC) have attracted great scholarly attention as a renewable energy source. These cells have three main components: anode, cathode chambers, and a proton exchange membrane. In this study, a dual-chamber plant microbial fuel cell system was designed using Cyperus papyrus and Shewanella oneidensis . The effects of various factors, including the size of the electrodes, the distance between the electrodes, and the inoculation volume of Shewanella oneidensis , on the ability of electricity generation, were scrutinized. The results indicated that increasing the size area of the electrodes from 2 × 2 to 4 × 4 and 6 × 6 cm 2 caused an increase in the output voltage by 43% and 58%, respectively. The PMFC produced a maximum power of 240 mW, with a Coulombic efficiency ranging from 0.66 to 0.75%. The plant microbial fuel cell designed in this study seemed to have a high potential to remove wastewater contaminants. Based on the results, during five days of setting up the system, COD and BOD decreased by 61.75% and 93.16%, respectively, which shows that in addition to generating power, the designed PMFC had a high potential to remove wastewater contaminants.

Chang Su, Wenyi Wang, Bolong Jiang et al.

Electroanalysis • 2022

Abstract The development of a non‐noble metal cathode ORR catalyst with low cost, high activity and high stability has become an inevitable trend in MFC. The purpose of this study is to develop an efficient and stable Cu, N‐codoped porous carbons catalysts with multi‐pore structure for MFC. Herein, Cu, N‐codoped porous carbons materials (Cu−NC−T) with high N content and multi‐pore structure were successfully developed by co‐pyrolysis with MOF‐199 and melamine. By contrast, Cu‐doped porous carbon (Cu−C−T) without melamine was synthesized using MOF‐199 as template. The results showed that Cu−NC−T possessed a rough octahedral crystal with a unique multi‐mesopore structure with pore centers of 3.4 nm and 11.2 nm, respectively. Owing to high N content, abundantly exposed Cu−N x active sites and the multi‐pore structure, Cu−NC−800 had a pronounced electrochemical ORR activity in neutral solution (onset potential and limiting current density were 0.161 V and −6.256 mA ⋅ cm −2 ), which were slightly lower than 20 wt % Pt/C (0.189 V and −6.479 mA ⋅ cm −2 ). Moreover, the MFC with Cu−NC−800 showed a power density of 662.8±3.6 mW ⋅ m −2 , which was higher than that of Cu−C−800 (425.7±3.9 mW ⋅ m −2 ) and was slightly lower than that 20 wt % Pt/C (815.0±6.2 mW ⋅ m −2 ). The output voltage of MFC with Cu−NC−T had no obvious decreasing trend in 30 days, demonstrating that the Cu−NC−T had great stability.

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Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry • 2022

Rhodamine B (RB) is a basic color for natural plant textile dyeing. This study aims to use the laccase and manganese peroxidase-producing consortium to degrade the RB and generate electrical energy in a novel model microbial fuel cell (MFC). The results revealed that the MFC with consortium KJW40 had current densities and power densities of 4,816.6728.87 mA/m3, and 2,320.0827.86 mW/m3, respectively. The RB removal rate was 80.560.13 % was reached. This work gained new knowledge about using a bacterial consortium producing laccase and manganese peroxidase to treat contaminated RB and generate electrical power.

Panisa Michu, Junjira Thipraksa, Pimprapa Chaijak

Trends in Sciences • 2023

Biodegradation is a commonly used method to treat seawater polluted by petroleum. In addition to its ability to selectively degrade pollutants, it is also important to investigate the effectiveness of degradation and the benefits of restoration. This study focused on selecting a group of bacteria that can degrade diesel from marine sediment. The bacterial consortium called MB11 was found to be the most effective in removing diesel, with a removal rate of 53.77 ± 0.59 %. The consortium MB11 consists mainly of 6 types of bacteria: Enterococcus faecalis, Proteus mirabillis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Raoutella planticola, Enterobacter soli and Oceanotoga teriensis. The effective bacterial consortium MB11 was integrated with the floating MFC for electricity generation. The maximal open circuit voltage (OCV) and power density (PD) of 676.88 ± 5.94 mV and 0.16 ± 0.02 W/m3, respectively. HIGHLIGHTS The diesel degrading bacterial consortium was enriched and selected from the marine sediment sample. The consortium can degrade the contaminated diesel in artificial seawater and generated the electrical energy. The maximal power density of 0.16 ±02 W/m3 was gained when diesel was remove. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Marcelinus Christwardana, J. Joelianingsih, Linda Aliffia Yoshi

Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis • 2021

The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the efficiency of the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) system incorporated with the fermentation process, with the aim of reducing COD and generating electricity, using sugarcane bagasse extract as a substrate, in the presence and absence of sugarcane fibers. There is a possibility of turning bagasse extract into renewable bioenergy to promote the sustainability of the environment and energy. As a result, the integration of liquid fermentation (LF) with MFC has improved efficiency compared to semi-solid state fermentation (S-SSF). The maximum power generated was 14.88 mW/m2, with an average COD removal of 39.68% per cycle. The variation margin of the liquid fermentation pH readings remained slightly decrease, with a slight deflection of +0.14 occurring from 4.33. With the absence of bagasse fibers, biofilm can grow freely on the anode surface so that the transfer of electrons is fast and produces a relatively high current. Experimental data showed a positive potential after an effective integration of the LF and MFC systems in the handling of waste. The product is then simultaneously converted into electrical energy. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

Munaf S. Majeed, Raghad Majeed Rasheed, Muhsin Jaber Jweeg et al.

Polish Journal of Chemical Technology • 2025

Abstract Pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) is one of the main techniques for synthesizing nanoparticle materials. The carbon target was dissolved in ultrapure water (UPW) and exposed to a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser (1064 nm) with a 6 ns pulse duration to produce carbon nanoparticles. In this sequence, the Nd: YAG laser beam was focused on the carbon surface. In the investigation of nanoparticles prepared by laser irradiation, the effect of different incident laser pulse energies (500, 1000 mJ) on particle sizes (52.09, 26.49 nm) was observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM), pH test, and lightning energy conductivity (EC) test of nanosolution was used to characterize the nanoparticles. Particle size was generated using (1000 mJ) laser pulse energy. The performance of the H-shaped microbial fuel cell (MFC) was also tested, using nanocolloids in a salt bridge. This work shows that (Co) NPs synthesized with an energy of (1000 mJ) pulsed laser can act as salt bridge catalysts to improve MFC power output.

, Pimprapa Chaijak

Acta Scientiarum Polonorum-Formatio Circumiectus • 2020

Aim of the study: This study aims to develop the novel model of multi-electrode MFC with the termite-associated yeast G. reessii for MG decelorization and electricity generation. Material and methods: The termite-associated yeast G. reessii was inoculated into modified midia with 150 mg/L MG. The laccase activity and MG removal was studied. Then, the G. reessii was immobilized on anode surface. The electrical properties and color removal were tested. Results and conclusions: The results showed it successfully removed the MG with 98.15±0.92% within 1 day of operation. Moreover, the OCV, CD and PD of 550.00±10.00%, 3.90±0.10 A/m3 and 1.52±0.08 W/m3 were achieved. Therefore, the system could have the potential for treatment of high concentration MG contaminated wastewater and produce a bio-electric energy.

Wenjuan Zhao, YiZhao Gao, Yongli Zhao et al.

• 2021

Generally, high bioelectroactivity of anodophilic biofilm favors high power generation of microbial fuel cell (MFC), however, it is not clear whether it can promote denitrification of MFC synchronously. In this study, the impact of anodophilic biofilms bioelectroactivity on denitrification behavior of single-chamber air-cathode MFC (SAMFC) in steady state was studied for the first time. Anodophilic biofilms of various bioelectroactivity were acclimated at conditions of open circuit (OC), Rext of 1000Ω and 20Ω (denoted as SAMFC-OC, SAMFC-1000Ω and SAMFC-20Ω, respectively) and run for 100 days in the presence of nitrate. Electrochemical tests and microbial analysis results showed that the anode of the SAMFC-20Ω delivered higher oxidation and denitrification current response and had a higher abundance of electroactive bacteria, like Geobacter, Pseudomonas and Comamonas, which possessed bidirectional electron transfer function, demonstrating a higher bioelectroactivity of the anodophilic biofilm. Moreover, these electroactive bacteria favored the accumulation of denitrifers, like Thauera and Alicycliphilus, probably by consuming trace oxygen through catalyzing oxygen reduction. The SAMFC-20Ω not only delivered a 61.7% higher power than the SAMFC-1000Ω, but also achieved a stable and high denitrification rate constant (kDN) of 1.9, which was 50% and 40% higher than that of the SAMFC-OC and SAMFC-1000Ω, respectively. It could be concluded that the high bioelectroactivity of the anodophilic biofilms not only favored high power generation of the SAMFC, but also promote the growth of denitrifers at the anodes and strengthened denitrification. This study provided an effective method and important theoretical basis for enhancing power generation and denitrification performance of the SAMFC synchronously.

Dipankar Nath, Prakash Rewatkar, Sanket Goel

ECS Meeting Abstracts • 2020

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical devices that produce electrical current from the electrochemically active bacteria (EABs). These bacteria generate the electrons from the degraded organic matter and harness renewable and pollution-free energy in a self-sustaining manner. Due to its user-friendly architecture, neutral pH, simple operating conditions and amenability to integrate with the on-chip technology, MFCs are the economical and convenient alternative to conventional power sources. Since the first development of MFC, an ample amount of studies have been reported especially to harness new bacteria types, inoculation protocols, and cell and bioelectrode fabrication methodologies. As a result, several MFCs have been successfully developed as a biosensor and power hub by utilizing various fluid resources, such as domestic and industrial wastewater, urine, and soiled water from sewage. However, in order to be commercially viable, the device architecture and size of the MFCs become the essential parameter for power generation, which decides the potential application. In this context, several micro-scale MFC architectures have been proposed. Among these, the paper-based microfluidic fuel cell technology has drawn remarkable attention due to its inexpensive and inherent fluid flow capillary action properties. In addition, wide array (series/parallel) configurations have been incorporated to further enhance the power output. With these MFCs, a extensive range of applications, such as powering LEDs, digital thermometer, wireless, sensors, radio nodes etc., have been successfully demonstrated. With this flexibility and unique features, paper-based MFCs have the ability to monitor the on-field parameter (temperature, humidity, hazardous gas etc.) using the Internet of Things (IoT) cloud network. Currently, The Internet of Things (IoT) technology is the most popular technology in the field of wireless data transmission with IoT cloud. It connects various devices and their protocols over internet infrastructure which can be monitored, analyzed, and controlled remotely over the internet. It has an immense application in the field of healthcare, agriculture, automotive, and remote sensing sectors. In this study, as a proof of concept, the Shewanella putrefaciens powered stacked origami MFCs have been demonstrated to drive an ultra-low-power (ULP) IoT node to measure the on-field ambient temperature and transmit corresponding data to a mobile phone. The IoT node requires 2.5–3.3 volt for proper operation, therefore a DC-DC booster was used just after the fuel cell to step-up the low voltage. This step-up voltage was further stored in the supercapacitor to supply power to the IoT node in case of a high current requirement. Finally, after powering the IoT node, it sends the temperature data over low-power Bluetooth low energy (BLE) that can be observed by any smartphone supporting Bluetooth 4.0 and nRF connect android app. The detailed stepwise integrated block diagram from MFC to a mobile phone has been displayed in Figure 1. The proposed approach offers autonomous environmental monitoring using paper-based MFC as a viable substitute for conventional power sources. Figure 1: Block diagram of complete setup MFCs powering IoT node which communicates to smartphone and IoT cloud servers Figure 1

Ethan Allen, Daria Popugaeva, Carlos Munoz-Cupa et al.

Research Square • 2024

Abstract In the current study, a water treatment approach integrating freezing technology, so-called cryopurification, and microbial fuel cell (MFC) process is proposed and tested towards zinc removal. Contaminated water samples used for laboratory experiments were received from the Faro Mine site, Yukon, Canada. Through cryopurification, the effect of freezing temperature, mixing and the direction of ice front propagation on zinc removal from the Faro mine water was investigated and quantitively analyzed. The MFC was used to treat a post-cryopurification brine, both at a laboratory scale. When the coolant temperature ranged from − 5 to − 1 ̊ C and 180 rpm solution mixing was used, up to 80–95% of zinc was removed after a single freezing cycle. The results of laboratory experiments demonstrated that zinc concentrations in mine water can be reduced by cryopurification to 0.5 mg/L (effluent quality standard) under optimal experimental conditions. The MFC process was run for 120 h to test the capacity of the microorganism ( Shewanella oneidensis ) towards zinc removal from the brine concentrated by freezing. Based on the results of laboratory experiments, MFC showed a reliable and high zinc removal up to 90–93 % with Shewanella oneidensis incubated in the anode. The MFC generated a power density and open-circuit voltage with a maximum result of 8.8 mW/m 2 and 168.5 mV , respectively.

Ling-ling Zhao, Tian-shun Song

Water Science and Technology • 2013

A 10 L upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC) was constructed for simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal. During the 6-month operation, the UMFC constantly removed carbon and nitrogen, and then generated electricity with synthetic wastewater as substrate. At 5.0 mg L−1 dissolved oxygen, 100 Ω external resistance, and pH 6.5, the maximum power density (Pmax) and nitrification rate for the UMFC was 19.5 mW m−2 and 17.9 mg·(L d)−1, respectively. In addition, Pmax in the UMFC with chicken manure wastewater as substrate was 16 mW m−2, and a high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 94.1% in the UMFC was achieved at 50 mM phosphate-buffered saline. Almost all ammonia in the cathode effluent was effectively degraded after biological denitrification in the UMFC cathode. The results can help to further develop pilot-scale microbial fuel cells for simultaneous carbon and nitrogen removal.