Yuichiro Tabuchi, Takeshi Shiomi, Osamu Aoki et al.

ASME 2010 8th International Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology Conference: Volume 1 • 2009

Heat and water transport in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has considerable impacts on cell performance under high current density which is desired in PEMFC for automobiles. In this study, the impact of rib/channel, heat and water transport on cell performance under high current density was investigated by experimental evaluation of liquid water distribution and numerical validation. Liquid water distribution between rib and channel is evaluated by Neutron Radiography. In order to neglect the effect of liquid water in channel and the distribution of oxygen and hydrogen concentration distribution along with channel length, the differential cell was used in this study. Experimental results show that liquid water under channel was dramatically changed with Rib/Channel width. From numerical study, it is found that the change of liquid water distribution was strongly affected by temperature distribution between rib and channel. In addition, not only heat transport but also water transport through membrane also significantly affected cell performance under high current density operation. From numerical validation, it is concluded that this effect on cell performance under high current density could be due to the enhancement of back-diffusion of water through membrane.

Jie Yang, Sasan Ghobadian, Reza Montazami et al.

ASME 2013 11th International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology • 2013

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is a promising area in the field of renewable energy because of their capability to use the energy contained in wastewater, which has been previously an untapped source of power. Microscale MFCs are desirable for their small footprints, relatively high power density, fast start-up, and environmentally-friendly process. Microbial fuel cells employ microorganisms as the biocatalysts instead of metal catalysts, which are widely applied in conventional fuel cells. MFCs are capable of generating electricity as long as nutrition is provided. Miniature MFCs have faster power generation recovery than macroscale MFCs. Additionally, since power generation density is affected by the surface-to-volume ratio, miniature MFCs can facilitate higher power density. We have designed and fabricated a microscale microbial fuel cell with a volume of 4 μL in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chamber. The anode and cathode chambers were separated by a proton exchange membrane. Carbon cloth was used for both the anode and the cathode. Shewanella Oneidensis MR-1 was chosen to be the electrogenic bacteria and was inoculated into the anode chamber. We employed Ferricyanide as the catholyte and introduced it into the cathode chamber with a constant flow rate of approximately 50 μL/hr. We used trypticase soy broth as the bacterial nutrition and added it into the anode chamber approximately every 15 hours once current dropped to base current. Using our miniature MFC, we were able to generate a maximum current of 4.62 μA.

Wanjing Wu, Duwei Zhang, Ping Fang

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science • 2020

Abstract As a bioelectrochemical hybrid system, microbial fuel cell converts chemical energy into electrical energy through microbial metabolism, which has great advantages of energy conservation and environmental protection, high energy conversion efficiency, and reduced sludge volume. Therefore, how to improve the power generation performance and output power of MFC has been a hot topic in recent years. Based on this, on the basis of reviewing many literatures, this review analyzes the main factors influencing the electrical performance of MFC by combining the principle of MFC and its electronic transfer mechanism, including battery reactor structure, exchange membrane, anode microorganisms, electrode materials and parameters, etc. At the same time, the application prospect of MFC is discussed, including CW-MFC coupling technology, biosensor and sewage treatment technology. Finally, the present challenges of MFC are put forward, and a better application research direction is proposed for the future of MFC.

Abhijeet P. Borole, Choo Y. Hamilton, Douglas S. Aaron et al.

Biotechnology Progress • 2009

Abstract A compact, three‐in‐one, flow‐through, porous, electrode design with minimal electrode spacing and minimal dead volume was implemented to develop a microbial fuel cell (MFC) with improved anode performance. A biofilm‐dominated anode consortium enriched under a multimode, continuous‐flow regime was used. The increase in the power density of the MFC was investigated by changing the cathode (type, as well as catholyte strength) to determine whether anode was limiting. The power density obtained with an air‐breathing cathode was 56 W/m 3 of net anode volume (590 mW/m 2 ) and 203 W/m 3 (2160 mW/m 2 ) with a 50‐mM ferricyanide‐based cathode. Increasing the ferricyanide concentration and ionic strength further increased the power density, reaching 304 W/m 3 (3220 mW/m 2 , with 200 mM ferricyanide and 200 mM buffer concentration). The increasing trend in the power density indicated that the anode was not limiting and that higher power densities could be obtained using cathodes capable of higher rates of oxidation. The internal solution resistance for the MFC was 5–6 Ω, which supported the improved performance of the anode design. A new parameter defined as the ratio of projected surface area to total anode volume is suggested as a design parameter to relate volumetric and area‐based power densities and to enable comparison of various MFC configurations. Published 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009

Sk Ismath Ara Jahan, Rajesh Kumar Chanda, Biplob Kumar Biswas

Chemical Engineering Research Bulletin • 2023

One of the recent talked-about issues is zero-carbon emission for ensuring sustainable development. Microbial fuel cell (MFC), a bioelectrochemical process, has attracted much attention due to its potential to be an alternative renewable energy source that can reduce carbon dioxide and methane emission as well. An additional benefit of MFC is that it is aptly capable of treating wastewater. Moreover, this technology is considered to be cheaper and poses no negative impact on environment. In this research a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell was constructed using low-cost and locally available materials. The designed dimension of each chamber was 30.5 cm × 20 cm × 20 cm where working volume was set as 5 L due to ease of handling. The MFC was operated using cow dung substrates, which were collected from the nearby village of Jashore University of Science and Technology campus. The wastewater used in this research was collected from the drain of the same campus (23.23424°N, 89.12609°E). Each set of experiment was conducted for two weeks (14 days) at a stretch. Considering bioelectricity production by the MFC, cow dung was found to be effective. Maximum power (0.8 mW) was produced in a single day during the experiment at a substrate concentration of 25 g/L. The cow dung along with the collected wastewater was investigated to find the effect of factors such as pH. Experiments were performed at varying pH (7, 8 and 10) at room temperature for 14 days. The maximum extent of current density (270 mA/m2), power density (167 mW/m2), and voltage (881 mV) were found at pH 8 by using drainage wastewater as a feedstock in combination with cow dung from the microbial fuel cell. The treatment of wastewater using the MFC demonstrated varied efficacy, achieving COD removal rates of 88.3% at pH 7, 90.2% at pH 8, and 84.4% at pH 10. The results highlight the MFC's potential as a dual-purpose technology for effective pollutant removal and bioelectricity generation, particularly at an optimal pH of 8. These findings underscore the MFC's potential for dual-use in pollutant removal and energy generation, contributing to energy security. Chemical Engineering Research Bulletin 23 (2023): 1-5

T. K. Sajana, M. M. Ghangrekar, A. Mitra

Water Science and Technology • 2013

The performance of three sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) was evaluated at different feed water pH and electrode spacing for chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, total nitrogen (TN) removal, and power density; while offering in situ remediation of aquaculture pond water. SMFC-A was operated at the feed water pH of 6.5 and spacing between the electrodes of 100 cm. SMFC-B and SMFC-C were operated at feed water pHs of 8.5 and 6.5, respectively, and distance between electrodes of 50 cm. The anode and cathode were connected with concealed copper wire through an external load of 100 Ω. The average amount of total COD removal rate and TN removal rate, per unit area of cathode, were 1.72 ± 0.06 and 0.021 ± 0.007 g/m2 d in SMFC-A, 1.03 ± 0.08 and 0.024 ± 0.005 g/m2 d in SMFC-B, and 1.14 ± 0.01 and 0.017 ± 0.001 g/m2 d in SMFC-C, respectively. SMFC-A, operated with higher distance between electrodes, demonstrated better removal of organic matter and highest open circuit voltage of 0.903 V. SMFCs with less feed pH (6.5) gave higher COD removal and feed pH of 8.5 gave higher TN removal. SMFCs operated with lesser distance between electrodes gave higher power density.

P. P. Rajesh, P. Christine, M. M. Ghangrekar

Water Science and Technology • 2021

Abstract The marine algae Chaetoceros contains hexadecatrienoic acid, which suppresses methanogen development and improves the coulombic efficiency (CE) of microbial fuel cells (MFC). To inhibit the methanogens, optimum concentration of marine algae should be added to the anaerobic sludge to enhance the performance of MFC. A varying concentration of Chaetoceros ranging from 1 to 20 mg/mL was carried out for pretreatment of an anaerobic-mix consortium to suppress methanogens. MFC inoculated with pretreated anaerobic sludge with 10 mg/mL Chaetoceros showed a maximum power density of 21.62 W/m3 and a maximum CE of 37.25%, which was considerably higher than the treatment with other concentrations. At 10 mg/mL concentration, Tafel analysis of the anode in the MFC showed a higher exchange current density of 66.35 mA/m2 and a lower charge transfer resistance of 0.97 Ω.m2, revealing higher bio-electrochemical activity. The performance of MFC improved when the concentration of Chaetoceros was increased up to 10 mg/mL, but then began to decline as the concentration increased further. Thus, the optimum dose of Chaetoceros to be added in the mix-anaerobic consortium to optimize the power performance of MFC was determined, which can be carried out in scaled-up MFCs.

Divya Vempati, Arun Kumar

Water Science & Technology • 2024

ABSTRACT Industrial wastewaters from the cosmetic industry contain high organic strength and a mixture of nanoparticles (NPs). Sediment microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging nature-based technology that can treat complex wastewaters. The aim of this study is to understand the effect of a binary mixture of zinc oxide (ZnO) and copper oxide (CuO) NPs (concentration: 1 + 1 and 10 + 10 mg/L) on the organic matter removal, power generation, and biofilm health of sediment MFCs after a long-term operation of 120 days. The high chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal (>95%) observed for all reactors signified the minimal impact of 10 mg/L NP mixture on treatment. The dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal from the sediment was reduced by 8% due to NPs. NPs also led to 42.2% higher anode extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and 46.65% lesser cathode EPS generation. The maximum power density of 0.29 mW/m2 was obtained for the 10 mg/L NP reactor, with the average being 23% higher than the no-NP control reactor. This was the first study to explore the effect of the mixture of NPs on the performance of an MFC. The results indicated that sediment MFCs can sustain high mixture concentrations of NPs. Furthermore, variation of parameters can aid in establishing the feasibility of this technology for treating wastewater with NPs.

Nurettin Çek, Ahmet Erensoy, Namık Ak et al.

International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering • 2021

Abstract Moving towards green technology, alternatives to current detrimental, unsustainable, and expensive energy applications for eco-friendly energy are attracting great attention. Resource recycling and the convenient treatment of animal waste to diminish its nature impact are recently momentous subjects. Microbial fuel cells used cow waste have remarkable potential in electrical energy generation for clean, renewable and sustainable operation. In this study, double-chambered MFC was manufactured using cow manure as raw material at the anode chamber, graphite as the anode and cathode electrodes, fountain water in the cathode chamber, and proton exchange membrane. Because bacteria a catalytic reaction for the latent chemical energy of the cow manure was effectuated as a result of this, MFCs produced electricity. Electricity production performance of this MFC at low temperature (0–10 °C) conditions was examined. This MFC produced a maximum of 204.9 ± 0.1 mV open circuit voltage and 57.387 mW/m 2 power density under low temperature conditions. In particular, the sustainability and applicability of MFCs have been increased thanks to this operation done at low temperatures (0–10 °C).

Jason J. Keleher, Thomas J. Beckmann, Joseph Edward Lambert et al.

ECS Meeting Abstracts • 2018

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have gained a significant amount of interest in the pursuit of alternative energy sources. Current research has investigated the optimization of maximum power production via the development of novel carbon-based electrodes to reduce cost and increase efficiency. This research focused on the development of a biomimetic cellulose-based electrode containing a nanocomposite conductive polymer matrix which has shown to improve biofilm stability and electron transfer. More specifically the incorporation of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) enhances microbial adsorption and biofilm formation via increased docking efficiency. Furthermore, the addition of a conducting polymer has enhanced electron transfer throughout the composite medium. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and open circuit potential (OCP) measurements were correlated to microbial fuel cell performance to further validate the role of biofilm formation and the electron transfer process. Additionally, the mechanisms of individual cellular adhesion and its role in electron transfer were probed using epifluorescent optical tweezers coupled with OCP measurement.

Mohammad Ehtisham Khan, Mohammad Mansoob Khan, Bong-Ki Min et al.

Scientific Reports • 2018

Abstract This paper reports a simple, biogenic and green approach to obtain narrow band gap and visible light-active TiO 2 nanoparticles. Commercial white TiO 2 ( w -TiO 2 ) was treated in the cathode chamber of a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), which produced modified light gray TiO 2 ( g -TiO 2 ) nanoparticles. The DRS, PL, XRD, EPR, HR-TEM, and XPS were performed to understand the band gap decline of g -TiO 2 . The optical study revealed a significant decrease in the band gap of the g -TiO 2 (E g = 2.80 eV) compared to the w -TiO 2 (E g = 3.10 eV). The XPS revealed variations in the surface states, composition, Ti 4+ to Ti 3+ ratio, and oxygen vacancies in the g -TiO 2 . The Ti 3+ and oxygen vacancy-induced enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity of g -TiO 2 was confirmed by degrading different model dyes. The enhanced photoelectrochemical response under visible light irradiation further supported the improved performance of the g -TiO 2 owing to a decrease in the electron transfer resistance and an increase in charge transfer rate. During the TiO 2 treatment process, electricity generation in MFC was also observed, which was ~0.3979 V corresponding to a power density of 70.39 mW/m 2 . This study confirms narrow band gap TiO 2 can be easily obtained and used effectively as photocatalysts and photoelectrode material.

Muhammed Yarub Adnan, Ahmed Hassoon Ali

Defect and Diffusion Forum • 2023

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are considered as an economical and sustainable technology for various applications. This study has designed four single-chamber SCMFCs that composed of graphite plates as electrodes and used wastewater as a substrate for microorganisms. In order to evaluate the performance of SCMFC, the experiments were executed in a batch mode over 18 days at various types of salt bridge. Four salt bridges are used namely (KCl, NaCl, KNO 3 , and Cotton Rope). It was found that KCl generated a maximum voltage of 989 mv. The following results were obtained for wastewater investigated parameters: COD = 94%, PO 4 = 88.4%, NO 3 = 88%, TSS = 80%, and Fe = 76%, respectively at 1 M KCl. The experiment was then carried out using different values of KCl (1, 1.5, 2, 3 M). It was found that at a molar concentration of 1.5, 1422 mv of maximum voltage has been generated. Results for wastewater treatment demonstrated that COD of 81%, PO4 of 78.2%, NO3 of 79%, TSS of 80%, and Fe of 84%.

M. I. N. Ma’arof, Girma T. Chala, Saravanan A/l Ravichanthiran et al.

International Journal of Engineering & Technology • 2018

Recently, various steps have been taken to utilize and develop renewable and sustainable form of energies due to the negative impact and dire limitation over continuous dependency on fossil fuel. This paper presents the effects of aluminium mesh on the performance of a MFC. Aluminium mesh with rectangular shape was used as the electrode and experiments were conducted with respect to various types of resistors. The amount of voltages and power density generated were determined. It was found that the increase in bacterial activities resulted in the increment of oxygen supply, therefore, the voltage generated also increased. In addition, the longevity of bacterial activity is dependent on the amount of catalyst. Moreover, it was observed that the performance of aluminium mesh electrode was smaller than that of graphite electrode.

Maria Jose Salar-Garcia, Oluwatosin Obata, Halil Kurt et al.

Microorganisms • 2020

Bacteria are the driving force of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, which benefits from their natural ability to degrade organic matter and generate electricity. The development of an efficient anodic biofilm has a significant impact on the power performance of this technology so it is essential to understand the effects of the inoculum nature on the anodic bacterial diversity and establish its relationship with the power performance of the system. Thus, this work aims at analysing the impact of 3 different types of inoculum: (i) stored urine, (ii) sludge and (iii) effluent from a working MFC, on the microbial community of the anodic biofilm and therefore on the power performance of urine-fed ceramic MFCs. The results showed that MFCs inoculated with sludge outperformed the rest and reached a maximum power output of 40.38 mW·m−2anode (1.21 mW). The power performance of these systems increased over time whereas the power output by MFCs inoculated either with stored urine or effluent decreased after day 30. These results are directly related to the establishment and adaptation of the microbial community on the anode during the assay. Results showed the direct relationship between the bacterial community composition, originating from the different inocula, and power generation within the MFCs.

Payel Choudhury, Biswanath Bhunia, Tarun Kanti Bandyopadhyaya

Journal of Electrochemical Science and Engineering • 2021

This paper focuses on determination of the influence of electrochemically active mi­cro­or­ga­ni­sms on the transmission of electrons from the respiratory enzymes to the electrode and as­sembling of exoelectrogens to the simulated wastewater medium. In this study, the total of eight microorganisms were experimentally tested to exhibit growth and high iron-reducing ability in the absence of mediators. A major connection was observed between the growth and iron-reduction ability of the micro­organism. The growth and iron-reduction ability were monitored experimentally over time. Based on output data, the screening was done among eight different micro­organisms, where Escherichia coli -K-12 was chosen as the most potent micro­organism for its wide application in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). In the present study, various biochemical process factors were optimized statistically using Tagu­chi metho­dology for the rapid development of growth and iron-reducing assay conditions. The design of various experimental trials was carried out using five process factors at three levels with orthogonal arrays (OA) layout of L18. Five process factors, including quantity of lactose, volume of trace element solution, inoculum percentage, pH, and temperature, were taken into consideration as imperative process factors and optimized for evaluation of growth of bacteria and iron reduction ability. The larger-is-best signal to noise (S/N) ratio, together with analysis of variance ANOVA, were used during optimization. Anticipated results demonstrated that the enhanced bacterial growth of 124.50 % and iron reduction ability of 112.6 % can be achieved with 8 g/L of lactose, 2 ml of trace element solution, 4 % (v/v) of inoculum, pH 7, and temperature of 35 oC. Furthermore, the growth and iron reduc­tion time profiles of Escherichia coli-K12 were performed to determine its feasibility in MFC. Open circuit voltage of 0.555 V was obtained over batch study on a single chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC).

N. Thepsuparungsikul, T. C. Ng, O. Lefebvre et al.

Water Science and Technology • 2014

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an innovative technology for producing electricity directly from biodegradable organic matter using bacteria. Among all the influenceable factors, anode materials play a crucial role in electricity generation. Recently, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have exhibited promising properties as electrode material due to their unique structural, and physical and chemical properties. In this study, the impacts of CNT types in CNT-based anodes were investigated to determine their effect on both efficiency of wastewater treatment and power generation. The CNTs, namely single-walled CNT with carboxyl group (SWCNT), multi-walled CNT with carboxyl group (MWCNT-COOH) and multi-walled CNT with hydroxyl group (MWCNT-OH) were used to fabricate CNT-based anodes by a filtration method. Overall, MWCNTs provided better results than SWCNTs, especially in the presence of the -OH groups. The highest power and treatment efficiencies in MFC were achieved with an anode made of MWCNT-OH filtered on Poreflon membrane; the open circuit voltage attained was 0.75 V and the maximum power density averaged 167 mW/m2, which was 130% higher than that obtained with plain carbon cloth. In addition, MWCNT-OH is more cost-effective, further suggesting its potential to replace plain carbon cloth generally used for the MFC anode.

Chikashi Sato, N. Evelin Paucar, Steve Chiu et al.

Processes • 2021

In this study, three single-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs), each having Pt-coated carbon cloth as a cathode and four bamboo charcoal (BC) plates as an anode, were run in a fed-batch mode, individually and in series. Simulated potato-processing wastewater was used as a substrate for supporting the growth of a mixed bacterial culture. The maximum power output increased from 0.386 mW with one MFC to 1.047 mW with three MFCs connected in series. The maximum power density, however, decreased from 576 mW/m2 (normalized to the cathode area) with one MFC to 520 mW/m2 with three MFCs in series. The experimental results showed that power can be increased by connecting the MFCs in series; however, choosing low resistance BC is crucial for increasing power density.

Arul Devi Ettiyan, Tamilarasan Karuppiah, Shabarish Shankaran et al.

Sustainability • 2024

The wastewater produced by the pharmaceutical industry is highly organic and toxic. Dual-chambered microbial fuel cells (DMFCs) may represent a sustainable solution to process wastewater while simultaneously recovering its energy content. DMFCs are bio-electrochemical devices that employ microorganisms to transform the chemical energy of organic compounds into electrical energy. This study aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a DMFC with a manganese cobalt oxide-coated activated carbon fiber felt (MnCo2O4-ACFF) electrode to treat pharmaceutical industry wastewater (PW) and exploit its energy content. The proposed technology is experimentally investigated considering the effect of the organic load (OL) on the system performance in terms of organic content removal and electricity production. As per the experimental campaign results, the optimum OL for achieving maximum removal efficiencies for total chemical oxygen demand, soluble oxygen demand, and total suspended solids was found to be 2 g COD/L. At this value of OL, the highest current and power densities of 420 mA/m2 and 348 mW/m2 were obtained. Therefore, based on the outcomes of the experimental campaign, the (MnCo2O4-ACFF) electrode DMFC technique was found to be a sustainable and effective process for the treatment and energy recovery from PW.

K Priyanka, A.merline sheela, ILAMATHI R

Research Square • 2021

Abstract In this research, three individual conditions (static, shaking and MFC) were tested for Congo Red decolorization. P.aeruginosa MTCC 2582 has showed 96.1% decolourization under MFC condition with 85% COD reduction for the dye (100 µM). Microbial fuel cell of P.aeruginosa can discharge the dual duty of degrading the recalcitrant dye with power generation. To understand the influence the growth curve, different substrate concentration of glucose (0-20 g/L) were selected to improve the performance of MFC. Results show that a larger open circuit potential of 0.691 V and a maximum power density of 1.9 mW m -2 was possessed for the degradation of 100 µM of dye at 10 g/L of glucose concentration. Further, the selection of optimum concentration of dye (200 µM) increased the open circuit potential to 0.844 V. The degraded metabolites were confirmed using UV-Vis and FTIR analysis. Biofilm formation on anode at optimal glucose concentration was studied by using SEM analysis.

Rusul Muaffaq Khazaal, Zaineb Ziad Ismail

Journal of Engineering • 2020

In this study, a one-dimensional model represented by Butler-Volmer-Monod (BVM) model was proposed to compute the anode overpotential and current density in a mediator-less MFC system. The system was fueled with various organic loadings of real field petroleum refinery oily sludge to optimize the favorable organic loading for biomass to operate the suggested system. The increase in each organic loading showed higher resistance to electrons transport to the anode represented by ohmic loss. On the contrary, both activation and mass transfer losses exhibited a noticeable decrement upon the increased organic loadings. However, current density was improved throughout all increased loads achieving a maximum current density of 5.2 A/m3. The BVM model perfectly expressed the bioelectrochemical reactions in the anodic-chamber. The experimental measurements for all the studied organic loadings agreed with the model predicted values by an estimated determination factor (R2) of 0.96, proving the validity of the proposed mathematical model to express the anodic bioelectrochemical reactions in the MFC. Also, the sustainable power generated from each cycle was evaluated, and it was found that higher sustainable energy can be harvested from higher organic loading 1000 g/L, which achieved maximum sustainable energy of 0.83 W/m3.

Fatemeh Mahmoodzadeh, Nahid Navidjouy, Saber Alizadeh et al.

Research Square • 2023

Abstract Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have garnered significant interest from researchers as a self-sustaining and environmentally friendly system for the simultaneous treatment of urban and industrial wastewater and production of bioelectricity. The type and material of the electrode are critical factors that can influence the efficiency and energy production of this treatment process, with porosity, surface area, conductivity, and stability being key considerations. In this study, graphite plates and carbon felt were modified through the electrodeposition of nickel followed by the formation of a biofilm, resulting in conductive bio-anode thin film electrodes with enhanced power generation capacity. The structural and morphological properties of the electrode surfaces were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), elemental mapping, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) techniques. The results confirmed that nickel was successfully doped and that sufficient amounts of microorganisms were attached to the nickel-deposited electrodes, leading to improved electron transfer and increased power generation. To validate this claim, various parameters such as maximum voltage, current density, and power generation were investigated using a dual-chamber MFC equipped with a Nafion 117 membrane and bio-nickel-doped carbon felt (bio-Ni@CF) and bio-nickel-doped graphite plate (bio-Ni@GP) electrodes under constant temperature conditions. The polarization curve obtained during four loading stages using different anode electrodes indicated that the maximum voltage achieved was 468.0 mV using the bio-Ni@CF electrode, representing an increase of 35.0%, 18.37%, and 9.82% compared to the bare GP, bare CF, and bio-Ni@GP electrodes, respectively. The highest power density and current density achieved using the bio-Ni@CF electrode were 130.72 mW/m2 and 760.0 mA/m2, respectively. Furthermore, the modified electrodes demonstrated appropriate stability and resistance during successful runs. These results suggest that nickel-doped carbon-based electrodes can serve as suitable and stable supported catalysts and conductors for improving efficiency and increasing power generation in MFCs.

P. Belleville, P. J. Strong, P. H. Dare et al.

Water Science and Technology • 2011

We describe the operation of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system operating on a synthetic wastewater (acetic acid), under conditions of increasing nitrogen limitation. Two MFCs were operated under feed conditions which spanned a range of TKN/COD values of 1.6–28 mg/g. Stable operation was observed in all cases, even when no ammoniacal nitrogen was added to the cell. Improved electrochemical performance (measured as power density, W/m2) was observed as nitrogen limitation was imposed on the cells. Even with no ammonium addition, continuous function of the cell was maintained, at levels consistent with operation at balanced nutrient supplementation. The work has implicated biological nitrogen fixation as a potential source of nitrogen within the MFC. Whilst this hypothesis has yet to be confirmed, the work highlights the opportunity for continuous operation of microbial fuel cells utilising wastewaters with extremely low nitrogen levels, present in pulp and paper, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries. Further, the described increases in some of the electrochemical indices (e.g. power density) under application of nitrogen limitation may provide a new approach to increasing fuel cell performance. Finally, the lack of any need to add supplemental nitrogen to a MFC-based wastewater treatment technology holds potential for significant financial and environmental savings.

Ian D. Deninger, Caitlin J. Shanahan, Ashna K. Sran et al.

ECS Meeting Abstracts • 2022

Incorporating biomimetic polymers to develop a conducting nanocomposite material is a viable solution to address the problematic charge-transfer limitations that are common to carbon-based electrodes. Additionally, the variability associated with reported power density performance is due to the wide variety of carbon electrode functionalization techniques. Therefore, the efficacy of a biomass-based (i.e., polysaccharides and cellulose) electrode is due to the controlled establishment of a porous, non-covalent, polymer network which can serve as a consistent starting material for further functionalization. The scope of this work aims to utilize the existing biopolymer backbone (i.e., agarose, alginate, and cellulose) as a carbon scaffold to selectively control the photochemically initiated radical polymerization of conductive polymer (i.e., aniline, pyrrole) uniformly throughout the composite. Initial results indicate that the photochemically initiated polymerization of polyaniline and polypyrrole improved the efficacy of chain growth and established more uniform distributions of conducting polymer throughout the composite matrix. Current-voltage sweeps (I-V) of electrodes incorporated with polyaniline showed enhanced charge transfer when compared to polypyrrole systems at similar applied potentials. These results indicate that the absolute electron transfer performance is related to the molecular structure of the conductive polymer network. Polyaniline has a greater structural capacity to resonate electron density throughout the conjugated network, despite containing more dielectric material. In addition, the electron transport performance and efficiency of this biomimetic electrode has been shown to depend on the identity of the incorporated photoinitator (i.e., Fe 3+ ), as well as the type of dopant (i.e., hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, polyelectrolyte), and surrounding polymer backbone (i.e., alginate, agarose, cellulose). Preliminary findings on dopant effects indicated markedly faster rates of charge transfer in electrodes doped with sulfuric acid. Furthermore, an extension of these enhanced current-voltage properties has been applied into a mediator-less E. coli MFC system, which exhibited increased open circuit potentials comparable to carbon cloth.

Waheed Miran, Mohsin Nawaz, Jiseon Jang et al.

RSC Advances • 2015

The effect of wastewater containing MWCNTs on MFC performance was evaluated. MWCNTs addition resulted in a higher voltage/power density generation and COD/TOC removal. Low LDH release and a compact biofilm showed insignificant electricigen damage.

Joseph Kidehu, John Geophrey

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology • 2018

Experimental study was undertaken to evaluate performance of microbial fuel cell. Without addition of methyl blue, the cell generated 1.265 V, 0.403 mA and 56.12 mW/m2 after three hours of operation. With 300 µM methyl blue in sewage anolyte, 6.7% increase in voltage, 20.5% increase in current and 28.6% increase in power density was observed. By using ash- water catholyte, addition of methyl blue in anolyte led to increase of 9.0% in voltage, 38.5% in current and 50.9% for power density. Between three and twenty four hours of continuous operation of the cell with phosphate buffer catholyte, the average voltage was 1.305 V and the average current was 0.321 mA before addition of methyl blue. Methyl blue addition led to 5.1% increase in voltage and 55.2% increase in current. For the case of ash-water catholyte with methyl blue in anolyte, led to 6.2% increase in voltage and 59.1% increase in current.

Hassan Ali Ozgoli, Sara Deilami

Journal of Electronics and Electrical Engineering • 2024

This research introduces an innovative integration of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) with a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system utilizing autothermal reforming (ATR) of natural gas. This novel approach focuses on large-scale industrial applications, addressing scalability and performance optimization, areas previously underexplored. The study conducts a comprehensive parametric analysis of system efficiency, achieving a remarkable 91.3% total efficiency, with 38.1% electrical efficiency and 46.1% thermal efficiency. Economic analysis revealed strong regional differences, with Europe offering the highest Net Present Value (NPV) and a payback period of 4.0 years, while Iran showed a longer payback period of 8.3 years. The system demonstrated adaptability to fluctuating electricity prices, particularly in the U.S. Environmentally, the system achieved a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions and reduced natural gas consumption compared to conventional gas turbines. This innovative study addresses scalability challenges and offers new insights into optimizing PEMFC-CHP systems for sustainable industrial energy generation, contributing to the advancement of clean energy technologies.

Rui Sun, Qianyong Zhang, Zhirao Yin et al.

Academic Journal of Science and Technology • 2024

In this paper, phosphoric acid, nitric acid, zinc chloride, ammonia and melamine are used as cheaper activators to modify the carbon felt material, exploring the changes of various activation materials on the power production performance and degradation performance of the device after MFC carbon felt anode treatment, and finding that phosphoric acid-activated carbon felt has the highest output voltage and the best degradation effect on the ship's oily wastewater as a MFC anode device.

Tesfalem Atnafu, Seyoum Leta

Environmental Systems Research • 2021

Abstract Background Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is a promising sustainable future energy source with a renewable and abundant substrate. MFC critical drawbacks are anode surface area limitations and electrochemical loss. Recent studies recommend thick anode biofilm growth due to the synergetic effect between microbial communities. Engineering the anode surface area is the prospect of MFC. In this study, a microbial electrode jacket dish (MEJ-dish) was invented, first time to the authors’ knowledge, to support MFC anode biofilm growth. The MFC reactor with MEJ-dish was hypothesized to develop a variable biofilm thickens. This reactor is called a fragmented electro-active biofilm-microbial fuel cell (FAB-MFC). It was optimized for pH and MEJ-dish types and tested at a bench-scale. Results Fragmented (thick and thin) anode biofilms were observed in FAB-MFC but not in MFC. During the first five days and pH 7.5, maximum voltage (0.87 V) was recorded in MFC than FAB-MFC; however, when the age of the reactor increases, all the FAB-MFC gains momentum. It depends on the MEJ-dish type that determines the junction nature between the anode and MEJ-dish. At alkaline pH 8.5, the FAB-MFC generates a lower voltage relative to MFC. On the contrary, the COD removal was improved regardless of pH variation (6.5–8.5) and MEJ-dish type. The bench-scale studies support the optimization findings. Overall, the FAB improves the Coulombic efficiency by 7.4–9.6 % relative to MFC. It might be recommendable to use both FAB and non-FAB in a single MFC reactor to address the contradictory effect of increasing COD removal associated with the lower voltage at higher pH. Conclusions This study showed the overall voltage generated was significantly higher in FAB-MFC than MFC within limited pH (6.5–7.5); relatively, COD removal was enhanced within a broader pH range (6.5–8.5). It supports the conclusion that FAB anode biofilms were vital for COD removal, and there might be a mutualism even though not participated in voltage generation. FAB could provide a new flexible technique to manage the anode surface area and biofilm thickness by adjusting the MEJ-dish size. Future studies may need to consider the number, size, and conductor MEJ-dish per electrode.

Fernando A. Rojas, Carlos Hernández‐Benitez, Víctor Ramírez et al.

Fuel Cells • 2024

Abstract Some of the most popular technologies for wastewater sanitation, still face serious limitations related to high energy consumption requirements. In this context, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) constitute a promising approach since they do not require aeration and produce electricity at the same time. Limitations for these devices, however, are related to the cost of the constituents and the functionality of the arrangement. In this work, a semi‐cylindrical ceramic MFC was designed and constructed using a low‐cost commercial ceramic handcraft as a membrane, carbon felt, carbon cloth, and carbon cloth/activated carbon in different arrangements for the anode and cathode components. The best results were obtained using carbon felt as an anode and a cathodic zone built with carbon felt in which void regions were filled with activated carbon. This arrangement produced 85 mWm −2 for each cell. Evaluating the performance of the MFC in a modular system with eight cells using a different number of separations inside the module and different electrical connections, resulting in a 4‐compartment module that produced 90 mWm −2 with one single module and 95 mWm −2 with a serial arrangement of two modules.

Payel Choudhury, Ria Majumdar, Tarun Kanti Bandyopadhyaya

Journal of Electrochemical Science and Engineering • 2021

To investigate the performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a single-chamber membrane, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is used as a bio catalyst for various synthetic wastewaters rich in carbohydrate and is compared with real dairy wastewater in this experiment. Therefore, the choice of appropriate carbon, nitrogen, NaCl, inoculum content, temperature, and pH process parameters are used for preparing synthetic wastewater was agreed upon by one-variable-at-a time approach. Maximum levels of voltage generation attained from the synthetic wastewater was 485 mV when supple­mented with 1.5 % of lactose as a source of carbon, 0.3 % of ammonium chloride as a decent nitrogen source, 0.03 % of NaCl, inoculum concentration of 3 %, the temperature at 37 oC and pH 7. On the other hand, the maximum voltage attained with real dairy wastewater was 561 mV with high chemical oxygen demand (COD) value of 801 mg l-1. The maximum power density obtained from dairy wastewater was 73.54 mW m-2. Thus, High voltage achieved for MFC operating with real dairy wastewater suggests that it can be used not only for the industrial application to generate more renewable power, but also for the wastewater treatment carried out at the same time.

Aritro Banerjee, Rajnish Kaur Calay, Subhashis Das

Water • 2023

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) are emerging technologies that can produce electricity while treating wastewater. A series of tests were carried out to evaluate the efficiency of this technology for treating dairy wastewater (DWW). The experiments used Shewanella baltica as an exoelectrogen in a small single MFC to treat simulated DWW. The impacts of various operational factors, specifically pH, hydraulic retention time (HRT), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the influent to the anode chamber, were investigated, and the effect of these variables on the output performance of the cell was evaluated. The best performance of the MFC was found when the pH, HRT, and COD were 8, 6.66 h, and 20,632 mg/L, respectively, in the scaled experimental setup. Under these conditions, the maximum power density and percentage removal of COD in terms of wastewater treatment ability were found to be 138 mW/m2 and 71%, respectively. It may be concluded that MFCs are suitable treatment technologies for treating dairy wastewater while potentially simultaneously generating power.

Syarif Hidayat, Dini Widyani Aghnia, Edwan Kardena et al.

Jurnal Presipitasi : Media Komunikasi dan Pengembangan Teknik Lingkungan • 2020

wastewater into direct electrical energy. In this study, the applied external resistance in the MFC reactor was optimized to determine its optimum conditions in generating electrical energy and removing organic compounds in wastewater. The MFC reactor's performance was evaluated by cell potential, power density, Coulombic efficiency (CE), and organic removal efficiency. The purpose of measuring these parameters is to determine the MFC reactor's performance in producing electrical energy and removing organic compounds for each experiment variation. Biochemical tests were carried out to choose the type of microorganisms in the anode electrode. This measurement is essential for the optimization of environmental conditions for subsequent experiments. MFC reactor with 100 Ω was selected as an optimum condition since it produced the highest power density and efficiency organic removal. In this condition, the CE value was 57%, slightly lower than the MFC reactor with an external resistance of 50 Ω, 65%. Based on biochemical tests, microorganisms that grow on the anode electrode were closed to the Clostridium (Clostridium sp1 and Clostridium sp2), a type of bacteria that belongs to the class of the exoelectrogen. The results showed that the applied external resistance influenced the performance of the MFC reactor. Thus the selection of the proper external resistance is an essential factor in the MFC reactor's operation.

Nurettin Çek, Ahmet Erensoy, Namık Ak et al.

International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering • 2022

Abstract Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be used to produce clean energy from organic wastes. Various biomasses for MFCs can be used as biofuel materials. Moss ( Bryophyta ) is a source of biomass materials and can be used as an alternative fuel for microbial fuel cells. In this study, moss-enriched MFCs were produced by using moss as a biofuel source and aluminum and silver as an electrode. As a result of the good electrochemical performance of the metal electrodes (aluminum and silver), higher power density than previous studies involving moss was obtained, with the highest power density in this study being 20 mW/m 2 . Moreover, in this study, bacterial activity, biofilm formation, soil utilization, pH change, and corrosion were investigated in MFCs and the effects of MFC on power density were discussed. The addition of soil increased the corrosion rate and internal resistance while reducing the power density. As a result of the addition of soil, the power density dropped to 16.13 mW/m 2 . The corrosion rate was lower than industrial corrosion. Changes in pH confirmed that organic material dissolved and chemical reactions took place. Scanning electron microscope (SEM)-Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyzes showed the presence of Bacillus and Coccus bacteria species on the electrode surfaces. These bacteria were acted as biocatalysts by forming a biofilm on the electrode surfaces.

Zia Ullah, Sheikh Zeshan

Water Science and Technology • 2019

Abstract The microbial fuel cell (MFC) provides new opportunities for energy generation and wastewater treatment through conversion of organic matter into electricity by electrogenic bacteria. This study investigates the effect of different types and concentrations of substrates on the performance of a double chamber microbial fuel cell (DCMFC). Three mediator-less laboratory-scale DCMFCs were used in this study, which were equipped with graphite electrode and cation exchange membrane. The MFCs were fed with three different types of substrates (glucose, acetate and sucrose) at a chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration of 1,000 mg/L. The selected substrate (acetate) was studied for three different concentrations of 500, 2,000 and 3,000 mg/L of COD. Results demonstrated that acetate was the best substrate among the three different substrates with maximum power density and COD removal of 91 mW/m2 and 77%, respectively. Concentration of 2,000 mg/L was the best concentration in terms of performance with maximum power density and COD removal of 114 mW/m2 and 79%, respectively. The polarization curve shows that ohmic losses were dominant in DCMFCs established for all three substrates and concentrations.

Ganjar Samudro, Tsuyoshi Imai, Yung-Tse Hung

Water • 2021

One of the important factors in enhancing the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is reactor design and configuration. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the regressors and their operating parameters affecting the double anode chamber–designed dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (DAC-DCMFC) performance. Its primary design consists of two anode chamber compartments equipped with a separator and cathode chamber. The DAC-DCMFCs were parallelly operated over 8 days (60 days after the acclimation period). They were intermittently pump-fed with the different organic loading rates (OLRs), using chemically enriched sucrose as artificial wastewater. The applied OLRs were adjusted at low, medium, and high ranges from 0.4 kg.m−3.d−1 to 2.5 kg.m−3.d−1. The reactor types were type 1 and type 2 with different cathode materials. The pH, temperature, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), optical density 600 (OD600), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and total organic carbon (TOC) were measured, using standard analytical instruments. In general, the power production achieved a maximum of 866 ± 44 mW/m2, with a volumetric power density of 5.15 ± 0.26 W/m3 and coulombic efficiency of 84%. Two-stage COD and TOC removal at medium OLR achieved a range of 60–80%. Medium OLR is the recommended level to enhance power production and organic removal in DAC-DCMFC. The separated anode chambers into two parts in a dual anode chamber microbial fuel cell adjusted by various organic loadings expressed a preferable comprehension in the integrated MFCs for wastewater treatment.

Binjal Pradhan, Ranjan Pradhan

European Scientific Journal, ESJ • 2020

Comparative measurement of electricity produced by inherent eletrogens in benthic mud that were maintained at different operating pH using microbial fuel cell was studied. A two-chamber microbial fuel cell model with proton exchange membrane was adopted for this study applying electrogene sourced from benthic mud collected from local lake and pond in Ontario. The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of different pH of 6, 7 and 8 maintained within the anode cell in a microbial biofuel cell (MFC) containing microbial communities found in a benthic mud medium over 192 hours. The outcomes of the study demonstrated that in acidic conditions, there was an initial decrease in output whereas an alkaline condition allowed for the acclimatization and eventual increase of electric current and microbial activity of the study period. MFC operated at pH 7 generated consistently higher electric power during the study duration exhibiting ideal conditions for the inherent exoelectrogenic bacteria. On average 249.8 mV of electricity were measured from the MFC with pH 7. The average current density calculated to be 9.76 (±2.02) X 10-5 µA/cm2 . The average power density during the study period was calculated to be 2.49 (± 0.77) X 10-5 µW/cm2

Pimprapa Chaijak, Panisa Michu, Junjira Thipraksa

Trends in Sciences • 2023

Melanoidin is the main cause of the dark brown color of the palm oil mill effluent (POME) that form under the Maillard reaction. In this study, the constructed wetland integrated with microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) has been developed for melanoidin removal from the POME and simultaneously electricity generation as a by-product. The macrophyte Dieffenbachia sp. has been used as a biocatalyst on the cathode electrode and the oxidoreductase-producing bacterium Bacillus lichenformis with laccase and manganese peroxidase activity has been used as an anodic biocatalyst. The maximal melanoidin removal, chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal, enzyme activity, and power output were monitored. The maximal laccase and manganese peroxidase activities of 1.60 ± 0.10 U/mL and 1.45 ± 0.05 U/mL were found during melanoidin degradation. In addition, the maximal melanoidin removal of 93.59 ± 0.10% and 95.12 ± 0.15% were achieved respectively. When the maximal power density of 0.18 ± 0.01 mW/m3 was generated. This study gained new knowledge about using the CW-MFC system as a biological treatment process of the melanoidin content in the POME and simultaneously generated electrical energy as a by-product. HIGHLIGHTS The coupling process of constructed wetland and the microbial fuel cell is promising for the melanoidin removal of the POME The maximal melanoidin removal of 93.59 % was gained The maximal power output of 0.18 mW/m3 was generated from this system GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Ademola Adekunle, Vijaya Raghavan, Boris Tartakovsky

Batteries • 2019

This study describes a novel approach for real-time energy harvesting and performance diagnostics of a solid anolyte microbial fuel cell (SA-MFC) representing a prototype smart biobattery. The biobattery power output was maximized in real time by combining intermittent power generation with a Perturbation-and-Observation algorithm for maximum power point tracking. The proposed approach was validated by operating the biobattery under a broad range of environmental conditions affecting power production, such as temperature (4–25 °C), NaCl concentration (up to 2 g L−1), and carbon source concentration. Real-time biobattery performance diagnostics was achieved by estimating key internal parameters (resistance, capacitance, open circuit voltage) using an equivalent electrical circuit model. The real time optimization approach ensured maximum power production during 388 days of biobattery operation under varying environmental conditions, thus confirming the feasibility of biobattery application for powering small electronic devices in field applications.

M. Behera, S. S. R. Murthy, M. M. Ghangrekar

Water Science and Technology • 2011

The performance of dual chambered mediator-less microbial fuel cell (MFC) operated under batch mode was evaluated under different operating temperatures, ranging between 20 and 55 °C, with step increase in temperature of 5 °C. Synthetic wastewater with sucrose as carbon source having chemical oxygen demand (COD) of 519–555 mg/L was used in the study. Temperature was a crucial factor in the performance of MFCs for both COD removal and electricity production. The MFC demonstrated highest COD removal efficiency of 84% and power density normalized to the anode surface area of 34.38 mW/m2 at operating temperature of 40 °C. Higher VSS to SS ratio was observed at the operating temperature between 35 and 45 °C. Under different operating temperatures the observed sludge yield was in the range of 0.05 to 0.14 g VSS/g COD removed. The maximum Coulombic and energy efficiencies were obtained at 40 °C, with values of 7.39 and 13.14%, respectively. Internal resistance of the MFC decreased with increase in operating temperature. Maximum internal resistance of 1,150 Ω was observed when the MFC was operated at 20 °C; whereas the minimum internal resistance (552 Ω) was observed at 55 °C.

Yu Zhao, Xiao Bin Wang, Peng Li et al.

Advanced Materials Research • 2012

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), cyclic voltammetry (CV), power density and anode potential are used to characterize the mediator microbial fuel cell at different methylene blue (MB) concentrations. At lower MB concentration between 9.98×10-3 mmol/L and 1.66×10-1 mmol/L, the increased power density is enabled by using high mediator concentrations. Higher peak power density of 159.6 mw/m2 is observed compared with the peak power density of 36.0 mw/m2. But MB at too high concentration is disadvantageous to the perform of MFC. At the MB concentration of 2.50×10-1 mmol/L, the peak power output is just 128.4 mw/m2, which is lower than 159.6 mw/m2 at MB concentration of 1.66×10-1 mmol/L.