Development of peat microbial fuel cells (Peat MFCs) – the green and sustainable generators of electricity

Abstract

Although deemed unsuitable for construction, Peat soils have remarkable applications in MFCs by generating electric power because of the microbial decomposition of rich organic matter. The demerits such as weak skeleton, high water content, acidic nature, and humus contamination of peat soil for civil engineering applications are considered merits in microbial fuel cell applications. Peat soil-based Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), the first of its kind among MFCs, are explored to generate electric power as high as 6 V when six MFCs connected in a series and lighted up an LED for 288 h. The performance of peat MFCs as a function of bamboo waste, fulvic acid, iron winding and surface area of the BC anode has been discussed in this work. The synergistic effect of organic decomposition by microbes and Fe complexation with humic substances (HS) has been detailed to be responsible for the cause of electric power in Peat MFCs. ATP measurement in peat soils after defined time periods confirmed the growth of microbial population, which successfully degraded the organic matter in MFCs. The characterization of BC anode and GAC cathode using FTIR, Raman, SEM with EDS, BET isotherm studies substantiated the structural modification and porous nature of the fresh and the used electrodes. The EIS study was performed to determine the dynamics of internal resistances due to the degradation kinetics in Peat MFCs. The cost effectiveness and the sustainability of Peat MFCs towards green technology are detailed in this paper.