Abstract
Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are an area of increasing research for use as an alternative energy source, due to their ability to produce electricity while simultaneously treating organic waste. This meta-study determines the optimal MFC configuration for electricity production, through consideration of the biocatalyst and substrate used. This study focuses primarily on comparing the use of mixed microbial consortia to pure strains of biocatalyst, and the use of waste water in contrast to simple substrates such as; acetate, glucose, and lactate. The use of algae as a substrate, and as a biocatalyst, is also investigated. In this study, only single and dual chamber MFCs are compared, and power density standardised to anode surface area (mW/m2) is used as a metric to facilitate the comparison of different experimental setups. This meta-study shows that dual chamber MFCs, using simple substrates, when catalysed by mixed culture biocatalysts, produce greater power densities, than algae, and complex substrates, with average power densities of 280, 70 and 30 (mW/m2) observed respectively. In single chamber MFC configurations, mixed culture biocatalysts have been observed to yield approximately double the power output of pure culture biocatalysts.
Highlights
A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that directly converts the chemical energy of an organic substrate into electrical energy via redox reaction
Analysis of 20 individual, first hand investigations, comprising 54 different experiments, have yielded the following results. This meta-study has focused on investigating relationships between maximum power output and; MFC configuration, substrate and biocatalyst
Through analysis of recent publications reporting experimental MFC configurations, we have identified the following trends; Analysis of dual chamber MFCs, using mixed culture biocatalysts has shown that simple substrates produce greater power output at 280 mW/m2 than algal and complex substrates, which yielded 70, and 30, mW/m2 respectively
Summary
A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that directly converts the chemical energy of an organic substrate into electrical energy via redox reaction. MFCs most commonly consists of separate anode and cathode chambers separated by a proton exchange membrane. Electrons are liberated from the substrate through an oxidation reaction, and flow via the anode, through a resistive load and to the cathode. The electrons are used to reduce a catholyte, most commonly oxygen, completing the electrochemical redox reaction [1]. The oxidation of acetic acid in the anode chamber is shown, followed by the general cathodic reduction half Equation of oxygen, shown in Equation 2 [2]. The oxidation of acetic acid in the anode chamber is shown in Equation 1, followed by the general cathodic reduction half Equation of oxygen, shown in Equation 2 [2]. )*+,-.-/01.
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