A single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed to evaluate the capacity of Exophiala dermatitidis EXF-8193 as an electron-donor microorganism. The working electrodes were made of unidirectional carbon fiber and the voltage generation was evaluated for 120h. The maximum voltage value reached was 176mV after 93hours of operation. At the same time, the degradation of the Basic Blue 9 (BB9) was studied and a 70% decolorization was achieved in 120h. Optimization studies were conducted to maximize the electrical energy produced. In the first stage, the individual influence of the variables: carbon source, shape and area of the anode was analyzed. It was obtained that glucose, a T-shaped anode and an anodic area of 12 cm2 provided the best voltage values, generating 175.8 ± 0.57mV, 175.8 ± 0.57mV and 310.53 ± 1.22mV, respectively. In the second stage of the investigation, multiparametric optimization was carried out using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with a Box Behnken experimental design. A second-order model was the best fit, with R2 = 91.7. Finally, the MFC operation was optimized, with 284mV being the most favorable voltage when the cell is operated maintaining the optimal conditions for each parameter.
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