Power Generation In Microbial Fuel Cells Research Articles

Trace heavy metal ions promoted extracellular electron transfer and power generation by Shewanella in microbial fuel cells

Although microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is considered as one of the most promising technology for renewable energy harvesting, low power output still accounts one of the bottlenecks and limits its further development. In this work, it is found that Cu2+ (0.1μgL−1–0.1mgL−1) or Cd2+ (0.1μgL−1–1mgL−1) significantly improve the electricity generation in MFCs. The maximum power output achieved with trace level of Cu2+ (∼6nM) or Cd2+ (∼5nM) is 1.3 times and 1.6 times higher than that of the control, respectively. Further analysis verifies that addition of Cu2+ or Cd2+ effectively improves riboflavin production and bacteria attachment on the electrode, which enhances bacterial extracellular electron transfer (EET) in MFCs. These results unveil the mechanism for power output enhancement by Cu2+ or Cd2+ addition, and suggest that metal ion addition should be a promising strategy to enhance EET as well as power generation of MFCs.

Electricity generation and nutrients removal from high-strength liquid manure by air-cathode microbial fuel cells

ABSTRACTAir-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are widely tested to recover electrical energy from waste streams containing organic matter. When high-strength wastewater, such as liquid animal manure, is used as a medium, inhibition on anode and cathode catalysts potentially impairs the effectiveness of MFC performance in power generation and pollutant removal. This study evaluated possible inhibitive effects of liquid swine manure components on MFC power generation, improved liquid manure-fed MFCs performance by pretreatment (dilution and selective adsorption), and modeled the kinetics of organic matter and nutrients removal kinetics. Parameters monitored included pH, conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (COD), volatile fatty acids (VFAs), total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN), nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate concentrations. The removals of VFA and TAN were efficient, indicated by the short half-life times of 4.99 and 7.84 d, respectively. The mechanism for phosphate decrease was principally the salt precipitation on cathode, but the removal was incomplete after 42-d operation. MFC with an external resistor of 2.2 kΩ and fed with swine wastewater generated relatively small power (28.2 μW), energy efficiency (0.37%) and Coulombic efficiency (1.5%). Dilution of swine wastewater dramatically improved the power generation as the inhibitory effect was decreased. Zeolite and granular activated carbon were effective in the selective adsorption of ammonia or organic matter in swine wastewater, and so substantially improved the power generation, energy efficiency, and Coulombic efficiency. A smaller external resistor in the circuit was also observed to promote the organic matter degradation and thus to shorten the treatment time. Overall, air-cathode MFCs are promising for generating electrical power from livestock wastewater and meanwhile reducing the level of organic matter and nutrients.

Optimization of Pt-Pd alloy catalyst and supporting materials for oxygen reduction in air-cathode Microbial Fuel Cells

ABSTRACT In this study, Pt-Pd alloy catalyst was fabricated on carbon papers via electro-deposition as an alternative catalyst for oxygen reduction in air-cathode Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs). Effects of electro-deposition cycles and supporting materials (graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNTs)) on oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of the Pt-Pd electrode and power generation in MFCs were investigated. The structural and electrochemical properties of the Pt-Pd catalyst were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Results showed that the Pt-Pd electrode showed a good ORR activity. A MFC with a Pt-Pd cathode of 15 deposition cycles produced a maximum power density of 1274 mWm −2 , comparable to that with a conventional Pt/C cathode (0.5 mg Pt cm −2 ). CNT as the supporting material further increased ORR activity of the Pt-Pd electrode and power generation capacity in MFCs, while graphene as the supporting material did not produce positive effects. XRD results confirmed the presence of Pt/Pd elements on the electrode. SEM results showed that decoration using CNT reduced Pt-Pd particle size and promoted them even dispersion on the carbon paper. The Pt-Pd electrode attained a comparable performance to the Pt/C electrode when controlling an optimum deposition cycles and using CNT as the supporting materials, which demonstrates the potential of replacing Pt as an oxygen reduction catalyst in MFCs due to high oxygen reduction activity and relatively low cost.

Performance and stability of different cathode base materials for use in microbial fuel cells

Metal supporting materials are increasingly being used as base materials for microbial fuel cell (MFC) cathodes. However, the potential for corrosion may limit their use as base materials of MFCs during scale-up and long-term operation. In this study, the electrochemical performance, power generation in MFCs, hydrostatic pressure tolerance, and stability of activated carbon (catalyst) cathodes with carbon cloth or different size metal mesh as base materials are investigated. Electrochemical testing results show that the finest stainless steel mesh (250 × 250 openings per inch) outperforms carbon cloth cathodes by 10–40% at current densities ranging from 6 to 11.2 A m−2 over the typical cathode operating range of 0.1 V–0 V. When tested in MFCs, however, carbon cloth based cathodes out perform all stainless steel mesh cathodes by as much as 34%, reaching 1.72 W m−2; probably due to the corrosion and salt build-up on the surface of the stainless steel mesh cathodes. Carbon cloth cathodes also maintained high static pressure heads of 1.9 m. The high electrochemical performance, hydrostatic pressure tolerance, and corrosion resistance of carbon cloth suggest that carbon fiber based materials may be more suitable than metal based materials for use as MFC cathodes base material for some applications.

Removal and fate of trace organic compounds in microbial fuel cells

This study focused on understanding and characterizing the removal of trace organic compounds (TOrCs) in microbial fuel cells (MFC). 26 TOrCs with broad physicochemical properties were spiked in synthetic wastewater. Single-chamber air-cathode MFC (SMFC) and double-chamber air-cathode MFC (DMFC) were constructed to provide combined or separated oxidation/reduction environments for TOrCs removal. The study showed that TOrCs removal processes involved both sorption and biodegradation. For neutral TOrCs, the removal efficiency was affected primarily by the biodegradability probability and hydrophobicity of the compounds, while electrostatic interactions played an additional role in the MFCs as the removal of positively charged TOrCs was generally higher than negatively charged TOrCs. The presence of TOrCs showed negligible impact on MFC power generation, likewise the operation of MFCs had marginal effect on TOrCs removal, except longer residence time in MFCs improved biological removal performance.

Enhancing organic matter removal, biopolymer recovery and electricity generation from distillery wastewater by combining fungal fermentation and microbial fuel cell

For enhancing organic matter removal from cereal-based distillery stillage two-stage treatment consisting of fermentation by Aspergillus awamori followed by microbial fuel cell (MFC) is proposed. Considerable reduction in total and soluble chemical oxygen demand (COD) up to 70% and 40%, respectively, along with 98% reduction of suspended solids (SS) has been achieved during fungal pretreatment. The process generated chitosan, a useful fermentation byproduct from fungal mycelia, as 0.6–0.7g/l of settled sludge with mycelium (3.8% solids). Prior treatment of wastewater with fungal strain enhanced the power generation in MFC by 2.9 times at an organic loading rate of 1.5kgCOD/m3day, demonstrating soluble COD reduction of 92% in MFC. While treating distillery wastewater, this two-stage integrated biological process demonstrated overall 99% COD removal and almost complete removal of SS, delivering ample scope for scale-up and industrial application to offer effective solution for distillery wastewater treatment.

Improvement of microbial fuel cell cathodes using cost-effective polyvinylidene fluoride

In this study polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is investigated as an alternative to polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for air-cathode diffusion layers (DLs) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for the improvement of MFC power generation. It is found that the cathode fabricated with PVDF achieves a higher maximum power density (MPD) than a PTFE cathode. Successive PVDF or PVDF/carbon black DLs are applied on the base layers in order to optimize cathode performance. The results show significant improvements in such performances as the coulombic efficiency (CE), MPD, and water loss. In electrochemical tests, the cathode coated with four PVDF DLs has the largest current response at a given applied potential, yielding the highest MPD of 0.123 mW cm−2 (normalized to the projected cathode surface area) and largest CE (10.7%) in the MFC test. Carbon black is added to the DLs in order to test its effect on the MFC power generation. Cathodes made from pure PVDF DLs perform better than those containing PVDF/carbon black DLs in electrochemical and MFC tests. In addition, a smaller MFC (28 mL) produces a much higher MPD than a larger MFC (700 mL), resulting in an increase in the CE.

Anode modification with formic acid: A simple and effective method to improve the power generation of microbial fuel cells

The physicochemical properties of anode material directly affect the anodic biofilm formation and electron transfer, thus are critical for the power generation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this work, carbon cloth anode was modified with formic acid to enhance the power production of MFCs. Formic acid modification of anode increased the maximum power density of a single-chamber air-cathode MFC by 38.1% (from 611.5±6mW/m2 to 877.9±5mW/m2). The modification generated a cleaner electrode surface and a reduced content of oxygen and nitrogen groups on the anode. The surface changes facilitated bacterial growth on the anode and resulted in an optimized microbial community. Thus, the electron transfer rate on the modified anodes was enhanced remarkably, contributing to a higher power output of MFCs. Anode modification with formic acid could be an effective and simple method for improving the power generation of MFCs. The modification method holds a huge potential for large scale applications and is valuable for the scale-up and commercialization of microbial fuel cells.

Controlling methanogenesis and improving power production of microbial fuel cell by lauric acid dosing.

Methanogens compete with anodophiles for substrate and thus reduce the power generation and coulombic efficiency (CE) of the microbial fuel cell (MFC). Performance of a baked clayware membrane MFC inoculated with mixed anaerobic sludge pretreated with lauric acid was investigated in order to enhance power recovery by controlling methanogenesis. In the presence of lauric acid pretreated inoculum, MFC produced maximum volumetric power density of 4.8 W/m(3) and the CE increased from 3.6% (for untreated inoculum) to 11.6%. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electro-kinetic evaluation indicated a higher bio-catalytic activity at the anode of the MFC inoculated with lauric acid pretreated sludge. With the lauric acid pretreated inoculum a higher catalytic current of 114 mA, exchange current density of 40.78 mA/m(2) and lower charge transfer resistance of 0.00016 Ωm(2) were observed during oxidation at the anode. Addition of lauric acid significantly achieved suppression of methanogenesis and enhanced the sustainable power generation of MFC by 3.9 times as compared with control MFC inoculated with sludge without any pretreatment.

Which determines power generation of microbial fuel cell based on carbon anode, surface morphology or oxygen-containing group?

To clarify the role of carbon surface nature in the power generation of microbial fuel cell (MFC) based on carbon anode, three carbon felt samples, obtained by simple water cleaning (CCF), heating (HCF) and oxidation with ammonium persulfate (ACF), were characterized with SEM, BET, FTIR, cyclic voltammetry and acid titration, and their performances as anode of MFC were investigated with polarization curve measurement, chronoamperometry and chronopotentiometry. It is found that the power output of MFC depends on the morphology rather than the oxygen-containing group concentration of the carbon felt surface. CCF, HCF and ACF have their surface oxygen-containing groups of 1.52, 0.8 and 0.45 mM m−2 and specific surface areas of 0.33, 0.65 and 1.19 m2 g−1, but yield their maximal power densities of 606, 858 and 990 mW m−2, respectively. This study suggests that intensive attention should be paid to the design of surface morphology in order to improve power generation of MFC.

Effects of different Pt-M (M = Fe, Co, Ni) alloy as cathodic catalyst on the performance of two-chambered microbial fuel cells

For the purpose of reducing the cost and improving the performance of cathodes in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), we prepared Pt/C and Pt-M/C (M = Ni, Co, Fe) electrodes, and characterized them by SEM, XRD and CV. The modified electrodes were used as the cathodes in double-chambered MFCs fed with synthetic medium and molasses sewage respectively. We have found that Pt-M/C catalysts had a better catalytic activity for oxygen reduction than Pt/C in the following order: Pt-Fe/C > Pt-Co/C > Pt-Ni/C > Pt/C. The maximum power density of the MFCs with Pt-M/C cathode was improved by 18–31% compared with the MFC with Pt/C cathode because of the decrease of activation loss in the cathode. This study shows that Pt-M/C catalysts can improve power generation of MFCs without affecting the COD removal and it is proposed that Pt-Fe functions best among the three Pt-M alloys as an efficient and cost-effective catalyst of MFCs.

Power generation using polyaniline/multi-walled carbon nanotubes as an alternative cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells

SUMMARY Optimization of the cathode catalyst is critical to the study of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). By using the open circuit voltage and power density as evaluation standards, this study focused on the use of polyaniline (PANI)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) composites as cathode catalysts for the replacement of platinum (Pt) in an air-cathode MFC, which was fed with synthetic wastewater. Scanning electron microscopy and linear scan voltammogram methods were used to evaluate the morphology and electrocatalytic activity of cathodes. A maximum power density of 476 mW/m2 was obtained with a 75% wt PANI/MWNT composite cathode, which was higher than the maximum power density of 367 mW/m2 obtained with a pure MWNT cathode but lower than the maximum power density of 541 mW/m2 obtained with a Pt/C cathode. Thus, the use of PANI/MWNT composites may be a suitable alternative to a Pt/C catalyst in MFCs. PANI/MWNT composites were initially used as cathodic catalysts to replace Pt/C catalysts, which enhanced the power generation of MFCs and substantially reduced their cost. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Application of electro-Fenton technology to remediation of polluted effluents by self-sustaining process.

The applicability of electro-Fenton technology to remediation of wastewater contaminated by several organic pollutants such as dyes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons has been evaluated using iron-enriched zeolite as heterogeneous catalyst. The electro-Fenton technology is an advanced oxidation process that is efficient for the degradation of organic pollutants, but it suffers from the high operating costs due to the need for power investment. For this reason, in this study microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were designed in order to supply electricity to electro-Fenton processes and to achieve high treatment efficiency at low cost. Initially, the effect of key parameters on the MFC power generation was evaluated. Afterwards, the degradation of Reactive Black 5 dye and phenanthrene was evaluated in an electro-Fenton reactor, containing iron-enriched zeolite as catalyst, using the electricity supplied by the MFC. Near complete dye decolourization and 78% of phenanthrene degradation were reached after 90 min and 30 h, respectively. Furthermore, preliminary reusability tests of the developed catalyst showed high degradation levels for successive cycles. The results permit concluding that the integrated system is adequate to achieve high treatment efficiency with low electrical consumption.

Electricity Generation from Crystal Violet Using a Single-Chambered Microbial Fuel Cell Inoculated <i>Aeromonas hydrophila </i>YC 57

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) provides a new opportunity for the sustainable production of energy from the textile wastewater. However, limited studies revealed the high electricity generation using a single-chambered MFC in treating crystal violet (CV) containing wastewater. This study isolated an exoelectrogen Aeromonas hydrophila YC 57, inoculated to a single-chambered MFC and intended to achieve a high power output. The results showed that the removal efficiency of CV and coulombic efficiency of MFC by A. hydrophila YC 57 were achieved at 82.5±0.7% and 57.2±0.5% at initial CV concentration of 100 mg/L, respectively. The maximum power generation of MFC was 240±5.6 mW/m2. Results of cyclic voltammogram hinted the intermediate products of CV dye played roles of mediators. Toxicity studies revealed that metabolites of CV produced by A. hydrophila YC 57 were nontoxic. To our knowledge, this is the first time to demonstrate the electricity characteristics of a single-chambered MFC inoculated A. hydrophila YC 57.

연속식 미생물연료전지 성능에 미치는 운전변수의 영향

Effects of operating parameters such as hydraulic retention time(HRT), recycle ratio and influent COD concentration on the performance of a continuous flow microbial fuel cell(MFC) were investigated. Decrease of HRT improved mass transfer of substrate to electrogenic microorganisms, therefore resulting in increased electrode voltage and power generation of MFC. Increase of HRT promoted COD removal by elongating retention time for COD removal in MFC. Recycling of effluent increased the COD removal and coulombic efficiencies by returning suspended microorganisms into MFC. Increase of influent COD enhanced COD removal due to the improved mass transfer of substrate. Decrease of coulombic efficiency by the increase of the HRT and influent COD concentration indicated that they enhanced the activities of fermentative bacteria.

High strength wastewater treatment accompanied by power generation using air cathode microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) present a novel method for simultaneous bioelectricity generation and wastewater treatment. In this study, an air–cathode MFC with membrane-electrode assembly was operated over three batch cycles (total of 160days) and results indicated that molasses mixed sewage wastewater (high strength wastewater) containing 9978mg/L of chemical oxygen demand (COD) could be used as substrate to produce bioelectricity with this system. Three different compositions of wastewater were used as substrate. The original wastewater, half-diluted wastewater and centrifuged wastewater were used as substrate in MFCs. Maximum voltage output of 762mV and maximal power density of 382.5mW/m2 (5.06W/m3) were obtained with the original wastewater by the 14th day of operation. During this time the system evolved to 0.93Ωcm−2 internal resistance and 59% removal of the total COD were achieved. Centrifuged wastewater showed poor performance in terms of power production (0.12mW/m2 or 4.2mW/m3), presumably due to organic substrate limitations. The MFC running on diluted wastewater showed a power density of 56.17mW/m2 (2.25mW/m3), with 70% COD removal. Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis, together with other characterization methods, confirmed the breakdown of organic compounds in the wastewater, EDX and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) revealed the surface morphology of the materials utilized and showed the evolution in electrode and membrane composition after the long term MFC processes. Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles showed the presence of mixed populations enclosing the electrochemically-active bacteria that established a biofilm on the anode surface and as such differed from the suspended bacterial community in the anode medium. These results demonstrate that complex wastewater can be used as a substrate for power generation in MFCs and also can be treated with high COD removal efficiencies.

Power generation and organics removal from wastewater using activated carbon nanofiber (ACNF) microbial fuel cells (MFCs)

Carbon-based materials are the most commonly used electrode material for anodes in microbial fuel cell (MFC), but are often limited by their surface areas available for biofilm growth and subsequent electron transfer process. This study investigated the use of activated carbon nanofibers (ACNF) as the anode material to enhance bacterial biofilm growth, and improve MFC performance. Qualitative and quantitative biofilm adhesion analysis indicated that ACNF exhibited better performance over the other commonly used carbon anodes (granular activated carbon (GAC), carbon cloth (CC)). Batch-scale MFC tests showed that MFCs with ACNF and GAC as anodes achieved power densities of 3.50 ± 0.46 W/m3 and 3.09 ± 0.33 W/m3 respectively, while MFCs with CC had a lower power density of 1.10 ± 0.21 W/m3 In addition, the MFCs with ACNF achieved higher contaminant removal efficiency (85 ± 4%) than those of GAC (75 ± 5%) and CC (70 ± 2%). This study demonstrated the distinct advantages of ACNF in terms of biofilm growth and electron transport. ACNF has a potential for higher power generation of MFCs to treat wastewaters.

Thionine increases electricity generation from microbial fuel cell using Saccharomyces cerevisiae and exoelectrogenic mixed culture

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been shown to be capable of clean energy production through the oxidation of biodegradable organic waste using various bacterial species as biocatalysts. In this study we found Saccharomyces cerevisiae, previously known electrochemcially inactive or less active species, can be acclimated with an electron mediator thionine for electrogenic biofilm formation in MFC, and electricity production is improved with facilitation of electron transfer. Power generation of MFC was also significantly increased by thionine with both aerated and non-aerated cathode. With electrochemically active biofilm enriched with swine wastewater, MFC power increased more significantly by addition of thionine. The optimum mediator concentration was 500 mM of thionine with S. cerevisae in MFC with the maximum voltage and current generation in the microbial fuel cell were 420 mV and 700 mA/m(2), respectively. Cyclic voltametry shows that thionine improves oxidizing and reducing capability in both pure culture and acclimated biofilm as compared to non-mediated cell. The results obtained indicated that thionine has great potential to enhance power generation from unmediated yeast or electrochemically active biofilm in MFC.

Direct Electrochemistry of <I>Shewanella Loihica</I> PV-4 on Gold Nanoparticles-Modified Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes Fabricated by Layer-by-Layer Technique

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are robust devices capable of taping biological energy, converting pollutants into electricity through renewable biomass. The fabrication of nanostructured electrodes with good bio- and electrochemical activity, play a profound role in promoting power generation of MFCs. Au nanoparticles (AuNPs)-modified Boron-Doped Diamond (BDD) electrodes are fabricated by layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly technique and used for the direct electrochemistry of Shewanella loihica PV-4 in an electrochemical cell. Experimental results show that the peak current densities generated on the Au/PAH multilayer-modified BDD electrodes increased from 1.25 to 2.93 microA/cm(-2) as the layer increased from 0 to 6. Different cell morphologies of S. loihica PV-4 were also observed on the electrodes and the highest density of cells was attached on the (Au/PAH)6/BDD electrode with well-formed three-dimensional nanostructure. The electrochemistry of S. loihica PV-4 was enhanced on the (Au/PAH)4/BDD electrode due to the appropriate amount of AuNPsand thickness of PAH layer.

Effects of electron donors and acceptors in generating bioelectrical energy using microbial fuel cells

BACKGROUND: In recent years, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have emerged as a promising technology for recovering renewable energy from waste biomass, especially wastewater. In this study, the possibility of bioelectricity generation in two chambered mediator-less microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was successfully demonstrated using fermentable and non-fermentable substrates. METHODS AND RESULTS: Two different electron acceptors have been tested in the cathode chamber for the effects of reducing agent on the power generation in MFCs. The average voltages of 0.26±0.014 V and 0.36±0.02 V were achieved with acetate using oxygen and potassium ferricyanide as reducing agent, respectively. Similarly, with glucose the average voltages of 0.256±0.05 V and 0.340±0.04 V were obtained using oxygen and ferricyanide, respectively. Using potassium ferricyanide as the reducing agent, the power output increases by 39 and 43% with acetate and glucose, respectively, as compared to the dissolved oxygen. Slightly higher coulombic efficiency (CE%) was obtained in acetate as compared to MFCs operated with glucose. The maximum power densities of 124 mW/m 2 and 204 mW/m 2 were obtained using dissolved oxygen and K3Fe(CN)6, respectively. CONCLUSION(s): This study demonstrates that power generation from the MFCs can be influenced significantly by the different types of catholyte. Relatively higher CE was obtained with K3Fe(CN)6. Thus, application of K3Fe(CN)6 as the catholyte can be vital for scaling uppower generation from the MFCs forreal time applications.