scholarly journals Anode Modification as an Alternative Approach to Improve Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (24) ◽  
pp. 6596
Author(s):  
Dawid Nosek ◽  
Piotr Jachimowicz ◽  
Agnieszka Cydzik-Kwiatkowska
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Active Sites ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Anode Surface ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Metallic Nanomaterials ◽  
Anode Modification

Sustainable production of electricity from renewable sources by microorganisms is considered an attractive alternative to energy production from fossil fuels. In recent years, research on microbial fuel cells (MFCs) technology for electricity production has increased. However, there are problems with up-scaling MFCs due to the fairly low power output and high operational costs. One of the approaches to improving energy generation in MFCs is by modifying the existing anode materials to provide more electrochemically active sites and improve the adhesion of microorganisms. The aim of this review is to present the effect of anode modification with carbon compounds, metallic nanomaterials, and polymers and the effect that these modifications have on the structure of the microbiological community inhabiting the anode surface. This review summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of individual materials as well as possibilities for using them for environmentally friendly production of electricity in MFCs.

Microbial fuel cells: Devices for real wastewater treatment, rather than electricity production

2021 ◽  
Vol 775 ◽  
pp. 145904
Author(s):  
Jaecheul Yu ◽  
Younghyun Park ◽  
Evy Widyaningsih ◽  
Sunah Kim ◽  
Younggy Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Real Wastewater

scholarly journals Lack of Electricity Production by Pelobacter carbinolicus Indicates that the Capacity for Fe(III) Oxide Reduction Does Not Necessarily Confer Electron Transfer Ability to Fuel Cell Anodes

2007 ◽  
Vol 73 (16) ◽  
pp. 5347-5353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanno Richter ◽  
Martin Lanthier ◽  
Kelly P. Nevin ◽  
Derek R. Lovley
Keyword(s):  
Electron Transfer ◽  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cell ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Electron Donors ◽  
Rrna Genes ◽  
Anode Surface ◽  
Oxide Reduction ◽  
Fuel Cell Anodes

ABSTRACT The ability of Pelobacter carbinolicus to oxidize electron donors with electron transfer to the anodes of microbial fuel cells was evaluated because microorganisms closely related to Pelobacter species are generally abundant on the anodes of microbial fuel cells harvesting electricity from aquatic sediments. P. carbinolicus could not produce current in a microbial fuel cell with electron donors which support Fe(III) oxide reduction by this organism. Current was produced using a coculture of P. carbinolicus and Geobacter sulfurreducens with ethanol as the fuel. Ethanol consumption was associated with the transitory accumulation of acetate and hydrogen. G. sulfurreducens alone could not metabolize ethanol, suggesting that P. carbinolicus grew in the fuel cell by converting ethanol to hydrogen and acetate, which G. sulfurreducens oxidized with electron transfer to the anode. Up to 83% of the electrons available in ethanol were recovered as electricity and in the metabolic intermediate acetate. Hydrogen consumption by G. sulfurreducens was important for ethanol metabolism by P. carbinolicus. Confocal microscopy and analysis of 16S rRNA genes revealed that half of the cells growing on the anode surface were P. carbinolicus, but there was a nearly equal number of planktonic cells of P. carbinolicus. In contrast, G. sulfurreducens was primarily attached to the anode. P. carbinolicus represents the first Fe(III) oxide-reducing microorganism found to be unable to produce current in a microbial fuel cell, providing the first suggestion that the mechanisms for extracellular electron transfer to Fe(III) oxides and fuel cell anodes may be different.

Biochar as a sustainable electrode material for electricity production in microbial fuel cells

2014 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 114-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Huggins ◽  
Heming Wang ◽  
Joshua Kearns ◽  
Peter Jenkins ◽  
Zhiyong Jason Ren
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Electrode Material ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Electricity Production

scholarly journals Electricity production and sludge reduction by integrating microbial fuel cells in anoxic-oxic process

2017 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 346-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benyi Xiao ◽  
Meng Luo ◽  
Xiao Wang ◽  
Zuoxing Li ◽  
Hong Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Sludge Reduction

scholarly journals Microbial Structure and Energy Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells Powered with Waste Anaerobic Digestate

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 4712
Author(s):  
Dawid Nosek ◽  
Agnieszka Cydzik-Kwiatkowska
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Volatile Fatty Acids ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Stable Operation ◽  
Microbial Structure ◽  
Microbial Composition ◽  
Start Up

Development of economical and environment-friendly Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) technology should be associated with waste management. However, current knowledge regarding microbiological bases of electricity production from complex waste substrates is insufficient. In the following study, microbial composition and electricity generation were investigated in MFCs powered with waste volatile fatty acids (VFAs) from anaerobic digestion of primary sludge. Two anode sizes were tested, resulting in organic loading rates (OLRs) of 69.12 and 36.21 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/(g MLSS∙d) in MFC1 and MFC2, respectively. Time of MFC operation affected the microbial structure and the use of waste VFAs promoted microbial diversity. High abundance of Deftia sp. and Methanobacterium sp. characterized start-up period in MFCs. During stable operation, higher OLR in MFC1 favored growth of exoelectrogens from Rhodopseudomonas sp. (13.2%) resulting in a higher and more stable electricity production in comparison with MFC2. At a lower OLR in MFC2, the percentage of exoelectrogens in biomass decreased, while the abundance of genera Leucobacter, Frigoribacterium and Phenylobacterium increased. In turn, this efficiently decomposed complex organic substances, favoring high and stable COD removal (over 85%). Independent of the anode size, Clostridium sp. and exoelectrogens belonging to genera Desulfobulbus and Acinetobacter were abundant in MFCs powered with waste VFAs.

Effect of Anode Surface Roughness on Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhou Ye ◽  
Junbo Hou ◽  
Michael W. Ellis ◽  
Bahareh Behkam
Keyword(s):  
Surface Roughness ◽  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Glassy Carbon ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Electrochemical Impedance ◽  
Charge Transfer Resistance ◽  
Electrode System ◽  
Anode Surface ◽  
Transfer Resistance ◽  
Rough Electrode

A three-electrode system was used to study the effect of anode surface roughness on the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Two glassy carbon plates were polished to uniform roughness of the orders of magnitude of 10s of nm and 100s of nm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to quantify the roughness as well as the 3D topography of the surfaces. Multiple electrochemical methods including potentiostatic tests, potentiodynamic tests, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were utilized to monitor the performance of the glassy carbon electrodes. After 275 hours of experimentation, the current density generated by the rough electrode was much higher than that generated by the smooth one. Furthermore, the charge-transfer resistance of the rough electrode was lower than that of the smooth one. The better electrochemical performance of the rough surface may be due to denser biofilm grown on the surface, which was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

scholarly journals Metallic Organic Framework-Derived Fe, N, S co-doped Carbon as a Robust Catalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Microbial Fuel Cells

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 3846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Luo ◽  
Wuli Han ◽  
Han Ren ◽  
Qingzuo Zhuang
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Oxygen Reduction Reaction ◽  
Oxygen Reduction ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Active Sites ◽  
Reduction Reaction ◽  
Alkaline Media ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Co Doped ◽  
Organic Framework

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) provides a vital role for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) due to its slow reaction kinetics compared with the anodic oxidation reaction. How to develop new materials with low cost, high efficacy, and eco-friendliness which could replace platinum-based electrocatalysis is a challenge that we have to resolve. In this work, we accomplished this successfully by means of a facile strategy to synthesize a metallic organic framework-derived Fe, N, S co-doped carbon with FeS as the main phase. The Fe/S@N/C-0.5 catalyst demonstrated outstandingly enhanced ORR activity in neutral PBS and alkaline media, compared to that of commercial 20% Pt-C catalyst. Here, we started-up and operated two parallel single-chamber microbial fuel cells of an air cathode, and those cathode catalysts were Fe/S@N/C-0.5 and commercial Pt-C (20% Pt), respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) elaborated that the Fe/S@N/C-0.5 composite did not change the polyhedron morphology of ZIF-8. According to X-ray diffractometry(XRD) curves, the main crystal phase of the resulted Fe/S@N/C-0.5 was FeS. The chemical environment of N, S, and Fe which are anticipated to be the high-efficiency active sites of ORR for MFCs were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic(XPS). Nitrogen adsorption/desorption techniques were used to calculate the pore diameter distribution. In brief, the obtained Fe/S@N/C-0.5 material exhibited a pronounced reduction potential at 0.861 V (versus Reversible Hydrogen Electrode(RHE)) in 0.1M KOH solution and –0.03 V (vs. SCE) in the PBS solution, which both outperform the benchmark platinum-based catalysts. Fe/S@N/C-0.5-MFC had a higher Open Circuit Voltage(OCV) (0.71 V), stronger maximum power density (1196 mW/m2), and larger output voltage (0.47 V) than the Pt/C-MFC under the same conditions.

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