Sustainable reutilization of MnO2 from disposable alkaline batteries for microbial fuel cell applications

Horizon launches mini fuel cell charger for portable electronics

Developing high surface area catalysts is an effective strategy to enhance the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the application of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). This can be achieved by developing a catalyst based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) because they offer a porous active site for ORR. In this work, a novel in situ growth of 2D shell nanowires of ZIF-67 as a template for N-doped carbon (Co/NC) via a carbonization route was developed to enhance the ORR performance. The effects of different reaction times and different annealing temperatures were studied for a better ORR activity. The growth of the MOF template on the carbon cloth was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared. The Co/NC-800 exhibited an enhancement in the ORR activity as evidenced by an onset potential and half-wave potential of 0.0 vs V Ag/AgCl and -0.1 vs V Ag/AgCl, respectively, with a limited current density exceeding the commercial Pt/C. Operating Co/NC-800 on MFC revealed a maximum power density of 30 ± 2.5 mW/m2, a maximum current density of 180 ± 2.5 mA/m2.

Most of the innovation used by humans depends on electricity, thus becoming a crucial necessity. It enables people to live harmoniously and comfortably with the help of electricity which gives life to human inventions. Without electricity, most human inventions would be useless or nonexistent. Microbial Fuel Cell was conducted to test the efficiency of the generated current of microbes living inside the wet lands. By the use of the existing MFC series circuits, the researchers found out that there is an enough current that the MFC generated through electrodes (Zinc and Copper). The present study experimentally investigated the efficiency of generated current in MFC enough to power up low electronic materials such as: LED Light bulbs and Ditrio LED Lights. The farm lands will serve as the main source of electricity where the sludges will be taken and gathered to create a series circuit composed of two different prototypes.The global need for energy is always rising. In this case, carbon-based fuels have in one way or another provided for a significant share of the total energy requirement. As a result, fossil fuel resources have been severely depleted, which is now contributing to an ecological imbalance. Additionally, the burning of fossil fuels produces a significant amount of carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas that has severe effects on the climate. MFC Systems or Microbial Fuel Cells Systems is a set of technology that uses microorganism as catalysts to oxidize organic and inorganic matter and generate current. Basically, wastewater such as sludge could carry these bacteria so it would be suspended to the system to generate current. It works as a battery where stacking multiple MFCs would create a higher voltage enough to power a household (Chaturvedi, Bioresources & Bioprocessing, 2016). This allows bacteria to facilitate in electron transfer processes as the propose application of Plant Microbial Fuel Cell to Agricultural industry especially in farmlands is to assess the feasibility as potential source of electricity. The MFC system in farmlands may serve as an additional source of renewable green energy in contribution to fight against climate change.

With the growing energy crisis, industrialization, rapid urbanization, and increased population, it is necessary to sort out environmental pollution and energy crisis issues. The detection of newly identified or emerging contaminants (ECs) into our aquatic environment is of serious concern for the health and safety of the whole ecosystem, and the existing conventional wastewater (WW) treatment processes are not designed to treat these unidentified contaminants. In this context, Bio-electrochemical systems such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are considered a prospective technology in removing these ECs and electricity generation from WW through microbial metabolisms. The MFC unit includes an anode, cathode, cation-sensitive membrane, and an external wire. MFCs have shown significant advantages, including converting substrate into energy, operating at wide ranges of temperature and pH with diverse biomass, generating a meager amount of activated sludge from WW, and zero energy requirement for aeration. Additionally, MFCs have been seen as a resolution for water and energy issues due to their capability to treat WW and electricity generation. However, MFCs have numerous challenges in-field applications, such as turbulence in each compartment, membrane resistance in the proton transportation process, etc. This chapter focuses on the application of MFCs towards the removal of various ECs from the aqueous environment. Applications of MFC technology can also be worked in its power generation ability and sustainable energy generation. Although the current applications of MFC technology are still at the laboratory level, it has a great potential for commercial applications in the near future.KeywordsMicrobial fuel cellActivated sludgeEmerging contaminantsMicrobial metabolismsAntibioticsWastewater

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that uses microorganisms to convert chemical energy from organic matter directly into electrical energy. It is considered to have the potential for a wide range of applications to meet future human energy needs fuel diversity. This paper introduces the basic working principle of MFC and illustrates the electrode material, membrane and cell configuration selection on the performance influence of MFC. In addition, the application progress of MFC in recent years is reviewed, including sewage treatment, microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) and microbial desalination cell (MDC). Finally, the development direction of MFC is prospected: membrane and electrode materials need to be further studied, and MFC coupling technology needs to be continuously promoted.

Yeast Isolated from Pulque for Application in Microbial Fuel Cells: Use of Food Industry Wastewater as Substrate

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) offer a promising new solution for wastewater treatment due to their advantageous characteristics: lower energy demand and less excess sludge compared to the conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment technology. In this study, two systems of single chamber air cathode MFCs with a working volume of 14 L were investigated for the energy efficient treatment of dairy wastewater. Biomass-originated carbon cathode and noble-metal free cathode catalyst were applied to meet the demand for a lower investment cost. Influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) was in the range of 900 to 3830 mg L–1, while hydraulic retention time was ~ 2.4 days. Systems provided 156 mW m–3 and 170 mW m–3 maximum power densities and coulombic efficiencies of 11.5 % and 12.8 % in average. Organic removal efficiency of 71.1 ± 8.0 % was observed when influent COD was between 900 and 1500 mg L–1, however effluent quality and removal efficiency (67.9 ± 12.6 %) deteriorated as influent COD was increased (1500 – 3830 mg L–1). At high influent CODs (over 3000 mg L–1), an organic elimination rate of 0.82 ± 0.11 kg COD m–3 d–1 was calculated, that can be considered as the upper limit of organic removal in the systems. Based on the results, MFCs may offer a potential solution for small-scale dairy factories for the pretreatment of their effluent to meet the criteria for wastewater discharge to sewer systems. The modular MFC design also facilitates to tailor the system to actual capacity requirements.

The bioelectrogenic activity of sediments of natural microbial association of the Peter’s Bay of Japanese sea research was performed in a year-round experiment with parallel temperature, illumination and water electrical conductivity monitoring by means of benthic microbial fuel cell (MFC) and automatic online-monitoring. Several variants of underwater devices, including benthic microbial fuel cells, monitoring water environment sensor,information collection and transmission systems, have been developed. This device make electrical voltage up to 216 mV, specific power up to 239 mW/m2. Electrogenic activity of natural microflora depends on water temperature and reach maximum on summer with temperature about 20–25°C. The introduction of toxicants in form as hydrocarbons and cadmium into the sluge led to the suppression of microbial electrogenesis. However the introduction of inductor substances of microbial sulfidogenesis led to the stimulation of microbial electrogenesis. The possibility of functioning of the benthic MFC in the field of the Peter’s Great Bay in various climatic periods is shown. It is shown that such experimental devices serve as a basis for autonomous stations monitoring the state of the aquatic environment for a long time and in a wide range of conditions change. Thus, automatic registration of temperature, illumination and salinity of water with a frequency of 48 times a day was carried out for 13 months (11/28/2019–12/31/2020). The electrogenic activity of this microbiota upon MFC scaling can potentially become a new renewable energy source for low-power marine electronics, including those used in mariculture.

Hair hydrolysate functionalized cellulose nanocrystal based chitosan membrane to harness power from wastewater fed MFCs

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising bioelectrochemical systems with the potential for treating organic compounds and simultaneously generating electricity.1 MFCs have been intensively studied in the last decades, but performances remain still low. One of the reasons is that the cathodes are directly exposed to the aqueous solution containing bacteria and various chemical compounds, which leads to cathode flooding and poisoning, and finally lowers the current output. In contrast, enzymes (e.g., laccase and bilirubin oxidase2) are capable of catalyzing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and have been used as cathodic catalysts showing high open circuit potential (OCP), very low overpotentials, and high activity, especially in the range where MFCs work3. However, the main problem with enzymatic cathodes is long-term stability. In this report, we extensively characterize the trends of OCP, current density achieved at 0.25V and the polarization behavior of bilirubin oxidase (BOx) based cathode over a period of 12 days.

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a device in which microorganisms consume organic compounds as nutrient source and discharge electrons to the electrode, thereby generating electricity. In this study, double chamber MFCs and multiple chambers MFCs were constructed for the generation of electricity from microorganisms present in organic waste samples.

The synthesis of graphene at lower temperatures remains challenging, along with the expansion of its application areas. Here we demonstrated the graphene synthesis on various substrates at and above 350°C by a solid phase reaction method. In this method, C‐rich Ni–C films are deposited on the substrates by conventional magnetron sputter deposition at room temperature with a binary target, followed by vacuum annealing. This resulted in phase separation of the multilayer graphene on top. The temperature dependence of graphene formation is investigated by high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in situ X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Graphene thus synthesized on a stainless steel (SS) plate is successfully used to enhance the biofilm formation and the current generation by Geobacter species for use in microbial fuel cell application. As transfer‐free graphene can be synthesized directly on substrates irrespective of their material and shape, and is usable in harsh environment of liquid, this simple method is believed to be quite promising for a variety of applications.

Soybean powder enables the synthesis of Fe–N–C catalysts with high ORR activities in microbial fuel cell applications

Composite membrane containing graphene oxide in sulfonated polyether ether ketone in microbial fuel cell applications

Monitoring bacterial viability is critical in food safety, clinical microbiology, therapeutics, and microbial fuel cell applications. Traditional techniques for detecting and counting viable cells are slow, require expensive and bulky analytical tools and labeling agents, or are destructive to cells. Development of low-cost, portable diagnostics to enable label-free detection and in situ probing of bacterial viability can significantly advance the biomedical field (both applied and basic research). We developed a highly sensitive method for the detection of bacterial viability based on their metabolic activity using non-Faradaic impedimetric sensors comprised of three-dimensional (3D) interdigitated microelectrodes (3D-IDME). Specifically, the 3D-IDME is modified with electrolessly deposited gold (Au) nanoparticles which amplify the sensitivity by increasing the sensing area. A nutrient-rich agarose gel as the seeding layer is integrated with the sensor to enable direct culturing of bacteria and probing of their metabolic activity in situ. The proposed platform enables monitoring of bacterial viability, even in lag-phase, as they metabolize and release ionic species into the surrounding environment (nutrient agar layer). The sensor can detect down to 104CFU/mL (~2.5 CFU/mm2)of Escherichia coli K12 (a model strain) in under 1h without the need for any labeling. By integrating these sensors with agar layers containing different types/concentrationsof antibacterial agents, this work can be expanded to enable rapid, high-throughput antibacterial susceptibility testing which can in turn assist caregivers in early prescription of the right treatment to patients with clinical conditions.