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Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a new source of renewable energy where wastewater is used as fuel. Various microorganisms and organic and inorganic compounds are present in wastewater. Microorganisms with various reactions produce electricity using these organic compounds. Advanced study on MFCs can bring it to practical use and reduce the over dependence on fossil fuel. But expensive proton exchange membranes (PEM), electrode material and low power generation is a big barrier towards its development. Besides the share of solid food waste in municipal waste is increasing day by day. Food waste has high number of bio-degradable compounds which can be used as the fuel of MFC. In current study, three MFCs are made with food waste solution and three different combinations of easily available electrode materials such as Copper, Zinc and Graphite. The measured voltage had its peak values between 8 to 10 hours since the experiment started. With the help of various equations, a one-dimensional single particle half-cell model was generated which was used to simulate voltage graph with respect to time. The experimental value was compared with the simulation result for each cell. The validation of experimental result was used to predict the best possible combination of electrodes in microbial fuel cell with food waste solution. Detail of this research will provide useful information on the usage of various electrode materials and food waste to be used in MFC.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are regarded as one of the best potential natural resources to be discovered as a way towards reducing the over-dependence on fossil-fuel-based electricity generation. But, Limitations of advanced study on MFCs have slow-downed its development. Moreover, Low power generations from MFCs, expensive electrode materials, and the inability to scale up MFCs to industrially relevant capacities have made that worse. However, the Utilization of MFC in the arena of electro-chemistry and thermal science can be very promising in other aspects. In this work, we studied various materials and processes that can be applied to construct economical MFCs on small scale. Then, a Charge-Discharge cycling experiment was conducted on the Cell. During the test, Voltage generation close to Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) was identified which shows MFCs can be used as batteries. Next, a single spherical particle one-dimensional (1D) physics-based thermo-electrochemical model was developed to investigate the potential overall performance of MFC as an energy storage device. Using our model in simulation, we validated the experimental results to predict the techniques required to analyze the system's optimum performance and provided recommendations on theories and parameters to include in MFC studies to achieve the best possible outcomes. The outcome of this work will provide useful information on the concept of MFC and design guidelines for various applications.

In this work, three different types of Silicon (porous, nano and bulk) anode-based coin cells are manufactured and lithiation-delithiation battery cycling tests are conducted. During the experiment, a capacity difference is witnessed at the beginning and the end point of the battery cycling loop. This capacity difference during battery cycling is reduced by implementing side-reaction correction technique on the exchange current density using Tafel kinetics formula. A huge voltage gap known as voltage hysteresis is generated during the battery cycling experiment of all three type cells. Here, a physics based mathematical model is developed to identify the main reason behind this voltage hysteresis generation. The impact of hydrostatic stress is checked on this generated voltage hysteresis. The stress induced voltage values are found significantly low to have impact on voltage hysteresis. Next, key parameters are identified which can control this stress. Then, new sets of exchange current density equation (average, linear and logarithmic) as a function of State of Charge (SOC) are developed. It is observed that, with the application of logarithmic SOC dependent exchange current density equation, voltage curve is fitted the best with the experimental result and the generated hysteresis can be minimized by controlling this SOC based exchange current density equation. Details of this study will provide more explanation.

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