Application of biocathode in microbial fuel cells: cell performance and microbial community

Abstract

Instead of the utilization of artificial redox mediators or other catalysts, a biocathode has been applied in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell in this study, and the cell performance and microbial community were analyzed. After a 2-month startup, the microorganisms of each compartment in microbial fuel cell were well developed, and the output of microbial fuel cell increased and became stable gradually, in terms of electricity generation. At 20 ml/min flow rate of the cathodic influent, the maximum power density reached 19.53 W/m3, while the corresponding current and cell voltage were 15.36 mA and 223 mV at an external resistor of 14.9 Omega, respectively. With the development of microorganisms in both compartments, the internal resistance decreased from initial 40.2 to 14.0 Omega, too. Microbial community analysis demonstrated that five major groups of the clones were categorized among those 26 clone types derived from the cathode microorganisms. Betaproteobacteria was the most abundant division with 50.0% (37 of 74) of the sequenced clones in the cathode compartment, followed by 21.6% (16 of 74) Bacteroidetes, 9.5% (7 of 74) Alphaproteobacteria, 8.1% (6 of 74) Chlorobi, 4.1% (3 of 74) Deltaproteobacteria, 4.1% (3 of 74) Actinobacteria, and 2.6% (2 of 74) Gammaproteobacteria.

Microbial Fuel Cells, A Current Review

“…The performance of a wet air cathode inoculated with a consortium of sludge and sediment microbes was increased through the interactions of the microorganisms on the cathode surface [131,139]. The use of a biocathodes has also been reported to reduce charge transfer resistance of the cathode from 188 to 17 ohms [140] and 40.2 to 12 ohms [141]. Microbial community analysis of the biocathode has identified a wide range of organisms present in the anode community including representatives of the divisions: Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Alphaproteobacteria, Chlorobi, Deltaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria [141].…”

“…The use of a biocathodes has also been reported to reduce charge transfer resistance of the cathode from 188 to 17 ohms [140] and 40.2 to 12 ohms [141]. Microbial community analysis of the biocathode has identified a wide range of organisms present in the anode community including representatives of the divisions: Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Alphaproteobacteria, Chlorobi, Deltaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria [141]. Not surprisingly, since this MFC was set up to investigate nitrate removal at the cathode, bacteria with the ability to reduce nitrate dominated the microbial community.…”

Effect of the Organic and Nitrogen Removal and Electricity Production on Changing the External Resistor and the Inflow Loading in the Biocathode Microbial Fuel Cell

“…MFC의 효율 개선 및 응용을 확장시키기 위해 환원전극 에도 미생물을 활용하는 생물환원전극(biocathode)을 활용 한 연구가 이루어졌다 (Chen et al, 2008;Liang et al, 2013;Rozendal et al, 2008) Table 2. Characteristics of the real wastewater in anode and cathode compartments substrates (Fig.…”

Microbial fuel cells for energy production from wastewaters: the way toward practical application

“…(i) An uneven distribution of substrate can affect the mass transfer rate, electrochemical reaction rate and finally electricity production. Increasing the mixing intensity by increasing the hydraulic retention time, the internal recirculation flow rate and/or the aeration flow rate would be useful in achieving a homogenous distribution of the substrate for large-sized MFCs (You et al, 2006b;Chen et al, 2008;Cha et al, 2010;Oh et al, 2010). However, adverse effects such as anodic biofilm detachment and low pollutant removal efficiency may occur when the flow rate is too high.…”