Bioelectrochemical fuel‐cells operated by the cyanobacterium, Anabaena variabilis

Abstract

Substantial electric output was delivered from the bioelectrochemical fuel‐cells operated under anaerobic conditions by Anabaena variabilis strain M‐2 and 2‐hydroxy‐1,4‐naphthoquinone. There was a linear relationship between the coulombic output of the fuel‐cells operated in the dark and the glycogen content of the organisms. The coulombic output was increased substantially in the light; the increase was observed even in the absence of CO2. Oxygen was evolved by Anabaena cells under the operating conditions of the fuel‐cells. The results demonstrated that the source of electricity obtained from the fuel‐cells is endogenous glycogen in the dark and both glycogen and electrons produced by photosynthetic oxidation of water in the light.

Electricity Generation by Photosynthetic Biomass

“…3. This negative response in lighting is different from other studies, indicating that the OCV increased with the light intensity [13,19]. …”

“…Many operational MFCs employ microbes such as Clostridium sp., Geobacter sp., Shewanella sp., Synechocystis sp. and some photosynthetic microorganisms as microbial catalysts for electricity generation [4,12,13]. These non-photosynthetic and photosynthetic microorganisms require external substrates to live and generate electricity in the heterotrophic cultivation mode.…”

Renewable sustainable biocatalyzed electricity production in a photosynthetic algal microbial fuel cell (PAMFC)

“…This is similar to conversion efficiencies achieved by organic solar cells (Hoppe and Sariciftci 2004). However, the current algae or cyanobacteria and microbial fuel cell combinations are unsustainable because they make use of expensive catalysts like platinum for in situ hydrogen oxidation (Rosenbaum et al 2005) or make use of instable and toxic mediators for electron shuttling (Berk and Canfield 1964;Tanaka et al 1985;Yagishita et al 1997;Chiao et al 2006;Cho et al 2008). Furthermore, current systems make use of pure algae cultures in closed systems.…”

Microbial fuel cells in bioelectricity production

“…One particular advantage of using photosynthetic bacteria in MFCs is the elimination of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere due to photosynthesis coupled with bioelectricity generation (Rosenbaum et al 2010). Previously, cyanobacterial strains of Anabaena and Nostoc also have been used as biocatalysts in MFCs (Tanaka et al 1985;Yagishita et al 1997Yagishita et al , 1998. Another idea that can be used in MFCs is the synergistic relationship between photosynthetic bacteria and heterotrophic bacteria for electricity generation.…”