Effects of Novel Substrates in electricity generation in a mediator-less microbial fuel cell

Abstract

The use of Microbial Fuel Cells to produce electricity is an area that has attracted attention recently owing to clean and renewable energy produced by the use of bacteria to catalyze the conversion of organic matter into electricity. The experiment was done in a mediator-less Microbial Fuel Cell with cassava mother liquid, human urine, human urine with faeces, swine waste and brewery waste as substrates using potassium ferricyanide as electron acceptor. The result of the experiment indicates that cassava mother liquid, human urine and swine waste generated a maximum potential difference of 1.32V each and also maximum current of 2.28A,2.19A and 2.02A respectively. However, human urine with faeces and brewery waste was observed to be lower with values 1.13V and 1.15V respectively and corresponding lower currents of 1.45A and 1.40A respectively. It was observed that human urine is most stable with potential difference and current of 1.32V and 1.58A respectively. This may be attributable to the rich organic compounds such as carbohydrate, nitrogen, ammonium, potassium and phosphorous in urine which are good sources of fuel.

"Cassava Mill Effluents Recycling through Bioenergy Production: A Review"

“…Microbial fuel cell has the ability to transform chemical energy found in organic compounds into electricity via the catalysis of microorganisms [98,99]. As such it's a promising alternative energy source and wastewater treatment [100][101][102][103][104][105]. Due to the architectural design of microbial fuel cells it has received attention in other field including engineering (mechanical, chemical and environmental biotechnologist in addition to microbiologist [98].…”

“…Cassava mother liquid can generate electricity and a sustainable approach for its management [105] Copyright © : Izah SC EAES.000618. 5(4).2019…”

"Estimation of Potential Cassava Mill Effluents Discharged into Nigerian Environment "

“…There is the need for utilization in several other fields through biotechnological advances. Some of the area that cassava based products have demonstrated positive effect for sustainable management practices including energy production viz: bioethanol [35,[41][42][43], biogas [44][45][46][47][48], bio-electricity using microbial fuel cells technology [49][50][51][52][53]; animal feed production [22,26,54], bio-surfactants [55], raw materials for production of amino acids [26], enzymes [56,57], organic acids etc. The conversion of the potential cassava mill effluents to bio-valued products could create employment for several families especially in region of high cassava production.…”