Electrospun Nanofibers: from Food to Energy by Engineered Electrodes in Microbial Fuel Cells

Massaglia, Giulia; Frascella, Francesca; Chiadò, Alessandro; Sacco, Adriano; Cocuzza, Matteo; Pirri, Candido Fabrizio; Quaglio, Marzia

doi:10.3390/nano10030523

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…These reports addressed, for example, the use of O-phospho-L-serine-conjugated DAC/PVA ESNW-based scaffolds for hard tissue regeneration as a way to bypass the time-consuming preparation steps of phosphopeptide-cellulose conjugate synthesis [28][29][30][31], and the possibility that aldehyde functionalities in the DAC/PVA ESNW matrices could promote ligand immobilization by a simple procedure that involves dipping ESNWs into a dyeing pad [32]. Based on the multitude of follow-up reactions of the contained masked aldehyde groups, DAC/PVA ESNWs are multipurpose materials for conjugating/immobilizing various kinds of biologically active substances [33] or metal oxide nanoparticles [34,35]. This result could inspire tailor-made designs of functionalized ESNWs for novel nano-scaled materials.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A General Protocol for Electrospun Non-Woven Fabrics of Dialdehyde Cellulose and Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)

et al. 2020

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In the past two decades, research on electrospinning has boomed due to its advantages of simple process, small fiber diameter, and special physical and chemical properties. The electrospun fibers are collected in a non-woven state in most cases (electrospun non-woven fabrics, ESNWs), which renders the electrospinning method an optimum approach for non-woven fabric manufacturing on the nano-scale. The present study establishes a convenient preparation procedure for converting water-soluble dialdehyde cellulose (DAC) into DAC-based electrospun non-woven fabrics (ESNWs) reinforced with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The aldehyde content, which was quantified by colorimetry using Schiff’s reagent, was 11.1 mmol per gram of DAC, which corresponds to a conversion yield of ca. 90%. DAC is fully water-soluble at room temperature between 10 and 30 wt%, and aqueous solutions turn into hydrogels within 24 h. To overcome gelation, NaHSO3, which forms bisulfite adducts with aldehyde functions, was added to the DAC and its concentration was optimized at 1 wt%. The electrospun (ES) dope containing 5 wt% DAC, 5 wt% PVA, and 1 wt% NaHSO3 in an aqueous solution was successfully transformed into ESNW, with an average fiber diameter of 345 ± 43 nm. Post-spinning treatment with excess hexamethylene diisocyanate was performed to insolubilize the ESNW materials. The occurrence of this chemical conversion was confirmed by energy-dispersive X-ray elemental analysis and vibrational spectra. The cross-linked DAC/PVA ESNW retained its thin fiber network upon soaking in distilled water, increasing the average fiber diameter to 424 ± 95 nm. This suggests that DAC/PVA-ESNWs will be applicable for incorporation or immobilization of biologically active substances.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A General Protocol for Electrospun Non-Woven Fabrics of Dialdehyde Cellulose and Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)

et al. 2020

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“…Modification of carbon-based anode (carbon paper) with electrospun nanofibers of polyethylene oxide was carried out for boosting interfaces of biofilm with anode electrode [ 84 ]. Biofilm adhesion to the anode and proliferation of microorganisms was significantly improved compared to bare carbon paper anode because of the high porosity of the fibers and nano architecture of the pores capable of entrapping microorganisms.…”

Section: Energy Conversionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Electrospun Nanomaterials in the Future of Energy and Environment

2021

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Electrospinning is one of the most successful and efficient techniques for the fabrication of one-dimensional nanofibrous materials as they have widely been utilized in multiple application fields due to their intrinsic properties like high porosity, large surface area, good connectivity, wettability, and ease of fabrication from various materials. Together with current trends on energy conservation and environment remediation, a number of researchers have focused on the applications of nanofibers and their composites in this field as they have achieved some key results along the way with multiple materials and designs. In this review, recent advances on the application of nanofibers in the areas—including energy conversion, energy storage, and environmental aspects—are summarized with an outlook on their materials and structural designs. Also, this will provide a detailed overview on the future directions of demanding energy and environment fields.

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“…Indeed, since the electrical power output is strictly correlated to the electroactivity of these bacteria, the optimization of the anodic electrode and its interface with the bacterial biofilm plays a pivotal role in determining the electrical performance of the MFC devices [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Anode porosity has a crucial importance to increase the effective surface available for bacteria adhesion and proliferation, thus improving electron transfer to the surface [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the last decades, many researchers demonstrated that the modification of carbon-based materials, commonly employed as anode electrodes, by applying polymeric films on their surface is an effective approach to improve the contact among bacteria and anodes in MFCs [14][15][16][17], thus enhancing the electron transfer at that interface. Furthermore, many works in the literature focused their attention on better understanding the complexity of biofilms and their unique features with the principal purpose of creating synthetic ones, optimized for different biotechnological applications, such as environmental remediation [18,19], fermentation reactors [20], particle biofilm reactors [21] and microbial fuel cells [22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living Bacteria Directly Embedded into Electrospun Nanofibers: Design of New Anode for Bio-Electrochemical Systems

et al. 2021

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The aim of this work is the optimization of electrospun polymeric nanofibers as an ideal reservoir of mixed electroactive consortia suitable to be used as anodes in Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells (SCMFCs). To reach this goal the microorganisms are directly embedded into properly designed nanofibers during the electrospinning process, obtaining so called nanofiber-based bio-composite (bio-NFs). This research approach allowed for the designing of an advanced nanostructured scaffold, able to block and store the living microorganisms inside the nanofibers and release them only after exposure to water-based solutions and electrolytes. To reach this goal, a water-based polymeric solution, containing 5 wt% of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and 10 wt% of environmental microorganisms, is used as the initial polymeric solution for the electrospinning process. PEO is selected as the water-soluble polymer to ensure the formation of nanofiber mats offering features of biocompatibility for bacteria proliferation, environment-friendliness and, high ionic conductivity. In the present work, bio-NFs, based on living microorganisms directly encapsulated into the PEO nanofiber mats, were analyzed and compared to PEO-NFs made of PEO only. Scanning electron microscopy allowed researchers to confirm the rise of a typical morphology for bio-NFs, evidencing the microorganisms’ distribution inside them, as confirmed by fluorescence optical microscopy. Moreover, the latter technique, combined with optical density measurements, allowed for demonstrating that after electrospinning, the processed microorganisms preserved their proliferation capability, and their metabolic activity after exposure to the water-based electrolyte. To demonstrate that the energy-production functionality of exo-electrogenic microorganisms was preserved after the electrospinning process, the novel designed nanomaterials, were directly deposited onto carbon paper (CP), and were applied as anode electrodes in Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells (SCMFCs). It was possible to appreciate that the maximum power density reached by bio-NFs, which resulted in being double of the ones achieved with PEO-NFs and bare CP. SCMFCs with bio-NFs applied as anodic electrodes reached a current density value, close to (250 ± 5.2) mA m−2, which resulted in being stable over time and was comparable with the one obtained with carbon-based electrode, thus confirming the good performance of the whole device.

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Electrospun Nanofibers: from Food to Energy by Engineered Electrodes in Microbial Fuel Cells

Cited by 21 publications

References 37 publications

A General Protocol for Electrospun Non-Woven Fabrics of Dialdehyde Cellulose and Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)

A General Protocol for Electrospun Non-Woven Fabrics of Dialdehyde Cellulose and Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)

The Role of Electrospun Nanomaterials in the Future of Energy and Environment

Living Bacteria Directly Embedded into Electrospun Nanofibers: Design of New Anode for Bio-Electrochemical Systems

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