Polarization and power density trends of a soil‐based microbial fuel cell treated with human urine

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical devices that use microbial metabolic processes to convert organic substances into electricity with high efficiency. In this study, the performance of a soil-based MFC using urine as a substrate was assessed using polarization and power density curves. A singlechamber, membrane-less MFC with a carbon-felt air cathode and a carbon-felt anode fully buried in biologically active soil was constructed to examine the impact of urine treatment on the performance of the MFC. The peak power of the urine-treated MFC was 124.16 mW/m 2 and was obtained 24 hours after the first urine addition; a control MFC showed a value of 65.40 mW/m 2 in the same period. The treated MFC produced an average power of 70.75 mW/m 2 up to 21 days after the initial urine addition; the control MFC gave an average value of 4.508 mW/m 2 over the same period. The average internal resistances of the treated MFC and the control MFC obtained after the initial treatment were 269.94 and 1627.89 Ω, respectively. This study demonstrates the potential of human urine to reduce internal losses in soil MFCs and to provide stable power densities across various external resistors. These results are propitious for future advancements in soil MFCs for power generation utilizing human urine (a readily available source of nutrients) as a substrate.

Enhanced power generation from algal biomass using multi‐anode membrane‐less sediment microbial fuel cell

“…1,2 A typical two-chamber MFC contains anode and cathode chambers separated by a proton exchange membrane (PEM). [3][4][5][6] Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFC) are a type of MFC where the anode is embedded in sediment and cathode is submerged in aerobic water. [7][8][9] SMFCs have a relatively low cost compared to MFCs, since there is no PEM between the anode and cathode sides, and they do not require expensive reactor designs.…”

“…Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bioreactors that convert organic matter into electricity 1,2 . A typical two‐chamber MFC contains anode and cathode chambers separated by a proton exchange membrane (PEM) 3‐6 . Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFC) are a type of MFC where the anode is embedded in sediment and cathode is submerged in aerobic water 7‐9 .…”

Investigation of Polymer Biofilm Formation on Titanium-Based Anode Surface in Microbial Fuel Cells with Poplar Substrate

“…At low current, activation loss occurs first, followed by ohmic loss and loss of concentration. The high ohmic loss means that the MFC losses are mostly caused by electrodes rather than the substrate and microbial activity [ 15 ]. Furthermore, due to the fact that organic material can be catalyzed (oxidized) by bacteria, losses occur in the anode, which are expressed as overpotential losses.…”

Effect of introduced‐electrode on phenanthrene degradation in the soil microbial electrochemical remediation

“…Therein, the MFC has also been used in sediment, sludge, and soil remediation and has the advantage of degrading pollutants and simultaneously generating electricity 8‐12 . Particularly in soils contaminated by organics, electron acceptors are generally limited, and yet, soil microbial electrochemical remediation (MER), that is, soil MFC, provides an inexhaustible electron acceptor (solid anode) to oxidize organic pollutants 13‐19 …”

“…[8][9][10][11][12] Particularly in soils contaminated by organics, electron acceptors are generally limited, and yet, soil microbial electrochemical remediation (MER), that is, soil MFC, provides an inexhaustible electron acceptor (solid anode) to oxidize organic pollutants. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] As for the present soil MER, the system configuration is first optimized and extended for the efficient remediation range. A multi-anode construction lengthened the remediated range from 1 to 6 cm 14,17 and further 20 cm using an graphite rod-carbon fiber composite anode.…”