Xylose substrate as the only nutrient in the operation of microbial fuel cells

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells are bioelectrochemical devices converting chemical energy of organic compounds (i.e. biomass) into electrical energy by catalytic reactions of microbes under anaerobic conditions. The operation of two-chamber microbial fuel cells by Shewanella putrefaciens and mesophilic anaerobic sludge was studied comparatively, using xylose and glucose as solo substrates during the experiments. It was found that higher electric power was generated by the multicultural system than by the monoculture.

Recent advances on biomass-fueled microbial fuel cell

“…In most cases, inoculated MFCs with mixed-culture such as activated sludge due to its high microbial diversity often generate much greater PD and utilize biomass hydrolysate more efficiently. Vajda et al ( 2014 ) operated xylose (main sugar from biomass) fueled MFC using Shewanella putrefaciens and mesophilic anaerobic sludge as inoculums. Despite both pure-culture and mixed-culture MFCs were able to metabolize and generate electricity from xylose, but MFC with mixed-culture could perform higher PD.…”