Novel bufferless photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFCs) for enhanced electrochemical performance

Wang CT 1 , Huang YS 1 , Sangeetha T 2 , Chen YM 3 , Chong WT 4 , Ong HC 4 Show all authors , Zhao F 5 , Yan WM 6

Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering, National Ilan University, I Lan, Taiwan
  • 2 Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 3 Department of Materials and Mineral Resources Engineering & Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 5 CAS Key Laboratory of Urban Pollutant Conversion, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, China
  • 6 Department of Energy and Refrigerating Air-Conditioning Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: wmyan@ntut.edu.tw
Bioresour Technol, 2018 May;255:83-87.
PMID: 29414177 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.01.086

Abstract

Photosynthetic microbial fuel cells (PMFCs) are novel bioelectrochemical transducers that employ microalgae to generate oxygen, organic metabolites and electrons. Conventional PMFCs employ non-eco-friendly membranes, catalysts and phosphate buffer solution. Eliminating the membrane, buffer and catalyst can make the MFC a practical possibility. Therefore, single chambered (SPMFC) were constructed and operated at different recirculation flow rates (0, 40 and 240 ml/min) under bufferless conditions. Furthermore, maximum power density of 4.06 mW/m2, current density of 46.34 mA/m2 and open circuit potential of 0.43 V and low internal resistance of 611.8 Ω were obtained at 40 ml/min. Based on the results it was decided that SPMFC was better for operation at 40 ml/min. Therefore, these findings provided progressive insights for future pilot and industrial scale studies of PMFCs.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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