Energy harvesting from organic liquids in micro-sized microbial fuel cells
Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Integrated Nanotechnology LabBiological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division
Environmental Science and Engineering Program
Water Desalination and Reuse Research Center (WDRC)
Date
2014-03-07Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/334539
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Micro-sized microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are miniature energy harvesters that use bacteria to convert biomass from liquids into usable power. The key challenge is transitioning laboratory test beds into devices capable of producing high power using readily available fuel sources. Here, we present a pragmatic step toward advancing MFC applications through the fabrication of a uniquely mobile and inexpensive micro-sized device that can be fueled with human saliva. The 25-ll MFC was fabricated with graphene, a two-dimensional atomic crystal-structured material, as an anode for efficient current generation and with an air cathode for enabling the use of the oxygen present in air, making its operation completely mobile and free of the need for laboratory chemicals. With saliva as a fuel, the device produced higher current densities (1190 Am-3) than any previous aircathode micro-sized MFCs. The use of the graphene anode generated 40 times more power than that possible using a carbon cloth anode. Additional tests were performed using acetate, a conventional organic material, at high organic loadings that were comparable to those in saliva, and the results demonstrated a linear relationship between the organic loading and current. These findings open the door to saliva-powered applications of this fuel cell technology for Lab-on-a-Chip devices or portable point-of-care diagnostic devices. 2014 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 1884-4057/14.Citation
Mink JE, Qaisi RM, Logan BE, Hussain MM (2014) Energy harvesting from organic liquids in micro-sized microbial fuel cells. NPG Asia Mater 6: e89. doi:10.1038/am.2014.1.Publisher
Springer NatureJournal
NPG Asia MaterialsISSN
18844049ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/am.2014.1
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/