Characterization of Microbial Fuel Cells at Microbially and Electrochemically Meaningful Time scales
Type
ArticleKAUST Grant Number
KUS-I1-003-13Date
2011-03-15Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/597759
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The variable biocatalyst density in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) anode biofilm is a unique feature of MFCs relative to other electrochemical systems, yet performance characterizations of MFCs typically involve analyses at electrochemically relevant time scales that are insufficient to account for these variable biocatalyst effects. This study investigated the electrochemical performance and the development of anode biofilm architecture under different external loadings, with duplicate acetate-fed singlechamber MFCs stabilized at each resistance for microbially relevant time scales. Power density curves from these steady-state reactors generally showed comparable profiles despite the fact that anode biofilm architectures and communities varied considerably, showing that steady-state biofilm differences had little influence on electrochemical performance until the steady-state external loading was much larger than the reactor internal resistance. Filamentous bacteria were dominant on the anodes under high external resistances (1000 and 5000 Ω), while more diverse rod-shaped cells formed dense biofilms under lower resistances (10, 50, and 265 Ω). Anode charge transfer resistance decreased with decreasing fixed external resistances, but was consistently 2 orders of magnitude higher than the resistance at the cathode. Cell counting showed an inverse exponential correlation between cell numbers and external resistances. This direct link ofMFCanode biofilm evolution with external resistance and electricity production offers several operational strategies for system optimization. © 2011 American Chemical Society.Citation
Ren Z, Yan H, Wang W, Mench MM, Regan JM (2011) Characterization of Microbial Fuel Cells at Microbially and Electrochemically Meaningful Time scales. Environ Sci Technol 45: 2435–2441. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/es103115a.Sponsors
This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant CBET-0834033 and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST; Award KUS-I1-003-13).Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)PubMed ID
21329346ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1021/es103115a
Scopus Count
Collections
Publications Acknowledging KAUST SupportRelated articles
- Impact of initial biofilm growth on the anode impedance of microbial fuel cells.
- Authors: Ramasamy RP, Ren Z, Mench MM, Regan JM
- Issue date: 2008 Sep 1
- Comparison of anode bacterial communities and performance in microbial fuel cells with different electron donors.
- Authors: Jung S, Regan JM
- Issue date: 2007 Nov
- Time-course correlation of biofilm properties and electrochemical performance in single-chamber microbial fuel cells.
- Authors: Ren Z, Ramasamy RP, Cloud-Owen SR, Yan H, Mench MM, Regan JM
- Issue date: 2011 Jan
- Microbial fuel cells meet with external resistance.
- Authors: Katuri KP, Scott K, Head IM, Picioreanu C, Curtis TP
- Issue date: 2011 Feb
- Adaptation to high current using low external resistances eliminates power overshoot in microbial fuel cells.
- Authors: Hong Y, Call DF, Werner CM, Logan BE
- Issue date: 2011 Oct 15