MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS AS AN ALTERNATIVE · PDF fileMICROBIAL FUEL CELLS AS AN ALTERNATIVE...

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOR MULTIDISCIPLINARY Impact Factor 1.393, ISSN: 2320-5083, Volume 2, Issue 4, May 2014

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MICROBIAL FUEL CELLS AS AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCE: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

C. LAVANYA*

RAJESH DHANKAR** SUNIL CHHIKARA***

*University Institute of Engineering & Technology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

**Dept. of Environmental sciences, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

***University Institute of Engineering & Technology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India

ABSTRACT

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a very promising technology that can use microbial

metabolism for various applications from wide range of organic substrates. MFC systems

have been primarily explored for their use in bioremediation and bioenergy applications;

however, these systems also offer a unique strategy for the cultivation of synergistic

microbial communities. Sustainable energy production from organic wastes is gaining

research interest from last few years. The living cells in the anode chamber utilize substrate

for the growth maintenance, as a result of electrons are supplied. The goal of the present

review is microbial fuel designing and its characteristics, types, advantage and limitations.

KEYWORDS: Microbial Fuel Cell, Substrates, Sustainable Energy, Bioremediation,

Bioenergy, Electrons.

INTRODUCTION

Energy has become an important part of everybody human life which is

compromising the environmental protection (Singh et al., 2012). There is no doubt that the

world’s increasing population is rapidly depleting planet’s finite energy resources. The

demand of energy is rapidly increasing, so saving programs is being implemented. Use of

fossil fuels, have raised the demand for new and clean sources of energy. Low reserves of

fossil fuels and the environmental impact of their use to produce energy are leading to a

search for novel renewable energy technologies. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a new form

of renewable energy technology that can generate electricity from waste. Microbial fuel cell

(MFC) is a device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy by using

microorganisms. Energy demand has been projected to grow more than 50% by 2025

(Ragauskas et al., 2006). Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are a type of biofuel cell which has

recently attracted considerable interest (Deval, 2013). This review states the MFC with


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emphasizes on the recent advances in MFC reactor designs, MFC performances and

optimization of important operating parameters.

As a way of increasing the performance of MFCs, there has been considerable work on MFC

configurations which are as follows:-

1. Their physical and chemical operating conditions.

2. The choice of microorganisms.

3. Optimization of the microbial metabolism to increase electron donation to the electrodes.

As a result, currently achievable MFC power production has increased by several orders of

magnitude in less than a decade (Logan, B.E, 2008).

History of Microbial Fuels

In an attempt to produce electricity, the idea of using microbial cells was first conceived in

the early twentieth century. More than 70 years after William Grove in 1839 built the first

fuel cell, Potter 2013). M. Potter a professor of botany at the University of Durham described

microbial conversion to create electrical current (Devala et al., 2013) from E.coli in 1911

(Potter, 1911). In 1911, Potter and co-workers observed for the first time that bacterium can

produce electrical current. Research in this new field of microbial electricity remained

dormant for up to 55 years until the 1990s. In 1931, however, Barnet Cohen drew more

attention to the area when he created a number of microbial half fuel cells that, when

connected in series, were capable of producing over 35 volts, though only with a current of 2

milliamps (Cohen, B. (1931). Electricity generation and waste water treatment using

Microbial Fuel Cells are among such technologies.

Increasing interest and a dramatic raise in the number of publications in the field of MFC

research due to the discovery that microbial metabolism could provide energy in the form of

an electrical current. These systems are very adaptable and hold much promise to provide

energy in a sustainable fashion (Singh et al., 2012). Microbial fuel cells exploit the energy

metabolism of microbes that electrically interact with the conductive surfaces in the system

called electrodes. In May of 2007, the University of Queensland, Australia, completed its

prototype MFC, as a cooperative effort with Fosters Brewing Company. The prototype, a 10

liter design, converts the brewery waste water into carbon dioxide, clean water, and

electricity. With the prototype proven successful, plans are in effect to produce a 660 gallon

version for the brewery, which is estimated to produce 2 kilowatts of power. Worst drought

in Australia over 100 years so, the production of clean water is of utmost importance to

Australia, while it’s a negligible amount of power.


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Set up of Microbial fuel cell

The microbial fuel cell consists of an anode, which accepts electrons from the microbial

culture, and a cathode, which transfers electrons to an electron acceptor. The anode

compartment is typically maintained under anaerobic conditions, whereas the cathode can be

suspended in aerobic solutions or exposed to air. Electrons flow from the anode to the

cathode through an external electrical connection that typically includes a resistor, a battery

to be charged or some other electrical device. The anode and cathode are often separated by a

semipermeable membrane that restricts oxygen diffusion from the cathode chamber to the

anode chamber, while allowing protons that are released from organic matter metabolism, or

oxidation of reduced metabolic products, to move from the anode to the cathode. At the

cathode, electrons, protons and oxygen combine to form water and harvesting electricity with

microorganisms (Derek R. Lovley, 2006).

This is shown by the microbial decomposition of sugars in aerobic conditions produces

carbon dioxide and water (Scott and Murano, 2007).

C6H12O6 + 6H2O + 6O2 6CO2 + 12H2O (1)

However, in anaerobic conditions carbon dioxide, protons and electrons are produced since

oxygen is not available to take up the electrons.

C6H12O6 + 6H2O 6CO2 + 24H+ + 24e- (2)

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) as a promising and challenging technology have emerged in

recent years. Thus, there is great interest for finding the most cost effective clean and

sustainable energy resources and energy conversion technology with very low or zero

emission as well as a cost effective technology (B. Min,et al., 2005). Because of its low or

zero emission of green house gases recently, the fuel cell, a highly efficient energy converting

device has attracted special attention of energy policy makers and researchers alike, (H. Liu

et al., 2006). In a MFC, microorganisms interact with electrodes using electrons, which are

either removed or supplied through an electrical circuit (Rabaey et al., 2007). The efficiency

of microbial fuel cells is, however, constrained by diffusion of oxygen into the anode

chamber due to the severe potential drops associated with microbial consumption of oxygen

(Davis et al., 2007).


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Fig. 1. MFC setup (anode chamber containing two electrodes on the left; cathode on right)

(Logan et. al, 2008)

Electron transfer mechanism

Fig. 2. (A) Simplified view of a two-chamber MFC with possible modes of electron transfer

is shown. (1) Direct electron transfer (via outer membrane cytochromes); (2) electron transfer

through mediators; and (3) electron transfer through nanowires. (B) Single-chamber MFC

with open air cathode. Electrons transfer via the external circuit to the cathode chamber

where electrons, protons and electron acceptor (mainly oxygen) combine to produce water

(Li et al., 2009).

Types of Microbial Fuel Cells

Basically, there are two types of MFC, Mediator microbial fuel cell and Mediator-free

microbial fuel cell. In case of Mediator Microbial fuel cell, most of the bacterial species used

in MFC are inactive for transport of electron; hence for intervention, synthetic and natural

compounds called redox mediators are required. Dye mediators such as neutral red,


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methylene blue, thionine, humic acid are used as a mediator (Ghangrekar et al., 2006). A

major breakthrough in pioneering MFC research by Kim et al., in 1999 discovered that

electron transfer from bacteria to the electrode does not always need mediator molecules.

Most of the mediators available are expensive and toxic.

Whereas second type of mediator-free microbial fuel cells do not require a mediator but uses

electrochemically active bacteria to transfer electrons to the electrode (electrons are carried

directly from the bacterial respiratory enzyme to the electrode). Mediator less MFCs can be

considered to have more commercial potential then MFCs that require mediators because the

typical mediators are expensive and toxic to the microorganisms (Bond et al., 2003).

Shewanella putrefaciens, Geobacter sulfurreducens, Geobacter metallireducens and

Rhodoferax ferrireducens are the organism which have been shown to generate electricity in

a mediatorless MFC However, one major disadvantage of the two chamber system is that the

cathode chamber needs to be filled with a solution and aerated to provide oxygen to the

cathode (Zielke, 2006).

Design and operations of MFCs

The design of MFC plays a major role in the performance of the system in terms of power

output, coulombic efficiency and stability. Two such general designs are available viz. single

chamber MFC and multiple chambered MFC. Based upon assembly of anode and cathode

chambers, a simple MFC prototype can either be a double chambered or single chambered.

Besides these two common designs, several adaptations have been made in prototype of MFC

design and structure (Pant et al., 2010). The same operating principles share by many types

of reactors. Different configurations of MFCs are being developed using a variety of

materials. They are operated under different conditions to increase the performance, power

output and reduce the overall cost.

Single chamber MFC: This design has only one compartment that contains both the anode

and the cathode. The anode is either placed away or close to the cathode separated by proton

exchange membrane. Liang et al., (2007) reported that if the anode is closer to the cathode, it

reduces internal ohmic resistance by avoiding the use of catholyte as a result of combining

two chambers and thus increases the power density. Compared to the two chambers of MFC,

it offers simple, cost effective design and produces power in a more efficient way (Du et al.,

2007). However, in the membrane-less configuration, microbial contamination and back


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diffusion of oxygen from cathode to anode without proton exchange membrane are the major

drawbacks (Kim, 2008). Carbon electrode (Graphite) were used at both the ends of cathode

and anode and tightly fixed with the containers containing medium, culture and buffer

(Ayachi et al., 2013).

Two chamber MFC: This is the most widely used design consisting of two chambers with

the anode and cathode compartments separated by an ion exchange membrane. This design is

generally used in basic research and suggests that the power output from these systems are

generally low due to their complex design, high internal resistance and electrode based losses

(Du et al., 2007; Logan and Regan, 2006; Nwogu, 2007).

Up-flow MFC: The cylinder shaped MFC consists of the anode (bottom) and the cathode

(top) partitioned by glass wool and glass beads layers. The feed is supplied from the bottom

of the anode passes upward of the cathode and exits at the top. The diffusion barrier among

the electrodes provides a gradient for proper operation of the MFCs (Du et al., 2007; Kim

2008; Schwartz, 2007). This design has no physical separation and so there are no proton

transfer associated problems and is attractive for wastewater treatment (Kim 2008).

Stacked MFC: In this design, several single cell MFCs are connected together in series or in

parallel to achieve high current output (Du et al., 2007). Due to higher electrochemical

reaction rate, a parallel connection can generate more energy than a series connection when

operated at the same volumetric flow but is prone to higher short circuiting compared to a

series connection (Aelterman et al., 2006; Schwartz, 2007).


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Fig 3: Microbial fuel cell configurations (Zhuwei et al., 2007; Sengodon et al., 2012).

Microbes used in microbial fuel cells

Many microorganisms possess the ability to transfer the electrons derived from the

metabolism of organic matters to the anode. MFCs operated using mixed cultures currently

achieve substantially greater power densities than those with pure cultures. Recently the

increased interest in microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology was highlighted by the naming of

Geobacter sulfurreducens KN400, a bacterial strain capable of high current production, as

one of the top 50 most important inventions for 2009 by time magazine (Samatha et al.,

2012). These microorganisms have high Coulombic efficiency and can form biofilms on the

anode surface that act as electron acceptors and transfer electrons directly to the anode

resulting in the production of more energy (Khare, 2012). Lists of microbes are shown in

table 1 with their aim and waste source.

Table 1 Microbes with their aim and source.

Microorganism Aim Waste source/Substrate

References

Shewanella putrefaciens Bioelectricity production and waste water treatment (Gil et al., 2003).

Starch Bond and Lovley 2003, Kim et al., 1999a, Kim et al., 1999b, Kim et al., 2002, Schroder et al., 2003.

Geobacter sulphur reducens

Bioelectricity production and waste water treatment

Acetate Bond and Lovley 2003.

Geobacter metallireducens

Mediator-less MFC Acetate Min et al., (2005).


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Operational factors of Microbial fuel cells

The operational factor that affected the performance of MFC includes the pH, Dissolved

oxygen concentration, material type and surface area of electrode, temperature, presence of

catalyst and electrolyte strength. Power losses occur in MFC due to over potential and losses

Rhodoferax ferrireducens

Mediator-less MFC Glucose, xylose, sucrose, maltose

Chaudhuri and Lovley 2003.

Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum

Bioelectricity Production Cellulosic waste Abhilasha S Mathuriya et al., 2009.

Geobacteraceae Open lake`electricity and bioremediation of organic contaminants in Subsurface environments

Organic matter in marine sediments

Daniel R.Bond et al., 2002

Synechococcus sp Bioelectricity production Light as a fuel Tsujimura et al., 2001

Yogurt bacteria and methylene blue as mediator

Bioelectricity production Waste carbohydrate (manure sludge)

Keith et al., 2007

Pseudomonas putida, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger

Low Voltage Power Generation

Glucose M. Rahimnejad et al., 2009

Anaerobic mixed consortia

Bioelectricity Production Waste water S. Venkata Mohan et al., 2007, O. Lefebvre et al., 2008

Shewanella oneidensis Anthraquinone 2,6 disulfonate as mediator

Lactate

Ringeisen et al., (2006)

Aeromonas hydrophila

Mediator-less MFC

Acetate

Pham et al., (2003)

Mixed population Bioelectricity Production and waste water treatment

Sugar Habermann & Pommer,1991

Mixed population Bioelectricity Production Decay Organics Reimers et al., 2001


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which can be minimized by MFC reactor configuration, electrode type, surface area and

spacing, use of protons-selective Proton exchange membrane. Larger surface area electrode

has shown result of threefold higher current and closer electrode spacing between the anode

and cathode reduces the internal resistance of the MFC thereby improving, proton transport.

The level of dissolved oxygen affects the performance of MFCs as because the presence of

oxygen greatly improves on the proton sink as electron acceptor in the cathode but also plays

an inhibitory role on anaerobic anodic bacteria (Oji et al., 2012).

Substrate

A substrate is the substance contained in anode chamber that is to be oxidised. In a microbial

fuel cell the substrate used can be any form of organic matter. Cells have been successfully

operated on chocolate (Markusic, 2010), wine (Danigelis, 2009), wastewater, glucose (Logan,

2008), acetate (Liu et al., 2005) and more. Most frequently glucose, wastewater and acetate

are used in experiments with the highest results being obtained with acetate (Sun et al., 2008).

Electrode

Microbial fuel cells exploit the energy metabolism of microbes that electrically interact with

the conductive surfaces in the system called electrode (Bretschger, 2009). Studies have

shown that the MFCs using expensive solid graphite electrodes, but less expensive graphite

felt and carbon cloth, can also be used (Bond and Lovely 2003, Tender et al., 2002,

Chundhuri and Lovely 2003, Lui et al., 2004).

Anode

The most versatile electrode material is carbon, available as compact graphite plates, rods or

granules, as fibrous material (felt, cloth, paper, fibers, and foam) and as glassy carbon.

Carbon fiber, paper, foam and cloth (Toray) have been extensively used as electrodes (Sing et

al., 2010). In addition, bacteria attachment, electron transfer and substrate oxidation can be

directly affected by anode. Carbonaceous materials are the most widely used materials for

MFC anodes because of their good biocompatibility, good chemical stability, high

conductivity, and relatively low cost. In terms of configuration, carbon-based electrodes can

be divided into a plane structure, a packed structure, and a brush structure (Wei et al., 2011)


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Cathode

Most MFC’s use platinum as the catalyst is extremely expensive. Chemicals such as

ferricyanide and potassium permanganate have been used successfully with results

comparable to those achieved with platinum (He & Angenent, 2006). Using ferricyanide as

the electron acceptor in the cathode chamber increases the power density due to the

availability of a good electron acceptor at high concentrations. Bacteria then assist the

reduction of oxygen without the need for any additional chemicals or substances. Most

commonly used materials include carbon, graphite and steel. Most of the materials mentioned

above used as the anode have also been used as the base materials of air–cathodes, aqueous

air–cathodes, and bio-cathodes. The main difference in these materials used for the cathode is

that a catalyst (i.e., Pt for oxygen reduction) is normally used but is not always necessary

(i.e., ferricyanide) (Logan, 2007). Steel has been found to be less effective for use in

microbial fuel cells as it is not a porous material and bacteria appear to be unable to attach

themselves. Carbon and graphite are both widely available materials which has many forms.

Carbon is available as paper, cloth and foam while graphite comes in the form of rods,

granules and brushes. Platinum is a critical catalyst at the cathode and no alternative metal

has been proven to catalyze the combination of oxygen, the hydrogen proton, and the electron

in a more efficient manner (Oh et al., 2004).

Reactor

Reactors have been cube shaped, cylindrical, horse shoe shaped, two chamber and single

chamber and H-type configured and made of glass and various types of plastic, even buckets.

Sizes also vary widely with some reactors having volumes of a few square centimetres and

others of up to a square metre. So far researchers have speculated that single chamber

reactors may show the most promise but this has not deterred people from using two chamber

types. In terms of construction difficulties a single chamber reactor can be the harder of the

two chambered. The total reactor capacity will be 1.1L, 600mL in the anode chamber and

500mL in the cathode chamber.

Membrane

Synthetic membranes include anion exchange membranes, cation exchange membranes and

ultra filtration membranes. Studies have shown that anion exchange membranes perform

better than cation exchange membranes due to a lower resistance (You et al., 2009). These


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types of membranes are generally very expensive, have high minimum orders or large freight

charges as they are only manufactured overseas. An alternative is membrane inclusive water

resistant clothing such as Gore-Tex. Higx. High quality clothing is specially made to contain

a membrane within the fabric to repel water. The fabric is suitable for fuel cell applications as

it successfully separates the liquids in the two chambers whilst allowing protons to flow from

the anode to the cathode chamber. The limitation to wide-spread utilization of microbial fuel

cells as an alternative energy source is that, at present, the power densities of microbial fuel

cells are too low for most envisioned applications (Derek R Lovley, 2008). Proton exchange

membranes such as Nafion are also expensive and if removed, can substantially reduce the

overall cost of the microbial fuel cells.

ADVANTAGES

MFCs have operational and functional advantages over the technologies currently used for

generating energy from organic matter.

The direct conversion of substrate energy to electricity enables high conversion

efficiency.

MFCs operate efficiently at ambient temperature.

MFC does not require gas treatment because the off-gases of MFCs are enriched in

carbon dioxide and normally have no useful energy content.

MFCs do not need energy input for aeration provided the cathode is passively aerated

(Liu et al., 2004).

MFCs have potential for widespread application in locations lacking electrical

infrastructures and can also operate with diverse fuels to satisfy our energy

requirements.

Some recent developments allow high conversion rates and high conversion efficiencies of

simple carbohydrates like glucose (Rabaey et al., 2003), and complex carbohydrate like

starch (Niessen et al., 2004) and cellulose (Niessen et al., 2005). Although MFCs generate a

lower amount of energy than hydrogen fuel cells, a combination of both electricity production

and wastewater treatment would reduce the cost of treating primary effluent wastewater

(Mathuriya et al., 2009).


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Applications

1. Education- Soil-based microbial fuel cells are popular educational tools, as they

employ a range of scientific disciplines (microbiology, geochemistry, electrical

engineering, etc.), and can be made using commonly available materials, such as soils

and items from the refrigerator. There are also kits available for classrooms,

hobbyists, and research-grade kits for scientific laboratories and corporations.

2. Biosensor - Bio-sensors could be constructed, in which bacteria are immobilized onto

an electrode and protected behind a membrane. If a toxic component diffuses through

the membrane, this can be measured by the change in potential over the sensor. Such

sensors could be extremely useful as indicators of toxicants in rivers, at the entrance

of wastewater treatment plants, to detect pollution or illegal dumping, or to perform

research on polluted sites (Meyer et al., 2002, Chang et al., 2004).

3. Desalination of marine water - Salt removal efficiencies of up to 90% have been

recorded in laboratory work, but much higher removal efficiencies are required to

produce drinking-quality water.

4. Hydrogen production - Although electricity is used instead of generated as in normal

MFCs, this method of producing hydrogen is very efficient because more than 90% of

the protons and electrons generated by the bacteria at the anode are turned into

hydrogen gas (Rabaey et al., 2005).

5. Waste water technology - The amount of power generated by MFCs in the

wastewater treatment process can potentially halve the electricity needed in a

conventional treatment process that consumes electrical power aerating activated

sludges (Ghasemi, 2013). MFC has found application in monitoring and control of

biological waste treatment unit. This is obtainable due to correlation of Coulombic

yield of MFC and strength of organic matter in wastewater which serves as biosensor

(Oji et al., 2012). MFC integrated wastewater treatment plants can recover energy and

reduce excess sludge production with little effect on the mineralization of organic

load and the rest of the process. However, for the process to be economically feasible,

it is necessary to cut cost by either eliminating the cationic membrane and reducing

cost of membrane maintenance or using a cheaper membrane, running MFC in

existing wastewater treatment plants, and avoid expensive cathode catalysts in favor

of aerobic biomass. Application of MFCs for wastewater treatment has become very


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attractive because of the double benefit of recovering energy from the wastewater as

well as reducing the BOD and excess sludge production.

Limitations

Despite the rapid progress, there are some areas in which further research needs to be

done to overcome the constraints associated with MFC are as follows:

1. Low Power: The main problem with practical application of the MFC is the low

power output, which is mainly caused by the difficult electron transfer between the

bacteria and the electrode (Ghasemi, 2013). Saldago (2009) reported that the current

generation is only 14mA, which could power only small devices. Kim et al., (2007)

reported that even using similar biocatalyst and substrate showed differences in the

power density. Abhijeet et al., (2009) reported that the power obtained from MFCs is

about 300 Wm3 which is low for commercial applications.

2. Microbe/electrode Interaction: Current production by bacteria in MFC is a complex

process that is regulated by more than few genes and requires further insight into the

process of electron transfer (Franks and Nevin, 2010). Cheng Iting et al., (2006)

reported that befouling of cathode affect MFC performance. Though the electron

transfer mechanism is understood in some bacteria, further research is needed to create

genetically engineered strains to generate more current (Lovely 2008). As the electrode

properties affect microorganism wiring and MFC performance, there is a need to

develop higher catalytic material with superior performance to avoid befouling,

corrosion and other degradation mechanisms of electrodes (Huang et al., 2011).

3. Large Scale: The main challenge in implementing MFC on a large scale is in

maintaining low costs, minimizing hazards while maximizing power generation

(Schwartz, 2007). The performance of the MFCs is influenced by current, power

density, fuel oxidation rate, loading rate and coulombic efficiency (Balat, 2009; Kim et

al., 2007). The power density is affected by high internal resistance or over potential

related ohmic, activation and mass transfer losses (Logan and Regan, 2006) whereas

the fuel oxidation rate is influenced by anode catalytic activity, fuel diffusion, proton

and electron diffusion and consumption (Balat, 2009).

4. Diffusion of Fuel/Coulombic efficiency: Min et al., (2005) described that diffusion of

oxygen into the anode chamber lowers the coulombic efficiency by more than half

(55% to 19%) and reduces the power output. It has also been suggested that coulombic


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efficiency and maximum theoretical amount of energy depend on complete oxidation

of substrate to Carbon dioxide (Franks and Nevin, 2010). Geothrix fermentans and

Geobacter has the ability to oxidize the substrate completely (94-100% coulombic

efficiency by oxidizing acetate), whereas Shewanella oneidensis has only partial

oxidation ability (56%).

5. Electron Spacing: The internal resistance can be minimized by reducing the electrode

spacing, increasing the electrode surface area, using highly selective proton membrane

and increasing catalyst activity (Oh and Logan, 2006). Liu et al., (2005) showed that

closer electrode spacing increased the power density by 68%. Chaudhuri and Lovely

(2003) described threefold increase in current with larger surface area of electrode

material. The performance is also affected by factors such as pH, temperature,

substrate, and microbial activity, resistance of circuit and electrode material.

6. pH: Yong Yuan et al., (2011) found that alkaline conditions (pH 9) shows electricity

generation by enhancing electron transfer efficiency. However, Gil et al., (2003)

reported that the highest current was obtained in the pH 7 to pH 8 ranges but not pH 9

or above.

7. Reactors: The power density decreases as the system size increases and further

improvements are needed to construct highly efficient reactors with reduced internal

resistance and electrode over-potential to maximize power in large scale systems

(Cheng and Logan, 2011).

8. Voltage reversal: When the voltage in the cells is not matched or when one cell

suffers the loss of fuel or shows higher resistance than other cells. Oh and Logan

(2007) reported that voltage reversal 5 is a problem in fuel cells due to substrate

starvation in cells that resulted in reduced power generation. High resistance remains a

barrier in MFCs (Nwogu, 2007).

Conclusions

In the present study we have present an overview of MFCs and its limitations, identify

several potential applications of the technology to advancing knowledge. As has been

discussed, MFCs are an emerging platform that contributes to a greater understanding of

complex microbial systems. The research opportunities provided by MFC technology extend

beyond the generation of electricity and represent a unique opportunity to study and control

the waste. While low current density and long time of operation is its biggest drawbacks, as


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energy production systems with great potentials. The world’s need for electricity and fuel is

ever increasing and so is the need for clean, renewable methods to produce these things. The

study also discussed the design and construction details of two MFCs and presented the

results of test carried out with the constructed cell. Reducing the expenses of building and

operating an MFC system as well as increasing cell efficiencies are ongoing issues for the

technology. Further research is also required in many areas particularly in the area of

catalysts as the cathode with the inclusion of the catalyst has been found to account for

almost fifty percent of the cost of an MFC/MEC. Future studies should focus on the

incorporation of bacteria on the cathode to replace the current techniques.

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