Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology

The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology (한국미생물·생명공학회)
권호 표지

Improvement of Cathode Reaction of a Mediatorless Microbial Fuel Cell

  • Pham, The-Hai (Water Environment ＆ Remediation Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Jang, Jae-Kyung (Water Environment ＆ Remediation Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Chang, In-Seop (Water Environment ＆ Remediation Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Kim, Byung-Hong (Water Environment ＆ Remediation Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology)
  • Published : 2004.04.01
Download PDF
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Oxygen diffuses through the cation-specific membrane, reducing the coulomb yield of the fuel cell. In the present study, attempts were made to enhance current generation from the fuel cell by lowering the oxygen diffusion, including the uses of ferricyanide as a cathode mediator and of a platinum-coated graphite electrode. Ferricyanide did not act as a mediator as expected, but as an oxidant in the cathode compartment of the microbial fuel cell. The microbial fuel cell with platinum-coated graphite cathode generated a maximum current 3-4 times higher than the control fuel cell with graphite cathode, and the critical oxygen concentration of the former was 2.0 mg $1^{-1}$, whilst that of the latter was 6.6 mg $1^{-1}$. Based on these results, it was concluded that inexpensive electrodes are adequate for the construction of an economically feasible microbial fuel cell with better performance as a novel wastewater treatment process.

Keywords

References

  1. Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. v.39;40 Microbial fuel-cells: Electricity production from carbohydrates Allen,R.M.;H.P.Bennetto
  2. Biochemistry Moscow. v.66 no.1 Evaluation of hexose monophosphate shunt activity in isolated murine lens by monitoring the potential of the ferricyanide-ferrocyanide system Aseychev,A.V.;A.U.Tjurin-Kuzmin;S.A.Stebeneva;A.I.Deyev https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002877511997
  3. Biotechnology Education v.1 no.4 Electricity generation by microorganisms Bennetto,H.P.
  4. Biosen. Bioelectron. v.19 Continuous determination of biochemical oxygen demand using a microbial fuel cell type biosensor Chang,I.S.;J.K.Jang;G.C.Gil;M.Kim;H.J.Kim;B.W.Cho;B.H.Kim https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-5663(03)00272-0
  5. Anal. Chem. v.67 Electron transfer kinetics at modified carbon electrode surfaces: The role of specific surface sites Chen,P.;M.A.Fryling;R.L.McCreery https://doi.org/10.1021/ac00114a004
  6. J. Chem. Tech. Biotechnol. v.34B Electron transfer coupling in microbial fuel cells: 2. Performance of fuel cells containing selected microorganism-mediator-substrate combinations Delaney,G.M.;H.P.Bennetto;J.R.Mason;H.D.Roller;J.L.Stirling;C.F.Thurston
  7. Anal. Chem. v.71 Control of catechol and hydroquinone electron-transfer kinetics on native and modified glassy carbon electrodes DuVall,S.H.;R.L.McCreery https://doi.org/10.1021/ac990399d
  8. Standard Method for the Examination of Water and Wastewater(19th Ed.) Eaton,A.D.;L.S.Clesceri;A.E.Greenberg
  9. Biosen. Bioelectron. v.18 Operational parameters affecting the performance of a mediator-less microbial fuel cell Gil,G.C.;I.S.Chang;B.H.Kim;M.Kim;J.K.Jang;H.S.Park;H.J.Kim https://doi.org/10.1016/S0956-5663(02)00110-0
  10. Cell. Mol. Life Sci. v.58 Review: Extracellular electron transfer Hernandez,M.E.;D.K.Newman https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00000796
  11. Biosen. Bioelectron. v.12 Novel hexacyanoferrate (Ⅲ) modified graphite disc electrodes and their application in enzyme electrodes - Part Ⅰ Jaffari,S.A.;A.P.F.Turner https://doi.org/10.1016/0956-5663(96)89084-1
  12. Anal. Chem. v.68 An amperometric microsensor for the determination of H₂S in aquatic environments Jeroschewski,P.;C.Steuckart;M.Kuhl https://doi.org/10.1021/ac960091b
  13. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. v.9 Direct electrode reaction of Fe(Ⅲ)-reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrifaciens Kim,B.H.;H.J.Kim;M.S.Hyun;D.H.Park
  14. Biotechnol. Tech. v.13 Electrochemical activity of an Fe(Ⅲ)-reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens IR-1, in the presence of alternative electron acceptors Kim,B.H.;T.Ikeda;H.S.Park;H.J.Kim;M.S.Hyun;K.Kano;K.Takagi;H.Tatsumi https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008993029309
  15. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. v.63 Enrichment of electrochemically active anaerobic bacteria using a fuel cell type electrochemical cell Kim,B.H.:H.S.Park;H.J.Kim;G.T.Kim;I.S.Chan;J.Lee;N.T.Phung https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-003-1412-6
  16. Enzyme Microb. Tech. v.30 A mediator-less microbial fuel cell using a metal reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens Kim,H.J.;H.S.Park;M.S.Hyun;I.S.Chang;M.Kim;B.H.Kim https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-0229(01)00478-1
  17. Fuel Cell Systems Explained Larminie,J.;A.Dicks
  18. J. Chem. Res. no.S Interception of electron-transport chain in bacteria with hydrophilic redox mediators Lithgow,A.M.;L.Romero;I.C.Sanchez;F.A.Souto;C.A.Vega
  19. J. Electroanal. Chem. v.443 A methanol/dioxygen biofuel cell that uses $NAD^+$-dependent dehydrogenases as catalysts: Application of an electro-enzymatic method to regenerate nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide at low overpotentials Palmore,G.T.R.;H.Bertschy;S.H.Bergens;G.M.Whitesides https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-0728(97)00393-8
  20. Anaerobe v.7 A novel electrochemically active and Fe(Ⅲ) reducing bacterium phylogenetically related to Clostridium butyricum isolated from a bacterial fuel cell Park,H.S.;B.H.Kim;H.S.Kim;H.J.Kim;G.T.Kim;M.Kim;I.S.Chang;Y.K.Park;H.I.Chang https://doi.org/10.1006/anae.2001.0399
  21. Clin. Chem. v.39 Electrochemical assay system with single-use electrode strip for measuring lactate in whole blood Shimojo,N.;K.Naka;H.Uenoyama;K.Hamamoto;K.Yoshioka;K.Okuda
  22. Bioelectrochem. Bioenerg. v.17 Mediating effect of ferric chelate compounds in microbial fuel cells with Lactobacillus plantarum, Streptococcus lactis, and Erwinia dissolvens Vega,C.A.;I.Fernandez https://doi.org/10.1016/0302-4598(87)80026-0
  23. Anal. Chim. Acta v.405 Fabrication of an ultramicrosensor for measurement of extracellular myocardial superoxide Xue,J.;Y.Xian;X.Ying;J.Chen;L.Wang;L.Jin https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-2670(99)00750-3
  24. Anal. Chem. v.73 Diamond optically transparent electrodes: Demonstration of concept with ferri/ferrocyanide and methyl viologen Zak,J.K.;J.E.Butler;G.M.Swain https://doi.org/10.1021/ac001257i