• 상하수도학회지
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.489-494
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• 2013

Effects of operating parameters such as hydraulic retention time(HRT), recycle ratio and influent COD concentration on the performance of a continuous flow microbial fuel cell(MFC) were investigated. Decrease of HRT improved mass transfer of substrate to electrogenic microorganisms, therefore resulting in increased electrode voltage and power generation of MFC. Increase of HRT promoted COD removal by elongating retention time for COD removal in MFC. Recycling of effluent increased the COD removal and coulombic efficiencies by returning suspended microorganisms into MFC. Increase of influent COD enhanced COD removal due to the improved mass transfer of substrate. Decrease of coulombic efficiency by the increase of the HRT and influent COD concentration indicated that they enhanced the activities of fermentative bacteria.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제23권12호
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• pp.1765-1773
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• 2013

The cathode reaction is one of the most seriously limiting factors in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The critical dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of a platinum-loaded graphite electrode was reported as 2.2 mg/l, about 10-fold higher than an aerobic bacterium. A series of MFCs were run with the cathode compartment inoculated with activated sludge (biotic) or not (abiotic) on platinum-loaded or bare graphite electrodes. At the beginning of the operation, the current values from MFCs with a biocathode and abiotic cathode were $2.3{\pm}0.1$ and $2.6{\pm}0.2mA$, respectively, at the air-saturated water supply in the cathode. The current from MFCs with an abiotic cathode did not change, but that of MFCs with a biotic cathode increased to 3.0 mA after 8 weeks. The coulomb efficiency was 59.6% in the MFCs with a biotic cathode, much higher than the value of 15.6% of the abiotic cathode. When the DO supply was reduced, the current from MFCs with an abiotic cathode decreased more sharply than in those with a biotic cathode. When the respiratory inhibitor azide was added to the catholyte, the current decreased in MFCs with a biotic cathode but did not change in MFCs with an abiotic cathode. The power density was higher in MFCs with a biotic cathode ($430W/m^3$ cathode compartment) than the abiotic cathode MFC ($257W/m^3$ cathode compartment). Electron microscopic observation revealed nanowire structures in biofilms that developed on both the anode and on the biocathode. These results show that an electron-consuming bacterial consortium can be used as a cathode catalyst to improve the cathode reaction.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.591-596
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• 2011

Surface floating air cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) having horizontal flow was developed for the application of MFC technology. RVC (Reticulated vitreous carbon) coated with anyline was used as anode electrode and carbon cloth coated with Pt (5.0 g Pt/$m^2$, GDE LT250EW, E-TEK) was used as cathode electrode. As results of continuous operation with changing the flow rate from 4.3 mL/min to 9.5 mL/min, maximum power density of 4.5 W/$m^3$ was acquired at 5.4 mL/min, which was at 0.35 m/hr of flow velocity under anode electrode. When the ratio of cathode surface area to anode surface area($A_c/A_a$) was changed to 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25, the maximum power density of 2.7 W/$m^3$ was shown at the ratio of 1.0. As the ratio decreased from 1.0 to 0.25, the power density also decreased, which is caused by increasing the internal resistance resulted from reducing the surface area to contact with oxygen. Actually, internal resistances of the ratio of 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 were 63.75${\Omega}$, 142.18${\Omega}$, and 206.12${\Omega}$, respectively.

• 멤브레인
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.120-132
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• 2021

미생물 연료전지(MFC)는 미생물의 촉매 반응을 이용하여 폐수 등 환경 오염물질을 처리함과 동시에 전기에너지를 생성하는 생물전기화학 장치다. 미생물 연료전지의 주요 성분 중 하나인 양이온 교환막(PEM)은 미생물 연료 전지의 성능에 결정적인 영향을 미치며, 현재 가장 많이 사용되고 있는 양성자교환막은 Nafion이다. Nafion은 우수한 성능을 가지고 있지만, 단가가 높고, 생물오염에 취약하며, 생분해가 불가능하다는 단점이 있다. 따라서 Nafion을 대체하기 위한 새로운 복합막을 개발하고자 하는 시도가 꾸준히 이루어졌다. 본 총설에서는 미생물 연료전지 분야에서 최근 개발된 복합막의 특징과 성능을 고찰하며, 특히 양성자교환막을 중점적으로 다룬다.

• 대한환경공학회지
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• 제32권2호
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• pp.113-120
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• 2010

분리막의 종류 및 환원전극의 특성에 따른 전기발생량 및 미생물 군집을 비교하기 위하여, 분리막 및 환원전극의 특성이 다른 4개의 단위전지로 구성되어 있는 공기환원전극 미생물연료전지(4 air-cathode microbial fuel cell)를 회분식 운전하였다: A) PEM(Proton Exchange Membrane)-30% Wet proofing Carbon Cloth(WC), B) AEM(Anion Exchange Membrane-WC, C) CEM(Cation Exchange Membrane)-WC, D) PEM-No Wet proofing Carbon Cloth(NC). 분리막의 종류에 상관없이 최대전력밀도는 PEM-WC(510.9 $mW/m^2$), PEM-WC(522.1 $mW/m^2$), PEM-WC(504.8 $mW/m^2$)로 유사하였으나, 환원전극이 달랐던 PEM-NC는 218.3 $mW/m^2$으로 낮게 나왔다. 내부저항은 분리막의 종류에 상관없이 20.8-28.2 ${\Omega}$으로 유사하게 나타났다. PCR-DGGE, PCA, 종다양성 분석 결과, 부유미생물 군집은 시간이 경과함에 따라 다르게 나타났으며 기존 MFC 연구에서 보고되었던 uncultured bacteria가 관찰되었다. 한편, 부착미생물 군집은 분리막의 종류에 따라 큰 변화를 나타내지 않았지만, 환원전극의 특성에 따라 군집의 변화가 관찰되었다. 따라서, 기존의 이온교환막을 분리막으로 사용하는 공기환원전극 MFC에서는 환원전극의 선택도 중요한 것으로 나타났다.

• 한국토양비료학회지
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.410-420
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• 2012

The heavy reliance on fossil fuels, especially oil and gas has triggered the global energy crisis. Continued use of petroleum fuels is now widely recognized as unsustainable because of their depleting supplies and degradation to the environment. To become less dependent on fossil fuels, current world is shifting paradigm in energy by developing alternative energy sources mainly through the utilization of renewable energy sources. In particular, bioenergy recovery from wastes with the help of microorganism is viewed as one of the promising ways to mitigate the current global warming crisis as well as to supply global energy. It has been proved that microorganism can generate power by converting organic matter into electricity using microbial fuel cells (MFCs). MFC is a bioelectrochemical device that employs microbes to generate electricity from bio-convertible substrate such as wastewaters including municipal solid waste, industrial, agriculture wastes, and sewage. Sustainability, carbon neutral and generation of renewable energy are some of the major features of MFCs. However, the MFC technology is confronted with a number of issues and challenges such as low power production, high electrode material cost and so on. This paper reviews the recent developments in MFC technology with due consideration of electrode materials used in MFCs. In addition, application of biocathodes in MFCs has been discussed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.757-762
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• 2016

The group of Fe(III) oxide-reducing bacteria includes exoelectrogenic bacteria, and they possess similar properties of transferring electrons to extracellular insoluble-electron acceptors. The exoelectrogenic bacteria can use the anode in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) as the terminal electron acceptor in anaerobic acetate oxidation. In the present study, the anodic community was compared with the community using Fe(III) oxide (ferrihydrite) as the electron acceptor coupled with acetate oxidation. To precisely analyze the structures, the community was established by enrichment cultures using the same inoculum used for the MFCs. High-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed considerable differences between the structure of the anodic communities and that of the Fe(III) oxide-reducing community. Geobacter species were predominantly detected (>46%) in the anodic communities. In contrast, Pseudomonas (70%) and Desulfosporosinus (16%) were predominant in the Fe(III) oxide-reducing community. These results demonstrated that Geobacter species are the most specialized among Fe(III)-reducing bacteria for electron transfer to the anode in MFCs. In addition, the present study indicates the presence of a novel lineage of bacteria in the genus Pseudomonas that highly prefers ferrihydrite as the terminal electron acceptor in acetate oxidation.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.238-242
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• 2020

Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) illustrated great potential for powering environmental sensors and bioremediation of sediments. In the present study, array anodes for SMFCs were fabricated with graphite rods as anode material and stainless steel plate as electric current collector to make it inconvenient to in situ settle down and not feasible for large-scale application. The results demonstrated that maximum power of 89.4 ㎼ was obtained from three graphite rods, twice of 43.3 ㎼ for two graphite rods. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy revealed that three graphite rods resulted in anodic resistance of 61.2 Ω, relative to 76.0 Ω of two graphite rods. It was probably caused by the parallel connection of the graphite rods, as well as more biomass which could reduce the charge transfer resistance of the biofilm anode. The presently designed array configuration possesses the advantages of easy to enlarge the surface area, decrease in anodic resistance because of the parallel connection of each graphite rod, and convenience to berry into sediment by gravity. Therefore, the as prepared array node would be an effective method to fabricate large-scale SMFC and make it easy to in situ applicate in natural sediments.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• 제24권3호
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• pp.443-448
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• 2019

The present study was conducted to compare the voltage generation in two-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with a biocathode where nitrate and oxygen are used as a terminal electron acceptors (TEA) and to investigate the nitrogen removal and the electrochemical characteristics depending on the separators of the MFCs for denitrification. The maximum power density in a biocathode MFC using an anion exchange membrane (AEM) was approximately 40% lower with the use of nitrate as a TEA than when using oxygen. The MFC for denitrification using an AEM allows acetate ($CH_3COO^-$) as a substrate and nitrate ($NO_3{^-}$) as a TEA to be transported to the opposite sides of the chamber through the AEM. Therefore, heterotrophic denitrification and electrochemical denitrification occurred simultaneously at the anode and the cathode, resulting in a higher COD and nitrate removal rate and a lower maximum power density. The MFC for the denitrification using a cation exchange membrane (CEM) does not allow the transport of acetate and nitrate. Therefore, as oxidation of organics and electrochemical denitrification occurred at the anode and at the cathode, respectively, the MFC using a CEM showed a higher coulomb efficiency, a lower COD and nitrate removal rate in comparison with the MFC using an AEM.

• Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.303-310
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• 2023

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a bioelectrochemical system where electrochemically active bacteria convert organic waste into electricity. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and chitosan (CS) are polymers that have been studied as potential alternative ion exchange membranes to Nafion for many electrochemical systems. This study examined the optimal mixing ratio of PVA and chitosan CS in a PVA:CS composite membrane for MFC applications. PVA:CS composite membranes with 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 ratios were synthesized and tested. The water uptake and ion exchange capacity, Fourier transform infrared spectra, and scanning electron microscopy images were analyzed to determine the physicochemical properties of PVA:CS membranes. The prepared membranes were applied to the ion exchange membrane of the MFC system, and their effects on the electrochemical performance were evaluated. These results showed that the composite membrane with a 3:1 (PVA:CS) ratio showed comparable performance to the commercialized Nafion membrane and produced more electricity than the other synthesized membranes. The PVA:CS membrane implemented MFCs produced a maximum power density of 0.026 mW cm^-2 from organic waste with stable performance. Therefore, it can be applied to a cost-effective MFC system.