Novel bufferless photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFCs) for enhanced electrochemical performance
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Abstract
Photosynthetic microbial fuel cells (PMFCs) are novel bioelectrochemical transducers that employ microalgae to generate oxygen, organic metabolites and electrons. Conventional PMFCs employ non-eco-friendly membranes, catalysts and phosphate buffer solution. Eliminating the membrane, buffer and catalyst can make the MFC a practical possibility. Therefore, single chambered (SPMFC) were constructed and operated at different recirculation flow rates (0, 40 and 240 ml/min) under bufferless conditions. Furthermore, maximum power density of 4.06 mW/m2, current density of 46.34 mA/m2 and open circuit potential of 0.43 V and low internal resistance of 611.8 Ω were obtained at 40 ml/min. Based on the results it was decided that SPMFC was better for operation at 40 ml/min. Therefore, these findings provided progressive insights for future pilot and industrial scale studies of PMFCs.
Keywords
Photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFC), Microalgae, Bufferless, Recirculation flow, Flow straighteners
Publication Title
Bioresource Technology
Divisions
fac_eng
Funders
Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan under contract # MOST 103-2221-E-197-022-MY3, 106-2622-E-197-007-CC3, 106-2221-E-197-019 and 106-2923-E-197-001-MY3
Volume
255
Publisher
Elsevier