Electrochemically Assisted Microbial Production of Hydrogen from Acetate

Hydrogen production via bacterial fermentation is currently limited to a maximum of 4 moles of hydrogen per mole of glucose, and under these conditions results in a fermentation end product (acetate; 2 mol/mol glucose) that bacteria are unable to further convert to hydrogen. It is shown here that this biochemical barrier can be circumvented by generating hydrogen gas from acetate using a completely anaerobic microbial fuel cell (MFC). By augmenting the electrochemical potential achieved by bacteria in this MFC with an additional voltage of 250 mV or more, it was possible to produce hydrogen at the cathode directly from the oxidized organic matter. More than 90% of the protons and electrons produced by the bacteria from the oxidation of acetate were recovered as hydrogen gas, with an overall Coulombic efficiency (total recovery of electrons from acetate) of 60-78%. This is equivalent to an overall yield of 2.9 mol H2/mol acetate (assuming 78% Coulombic efficiency and 92% recovery of electrons as hydrogen). This bio-electrochemically assisted microbial system, if combined with hydrogen fermentation that produces 2-3 mol H2/mol glucose, has the potential to produce ca. 8-9 mol H2/mol glucose at an energy cost equivalent to 1.2 mol H2/mol glucose. Production of hydrogen by this anaerobic MFC process is not limited to carbohydrates, as in a fermentation process, as any biodegradable dissolved organic matter can theoretically be used in this process to generate hydrogen from the complete oxidation of organic matter.

[1]  D. R. Bond,et al.  Electrode-Reducing Microorganisms That Harvest Energy from Marine Sediments , 2002, Science.

[2]  Bruce E. Logan,et al.  Evaluation of procedures to acclimate a microbial fuel cell for electricity production , 2005, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[3]  Debabrata Das,et al.  Improvement of fermentative hydrogen production: various approaches , 2004, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

[4]  Paul M. Grant,et al.  Hydrogen lifts off — with a heavy load , 2003, Nature.

[5]  E. E. L O G A N,et al.  Cathode Performance as a Factor in Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells , 2022 .

[6]  Keith Scott,et al.  Electricity generation from cysteine in a microbial fuel cell. , 2005, Water research.

[7]  E. E. L O G A N,et al.  Electricity Generation Using an Air-Cathode Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell in the Presence and Absence of a Proton Exchange Membrane , 2022 .

[8]  Sang-Eun Oh,et al.  Biological hydrogen production measured in batch anaerobic respirometers. , 2002, Environmental science & technology.

[9]  Bruce E Logan,et al.  Continuous electricity generation from domestic wastewater and organic substrates in a flat plate microbial fuel cell. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[10]  B. Min Perchlorate remediation using packed-bed bioreactors and electricity generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) , 2005 .

[11]  Matthew Leach,et al.  Progress in renewable energy. , 2003, Environment international.

[12]  E. E. L O G A N,et al.  Production of Electricity during Wastewater Treatment Using a Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell , 2022 .

[13]  Colin Ramshaw,et al.  Intensification of Water Electrolysis in a Centrifugal Field , 2002 .

[14]  Byung Hong Kim,et al.  A mediator-less microbial fuel cell using a metal reducing bacterium, Shewanella putrefaciens , 2002 .

[15]  E. E. L O G A N,et al.  Continuous Electricity Generation from Domestic Wastewater and Organic Substrates in a Flat Plate Microbial Fuel Cell , 2022 .

[16]  Yasuo Asada,et al.  Biotechnological hydrogen production" research for efficient light energy conversion , 1999 .

[17]  D. R. Bond,et al.  Electricity Production by Geobacter sulfurreducens Attached to Electrodes , 2003, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[18]  Byung Hong Kim,et al.  A novel electrochemically active and Fe(III)-reducing bacterium phylogenetically related to Clostridium butyricum isolated from a microbial fuel cell , 2001 .

[19]  W. Verstraete,et al.  A microbial fuel cell capable of converting glucose to electricity at high rate and efficiency , 2004, Biotechnology Letters.