Development of carbon nanotubes and nanofluids based microbial fuel cell

Abstract In the present study, the construction of a novel microbial fuel cell (MFC) using novel electron mediators and carbon nanotube (CNT) based electrodes has been discussed. The novel mediators are nanofluids which were prepared by dispersing nanocrystalline platinum anchored carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in water. A cation selective membrane separates the two chambers of the MFC with hexacyanoferrate as the ultimate electron acceptor in the cathode compartment. Performance of the new Escherichia coli based MFC was compared to the previously reported E. coli based microbial fuel cells with Neutral Red (NR) and Methylene Blue (MB) electron mediators. The performance of the MFC using CNT based nanofluids and CNT based electrodes has been compared against plain graphite electrode-based MFC. CNT based electrodes showed as high as ∼6-fold increase in the power density (2470 mW/m 2 ) compared to graphite electrodes (386 mW/m 2 ). The present work demonstrates the potential of noble metal nanoparticles dispersed on CNTs based MFC for the generation of high energies from even simple bacteria like E. coli .

[1]  A. K. Shukla,et al.  Biological fuel cells and their applications , 2004 .

[2]  Michael E. Himmel,et al.  Enzymatic conversion of biomass for fuels production. , 1994 .

[3]  Yuzuru Takamura,et al.  Development of a compact high-density microbial hydrogen reactor for portable bio-fuel cell system , 2006 .

[4]  W. Verstraete,et al.  Microbial fuel cells: novel biotechnology for energy generation. , 2005, Trends in biotechnology.

[5]  C. Thurston,et al.  Electron‐transfer coupling in microbial fuel cells. 2. performance of fuel cells containing selected microorganism—mediator—substrate combinations , 2008 .

[6]  U. Schröder,et al.  A generation of microbial fuel cells with current outputs boosted by more than one order of magnitude. , 2003, Angewandte Chemie.

[7]  H. Gasteiger,et al.  Fundamentals and survey of systems , 2003 .

[8]  D. Park,et al.  Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells Using Neutral Red as an Electronophore , 2000, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[9]  D. Lovley,et al.  Electricity generation by direct oxidation of glucose in mediatorless microbial fuel cells , 2003, Nature Biotechnology.

[10]  Jo‐Shu Chang,et al.  Integration of fermentative hydrogen process and fuel cell for on-line electricity generation , 2007 .

[11]  L. Tender,et al.  Harvesting energy from the marine sediment--water interface. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[12]  T. C. Green,et al.  Shape-Controlled Synthesis of Colloidal Platinum Nanoparticles , 1996, Science.

[13]  Hanxi Yang,et al.  The direct electrocatalysis of Escherichia coli through electroactivated excretion in microbial fuel cell , 2008 .

[14]  M ROBIN,et al.  Microbial Fuel-Cells Electricity Production from Carbohydrates , 2008 .

[15]  M. Shaijumon,et al.  Platinum/multiwalled carbon nanotubes-platinum/carbon composites as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in proton exchange membrane fuel cell , 2006 .

[16]  C. Thurston,et al.  Electron-transfer coupling in microbial fuel cells: 1. comparison of redox-mediator reduction rates and respiratory rates of bacteria , 2008 .

[17]  Stefano Freguia,et al.  Microbial fuel cells: methodology and technology. , 2006, Environmental science & technology.

[18]  M. Shaijumon,et al.  Synthesis of carbon nanotubes by pyrolysis of acetylene using alloy hydride materials as catalysts and their hydrogen adsorption studies , 2003 .

[19]  Byung Hong Kim,et al.  Novel BOD (biological oxygen demand) sensor using mediator-less microbial fuel cell , 2003, Biotechnology Letters.

[20]  W. Verstraete,et al.  Biofuel Cells Select for Microbial Consortia That Self-Mediate Electron Transfer , 2004, Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

[21]  Weijiang Zhou,et al.  Direct ethanol PEM fuel cells: The case of platinum based anodes , 2005 .

[22]  Hong Liu,et al.  Production of hydrogen from domestic wastewater using a bioelectrochemically assisted microbial reactor (BEAMR) , 2007 .

[23]  L. Tender,et al.  Harvesting Energy from the Marine Sediment−Water Interface , 2001 .

[24]  B. Logan,et al.  Electricity-producing bacterial communities in microbial fuel cells. , 2006, Trends in microbiology.

[25]  C. M. Li,et al.  Carbon nanotube/polyaniline composite as anode material for microbial fuel cells , 2007 .

[26]  Y. Xing.  Synthesis and Electrochemical Characterization of Uniformly-Dispersed High Loading Pt Nanoparticles on Sonochemically-Treated Carbon Nanotubes , 2004 .

[27]  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 .

[28]  D. Park,et al.  Improved fuel cell and electrode designs for producing electricity from microbial degradation. , 2003, Biotechnology and bioengineering.

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

[30]  A. N N E M I E K T E R H E I J N E,et al.  A Bipolar Membrane Combined with Ferric Iron Reduction as an Efficient Cathode System in Microbial Fuel Cells† , 2022 .

[31]  Jianguo Deng,et al.  Carbon nanotube–polyaniline hybrid materials , 2002 .