Mineral carbonation can be used for CO2 sequestration, but the reaction rate is slow. In order to accelerate mineral carbonation, acid generated in a microbial electrolysis desalination and chemical-production cell (MEDCC) was examined to dissolve natural minerals rich in magnesium/calcium silicates (serpentine), and the alkali generated by the same process was used to absorb CO2 and precipitat...

Microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) are a promising new technology for producing hydrogen cheaply, efficiently, and sustainably. However, to scale up this technology, we need a better understanding of the processes in the devices. In this effort, we present a differential-algebraic equation (DAE) model of a microbial electrolysis cell with an algebraic constraint on current. We then perform sen...

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation with an anode as the electron acceptor was realized in a dual-chamber microbial electrolysis cell (MEC). Nitrate was the main product that accounted for approximately 95% of ammonium consumed, but nitrite was also detectable. Using 16S ribosomal RNA analysis, we found that the microbial community attached to the electrode was dominated by Nitrosomonas europaea (40.3...

Conditions in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) differ from those in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) due to the intrusion of oxygen through the cathode and the release of H(2) gas into solution. Based on 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, anode communities in reactors fed acetic acid decreased in species richness and diversity, and increased in numbers of Geobacter sulfurreducens, when reactors were ...

In the past 10-15 years, the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has captured the attention of the scientific community for the possibility of transforming organic waste directly into electricity through microbially catalyzed anodic, and microbial/enzymatic/abiotic cathodic electrochemical reactions. In this review, several aspects of the technology are considered. Firstly, a brief history of ...