The measurement of electricity generation from an air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a mixed bacteria culture at different pH showed that this MFC could tolerate an initial (feed solution) pH as high as 10. The optimal initial pH was between 8 and 10 with higher current generation compared to lower or higher pH. The bacterial metabolism exhibited a buffer effect and changed the electrol...

Changes in microbial fuel cell (MFC) architecture, materials, and solution chemistry can be used to increase power generation by microbial fuel cells (MFCs). It is shown here that using a phosphate buffer to increase solution conductivity, and ammonia gas treatment of a carbon cloth anode substantially increased the surface charge of the electrode (from 0.38 to 3.99 meq m ), and improved MFC pe...

Microbial fuel cells (MFC’s) are promising energy harvesters to constantly supply energy to sensors deployed in aquatic environments where solar, thermal and vibration sources are inadequate. In order to show the ready-to-use MFC potential as energy scavengers, this paper presents the association of a durable benthic MFC with a few dollars of commercially-available power management units (PMU’s...

Here, we explore if microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology can replace activated sludge processes for secondary wastewater treatment. We will discuss the present limitations and problems of electric current generation when a complex wastewater is treated with a diverse and undefined community of microbes in large-scale systems. These challenges include low coulombic efficiencies, slow kinetic rat...

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology provides a low cost alternative to conventional aerated wastewater treatment, however, there has been little comparison between MFC and aeration treatment using real wastewater as the substrate. This study attempts to directly compare the wastewater treatment efficiency and energy consumption and generation among three reactor systems-a traditional aeration ...

As world is going towards renewable energy sources, microbial fuel cell getting attention nowadays. In microbial fuel cell biomass is utilize and give energy (electricity), and also a good option for treatment for waste water. Fuel recovery from sewage sludge is a promising energy production method, which can simultaneously address energy issue and environmental concerns associated with waste t...

Anode biofilm is a crucial component in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for electrogenesis. Better knowledge about the biofilm development process on electrode surface is believed to improve MFC performance. In this study, double-chamber microbial fuel cell was operated with diluted POME (initial COD = 1,000 mg L(-1)) and polyacrylonitrile carbon felt was used as electrode. The maximum power densit...

Impedance changes of the anode, cathode and solution were examined for an air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) under varying conditions. An MFC inoculated with a pre-enriched microbial culture resulted in a startup time of less than ten days. Over this period, the anode impedance decreased below the cathode impedance, suggesting a cathode-limited power output. Increasing the anode flow rate di...

A single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) was used to reduce 10 chemicals associated with odors by 99.76% (from 422 +/- 23 mug/ml) and three volatile organic acids (acetate, butyrate, and propionate) by >99%. The MFC produced a maximum of 228 mW/m(2) and removed 84% of the organic matter in 260 h. MFCs were therefore effective at both treatment and electricity generation.

Conventional oil sewage treatment methods can achieve satisfactory removal efficiency, but energy consumption problems during the process of oil sewage treatment are worth attention. The integration of a constructed wetland reactor and a microbial fuel cell reactor (CW-MFC) to treat oil-contaminated wastewater, compared with a microbial fuel cell reactor (MFC) alone and a constructed wetland re...