Sulfide as an alternative electron donor to glucose for power generation in mediator-less microbial fuel cell

J Environ Sci Health A Tox Hazard Subst Environ Eng. 2017 Oct 15;52(12):1150-1157. doi: 10.1080/10934529.2017.1342500. Epub 2017 Jul 31.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the power generation in a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). As one of the effective parameters, glucose concentration was studied in the range of 100-1000 mg/L. At the optimum concentration of 500 mg/L of glucose, maximum power generation was 186 mW/m2. As an alternative, sulfide was used as an electron donor and maximum power output was 401 mW/m2 at the concentration of 100 mg/L; which was more than twice of power produced using glucose. Moreover, sulfide removal efficiencies of 70%, 66%, 60%, and 64% were obtained when initial sulfide concentrations of 10, 20, 80, and 100 mg/L were used, respectively.

Keywords: Electron donor; glucose; microbial fuel cell; power generation; substrate; sulfide removal.

MeSH terms

  • Bioelectric Energy Sources*
  • Electricity*
  • Electrodes
  • Electron Transport
  • Electrons*
  • Energy Transfer
  • Equipment Design
  • Glucose / chemistry*
  • Sulfides / chemistry*

Substances

  • Sulfides
  • Glucose