Liu, L.; Baghernavehsi, H.; Greener, J. Defying Gravity to Enhance Power Output and Conversion Efficiency in a Vertically Oriented Four-Electrode Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell. Micromachines2024, 15, 961.
Liu, L.; Baghernavehsi, H.; Greener, J. Defying Gravity to Enhance Power Output and Conversion Efficiency in a Vertically Oriented Four-Electrode Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell. Micromachines 2024, 15, 961.
Liu, L.; Baghernavehsi, H.; Greener, J. Defying Gravity to Enhance Power Output and Conversion Efficiency in a Vertically Oriented Four-Electrode Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell. Micromachines2024, 15, 961.
Liu, L.; Baghernavehsi, H.; Greener, J. Defying Gravity to Enhance Power Output and Conversion Efficiency in a Vertically Oriented Four-Electrode Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell. Micromachines 2024, 15, 961.
Abstract
High-power output and high conversion efficiency are crucial in the study of microfluidic microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In our previous work, we attempted various methods to increase the power density of the MFCs, but nutrient consumption was limited to the bottom (electrode) layer of the microfluidic channel due to the diffusion limitations. In this work, long-term experiments were conducted on a new 4-electrode microfluidic MFC design, which grew Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms on upward- and downward-facing electrodes in the microchannel. It was discovered that inoculation and growth of the electroactive biofilm did not proceed as fast as the downward facing anode, which we hypothesize is due to gravity effects that negatively impacted bacterial settling on that surface. Rotating the device during the growth phase resulted in uniform and strong outputs from both sides, yielding individual power densities of 4.03 and 4.13 W m-2, which was increased to nearly double when the top- and bottom-side electrodes were operated in parallel as a single 4-electrode MFC. Similarly, acetate consumption could be doubled with the 4-electrodes operated in parallel.
Copyright:
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