Electricity generation in membrane-less single chambered microbial fuel cell

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells are rapidly growing sustainable technology for energy production. In MFC microbes in anode chamber oxidizes organic compound transferring electrons to anode and protons towards cathode chamber via proton exchange membrane. From anode the electrons passes through an external circuit to cathode chamber and combined with proton to produce water in the presence of oxygen. But the high cost and biofouling of proton exchange membrane limits the practical use of MFCs. The aim of this paper is to present the performance of membrane-less single chambered microbial fuel cells (MFC). The MFC was constructed under anaerobic condition utilizing the synthetic glucose substrate to generate electricity. The biofilm of microbe Bacillus firmus-NMBL-03 over plain graphite electrodes was used as biocatalyst. When operated with an external resistance of 1000 Ω, the MFC produced maximum power density of 0.88 mW/m2 and average power density of 0.19 mW/m2 for 500 hrs. The maximum power density 2.9 mW/m2 at current density 17.7 mA/m2 was observed.