Miniature BioFuel Cell for Photogeneration of Electricity Based on Cyanobacteria*

Engineering of environmentally friendly and renewable energy sources is one of the most important problems nowadays. Developing a simple, inexpensive, miniature energy source can significantly reduce environmental issues. In this work, we developed a model of a biofuel cell (BFC) for photogeneration of electricity based on cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) which can perform photosynthesis. As bioanalyzer of the system two types of cyanobacteria strains were used: Anabaena and Synechococcus. The development was focused on design and optimization of nanostructured anodes on which life cells were deposited. Various types of anodes based on glassy carbon, carbon paper cardboard, carbon felt were created and tested. Developed fuel cell efficiency with Synechococcus was 1.3 times higher than that with Anabaena. Maximum efficiency obtained with hybrid carbon anode and Synechococcus was 183 mW/m2. Further studies are carried out in order to increase the efficiency of the bio fuel cells.