IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i14p3521-d382088.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Electrogenic Biofilm Development Determines Charge Accumulation and Resistance to pH Perturbation

Author

Listed:
  • Iain S. Michie

    (Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK)

  • Richard M. Dinsdale

    (Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK)

  • Alan J. Guwy

    (Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK)

  • Giuliano C. Premier

    (Sustainable Environment Research Centre (SERC), Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Science, University of South Wales, Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan CF37 1DL, UK)

Abstract

The electrogenic biofilm and the bio-electrode interface are the key biocatalytic components in bioelectrochemical systems (BES) and can have a large impact on cell performance. This study used four different anodic carbons to investigate electrogenic biofilm development to determine the influence of charge accumulation and biofilm growth on system performance and how biofilm structure may mitigate against pH perturbations. Power production was highest (1.40 W/m 3 ) using carbon felt, but significant power was also produced when felt carbon was open-circuit acclimated in a control reactor (0.95 W/m 3 ). The influence of carbon material on electrogenic biofilm development was determined by measuring the level of biofilm growth, using sequencing to identify the microbial populations and confocal microscopy to understand the spatial locations of key microbial groups. Geobacter spp. were found to be enriched in closed-circuit operation and these were in close association with the carbon anode, but these were not observed in the open-circuit controls. Electrochemical analysis also demonstrated that the highest mid-point anode potentials were close to values reported for cytochromes from Geobacter sulfurreductans . Biofilm development was greatest in felt anodes (closed-circuit acclimated 1209 ng/μL DNA), and this facilitated the highest pseudo-capacitive values due to the presence of redox-active species, and this was associated with higher levels of power production and also served to mitigate against the effects of low-pH operation. Supporting carbon anode structures are key to electrogenic biofilm development and associated system performance and are also capable of protecting electrochemically active bacteria from the effects of environmental perturbations.

Suggested Citation

  • Iain S. Michie & Richard M. Dinsdale & Alan J. Guwy & Giuliano C. Premier, 2020. "Electrogenic Biofilm Development Determines Charge Accumulation and Resistance to pH Perturbation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:14:p:3521-:d:382088
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/14/3521/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/14/3521/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christwardana, Marcelinus & Frattini, Domenico & Accardo, Grazia & Yoon, Sung Pil & Kwon, Yongchai, 2018. "Early-stage performance evaluation of flowing microbial fuel cells using chemically treated carbon felt and yeast biocatalyst," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 369-382.
    2. Jannelli, Nicole & Anna Nastro, Rosa & Cigolotti, Viviana & Minutillo, Mariagiovanna & Falcucci, Giacomo, 2017. "Low pH, high salinity: Too much for microbial fuel cells?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 543-550.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Christwardana, Marcelinus & Frattini, Domenico & Duarte, Kimberley D.Z. & Accardo, Grazia & Kwon, Yongchai, 2019. "Carbon felt molecular modification and biofilm augmentation via quorum sensing approach in yeast-based microbial fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 239-248.
    2. Massaglia, Giulia & Margaria, Valentina & Sacco, Adriano & Tommasi, Tonia & Pentassuglia, Simona & Ahmed, Daniyal & Mo, Roberto & Pirri, Candido Fabrizio & Quaglio, Marzia, 2018. "In situ continuous current production from marine floating microbial fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 78-85.
    3. Duarte, Kimberley D.Z. & Frattini, Domenico & Kwon, Yongchai, 2019. "High performance yeast-based microbial fuel cells by surfactant-mediated gold nanoparticles grown atop a carbon felt anode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    4. Giulia Massaglia & Adriano Sacco & Alain Favetto & Luciano Scaltrito & Sergio Ferrero & Roberto Mo & Candido F. Pirri & Marzia Quaglio, 2021. "Integration of Portable Sedimentary Microbial Fuel Cells in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-12, July.
    5. Mashkour, Mehrdad & Rahimnejad, Mostafa & Mashkour, Mahdi & Soavi, Francesca, 2021. "Increasing bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cells by a high-performance cellulose-based membrane electrode assembly," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(PA).
    6. Vesselin Krassimirov Krastev & Giacomo Falcucci, 2018. "Simulating Engineering Flows through Complex Porous Media via the Lattice Boltzmann Method," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Sayed, Enas Taha & Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali & Alawadhi, Hussain & Elsaid, Khaled & Wilberforce, Tabbi & Olabi, A.G., 2021. "Graphitic carbon nitride/carbon brush composite as a novel anode for yeast-based microbial fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    8. Miguel Ángel López Zavala & Pamela Renée Torres Delenne & Omar Israel González Peña, 2018. "Improvement of Wastewater Treatment Performance and Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells by Enhancing Hydrolysis and Acidogenesis, and by Reducing Internal Losses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-14, September.
    9. Wenguo Wu & Hao Niu & Dayun Yang & Shi-Bin Wang & Jiefu Wang & Jia Lin & Chaoyi Hu, 2019. "Controlled Layer-By-Layer Deposition of Carbon Nanotubes on Electrodes for Microbial Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Lu, Zhihao & Yin, Di & Chen, Peng & Wang, Hongzhen & Yang, Yuhang & Huang, Guangtuan & Cai, Lankun & Zhang, Lehua, 2020. "Power-generating trees: Direct bioelectricity production from plants with microbial fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    11. Christwardana, Marcelinus & Frattini, Domenico & Accardo, Grazia & Yoon, Sung Pil & Kwon, Yongchai, 2018. "Early-stage performance evaluation of flowing microbial fuel cells using chemically treated carbon felt and yeast biocatalyst," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 369-382.
    12. Frattini, Domenico & Accardo, Grazia & Duarte, Kimberley D.Z. & Kim, Do-Heyoung & Kwon, Yongchai, 2020. "Improved biofilm adhesion and electrochemical properties of a graphite-cement composite with silica nanoflowers versus two benchmark carbon felts," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    13. Wu, Shiqiang & Patil, Sunil A. & Chen, Shuiliang, 2018. "Auto-feeding microbial fuel cell inspired by transpiration of plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 934-939.
    14. Birjandi, Noushin & Younesi, Habibollah & Ghoreyshi, Ali Asghar & Rahimnejad, Mostafa, 2020. "Enhanced medicinal herbs wastewater treatment in continuous flow bio-electro-Fenton operations along with power generation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 1079-1090.
    15. Szymon Potrykus & Sara Mateo & Janusz Nieznański & Francisco Jesús Fernández-Morales, 2020. "The Influent Effects of Flow Rate Profile on the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-15, September.
    16. Wang, Yuyang & Wen, Qing & Chen, Ye & Zheng, Hongtao & Wang, Shuang, 2020. "Enhanced performance of microbial fuel cell with polyaniline/sodium alginate/carbon brush hydrogel bioanode and removal of COD," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    17. Hu, Xiaoyi & Tan, Xinru & Shi, Xiaomin & Liu, Wenjun & Ouyang, Tiancheng, 2023. "An integrated assessment of microfluidic microbial fuel cell subjected to vibration excitation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    18. Xu, Lei & Wang, Bodi & Liu, Xiuhua & Yu, Wenzheng & Zhao, Yaqian, 2018. "Maximizing the energy harvest from a microbial fuel cell embedded in a constructed wetland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 83-91.
    19. Chouhan, Raghuraj Singh & Gandhi, Sonu & Verma, Suresh K. & Jerman, Ivan & Baker, Syed & Štrok, Marko, 2023. "Recent advancements in the development of Two-Dimensional nanostructured based anode materials for stable power density in microbial fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    20. de Ramón-Fernández, Alberto & Salar-García, M.J. & Ruiz-Fernández, Daniel & Greenman, J. & Ieropoulos, I., 2019. "Modelling the energy harvesting from ceramic-based microbial fuel cells by using a fuzzy logic approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:14:p:3521-:d:382088. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.