Microscale Microbial Fuel Cell Using 3d Bioanode with Electrospun Conductive Nanofibers and Micropillars

We report a novel microfluidic microbial fuel cell (μMFC) with an improved design of 3D bioanode. The device features a highly conductive, multilayered nanofibrous anode providing a porous scaffold structure favorable for microbial attachment, mass transfer, and electron collection. The anolyte and catholyte chambers have a small volume of 2 μL each, and are separated by a proton exchange membrane. The device uses Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PA14 as a model organism and lysogeny broth as culture medium. The maximum output current density of the device is about 120 μA/cm 2 , which is almost 3 folds greater than that with conventional carbon cloth or planar gold as an anode.