BACKGROUND In the recent study, optimum operational conditions of cathode compartment of microbial fuel cell were determined by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) with a central composite design to maximize power density and COD removal. METHODS The interactive effects of parameters such as, pH, buffer concentration and ionic strength on power density and COD removal were evaluated in t...

Bio-electrical responses obtained from freshwater sediments by employing microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology were investigated in this experimental study. During the electricity generation, organic matter in the sediment was microbially oxidized under anaerobic conditions with an electrode serving as a terminal electron acceptor. It was found that the sediment organic matter (SOM) associated w...

This study demonstrates the simultaneous production of bioelectricity and added-value pigments in a Photosynthetic Alga Microbial Fuel Cell (PAMFC). A PAMFC was operated using Chlorella vulgaris in the cathode compartment and a bacterial consortium in the anode. The system was studied at two different light intensities and the maximum power produced was 62.7 mW/m(2) with a light intensity of 96...

the present paper explores the impact of an on-board hydrogen harvesting system (fuel reformer) on the overall efficiency of a fuel-cell powered vehicle. various methods of hydrogen production for automotive applications have been discussed first. as the hydrogen production is one of the major challenges for application of proton exchange membrane (pem) fuel cells, especially in vehicular indus...

it is expected that residential units may replace   traditional heat and power production systems with cogeneration ones. among the different cogeneration systems, fuel cell based systems are a suitable choice due to their high efficiency, high power density, low emission and low noise. in this paper, a cogeneration system based on solid oxide fuel cells is examined. the system, including the f...

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that uses microorganisms as a catalyst for the direct conversion from chemical energy to electrical energy without internal combustion steps. Environmental friendliness and high efficiency have projected an MFC as one of the promising and alternative future energy sources. The fact that there is a large selection of microorganisms and substrates offers ad...

The inferior hydrophilicity of graphene is an adverse factor to the performance of the graphene modified anodes (G anodes) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this paper, different amounts of hydrophilic graphene oxide (GO) were doped into the modification layers to elevate the hydrophilicity of the G anodes so as to further improve their performance. Increasing the GO doped ratio from 0.15 mg·m...

Scaling up microbial fuel cells (MFCs) requires a better understanding the importance of the different factors such as electrode surface area and reactor geometry relative to solution conditions such as conductivity and substrate concentration. It is shown here that the substrate concentration has significant effect on anode but not cathode performance, while the solution conductivity has a sig...

The potential of using sodium bromate as a cathodic electron acceptor in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) was determined in this study. The effects of sodium bromate concentration and initial catholyte pH on the electricity production of the MFC were investigated. The MFC performance improved with increasing sodium bromate concentration and decreasing catholyte pH. The maximum voltage output (0.538 ...

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and other bioelectrochemical systems are new technologies that require expertise in a variety of technical areas, ranging from electrochemistry to biological wastewater treatment. There are certain data and critical information that should be included in every MFC study, such as specific surface area of the electrodes, solution conductivity, and power densities norma...