Two different microbial fuel cell (MFC) configurations were investigated for electricity production from ethanol and methanol: a two-chambered, aqueous-cathode MFC; and a single-chamber direct-air cathode MFC. Electricity was generated in the two-chamber system at a maximum power density typical of this system (40+/-2 mW/m2) and a Coulombic efficiency (CE) ranging from 42% to 61% using ethanol....

Fundamental research into how microbes generate electricity within microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has far outweighed the practical application and large scale development of microbial energy harvesting devices. MFCs are considered alternatives to standard commercial polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology because the fuel supply does not need to be purified, ambient operating tempe...

Biofuel cells have been widely used to generate bioelectricity. Early biofuel cells employ a semi-permeable membrane to separate the anodic and cathodic compartments. The impact of different membrane materials and compositions has also been explored. Some membrane materials are employed strictly as membrane separators, while some have gained significant attention in the immobilization of enzyme...

Regulatory T (T reg) cells safeguard against autoimmunity and overshooting inflammation. During their development in the thymus, T reg cells are selected by stronger autoantigenic T cell receptor (TCR) signals than conventional T cells. These TCR signals are critically important for the initiation of two key lineage defining events, namely induction of the transcription factor Foxp3 and hypomet...

Plasma-activated fuel cell operation is examined using dielectric-barrier discharges introduced into the inlet fuel and air streams of laboratory proton exchange membrane (PEM) based devices. We compare the performance of the hydrogen-driven-PEM fuel cell in the presence/absence of the plasma discharge, and under conditions of three different types of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs). The r...

The mechanisms of fuel cell degradation are not well understood. Even though the numbers of installed units around the world continue to increase and dominate the pre-markets, the present lifetime requirements for fuel cells cannot be guarantee, creating the need for a more comprehensive knowledge of material’s ageing mechanism. In this work, failure modes and mechanism of the membrane-electrod...

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...

Fuel electrode supported microtubular solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) fabricated at ICMA have been characterized in both solid oxide steam electrolyser (SOEC) and fuel cell modes. The cells consists of a fuel electrode supporting tube of Ni/YSZ with 40% porosity, 400 μm thickness, 2.4 mm diameter and 100-150 mm length, a 15 m thick YSZ electrolyte and a 50vol% LSM/YSZ composite air electrode of...

Design of polymeric membranes for fuel cells application requires suitable selection and modification of polymers. This review accounts the various polymeric membranes available for use in fuel cells, advantages of sulphonation of polymers, various sulphonation methods and the characterization techniques. Presently, SPEEK finds extensive application as polymeric membrane in fuel cells. The adva...

Fuel cells are considered to be one of the most promising sources of distributed energy because of their high efficiency, low environmental impact and scalability. Unfortunately, multiple complications exist in fuel cell operation. Fuel cells cannot accept current in the reverse direction, do not perform well with ripple current, have a low output voltage that varies with age and current, respo...