Generation of electricity and analysis of microbial communities in wheat straw biomass-powered microbial fuel cells

Performance and microbial community of carbon nanotube fixed-bed microbial fuel cell continuously fed with hydrothermal liquefied cornstalk biomass

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a green technology for biomass pretreatment with the omission of hazardous chemicals. This study reports a novel integration of HTL and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) fixed-bed microbial fuel cell (FBMFC) for continuous electricity generation from cornstalk biomass. Two FBMFCs in parallel achieved similar performance fed with cornstalk hydrolysate at different organic loading rates (OLRs) (0.82-8.16g/L/d). About 80% of Chemical oxygen demand (COD) and Total organic carbon (TOC) was removed from low-Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)/COD (0.16) cornstalk hydrolysate at 8.16g/L/d, whereas a maximum power density (680mW/m(3)) was obtained at 2.41g/L/d, and a smallest internal resistance (Rin) (28Ω) at 3.01g/L/d. Illumina MiSeq sequencing reveals the diverse microbial structure induced by the complex composition of cornstalk hydrolysate. Distinguished from Proteobacteria, which a number of exoelectrogens belong to, the identified dominant genus Rhizobium in FBMFC was closely related to degradation of cellulosic biomass.

Submersible microbial desalination cell for simultaneous ammonia recovery and electricity production from anaerobic reactors containing high levels of ammonia

High ammonia concentration in anaerobic reactors can seriously inhibit the anaerobic digestion process. In this study, a submersible microbial desalination cell (SMDC) was developed as an innovative method to lower the ammonia level in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) by in situ ammonia recovery and electricity production. In batch experiment, the ammonia concentration in the CSTR decreased from 6 to 0.7 g-N/L during 30 days, resulting in an average recovery rate of 80 g-N/m(2)/d. Meanwhile, a maximum power density of 0.71±0.5 W/m(2) was generated at 2.85 A/m(2). Both current driven NH4(+) migration and free NH3 diffusion were identified as the mechanisms responsible for the ammonia transportation. With an increase in initial ammonia concentration and a decrease in external resistance, the SMDC performance was enhanced. In addition, the coexistence of other cations in CSTR or cathode had no negative effect on the ammonia transportation.

Biohydrogen facilitated denitrification at biocathode in bioelectrochemical system (BES)

Reductive removal of nitrate in bioelectrochemical system (BES) at abiotic cathode, biocathode and biohydrogen facilitated biocathode were investigated. It was found that nitrate removal efficiency reached 95% and 59% at the biohydrogen facilitated biocathode and biocathode respectively, while which was only 13% at the abiotic cathode. Meanwhile, activity of nitrate reductase reached 0.701 g-N/Lh for the biohydrogen facilitated group, which was about 9.3 times of the biocathode group. Moreover, electrochemical performances as power density, ohmic resistance, and polarization resistance of the biohydrogen facilitated group reached 76.96 mW/m(3), 8.63 ohm and 383 ohm, respectively, which were better than two other groups. Finally, an obvious shift of bacterial community responsible for the enhanced nitrate reduction between the two biocathode groups was observed. Therefore, nitrate reduction in BES could be enhanced at the biocathode than that of the abiotic cathode, and then be further boosted with the combination of biohydrogen.

Dynamics of different bacterial communities are capable of generating sustainable electricity from microbial fuel cells with organic waste

The relationship between the bacterial communities in anolyte and anode biofilms and the electrochemical properties of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was investigated when a complex organic waste-decomposing solution was continuously supplied to MFCs as an electron donor. The current density increased gradually and was maintained at approximately 100 to 150 mA m⁻². Polarization curve analyses revealed that the maximum power density was 7.4 W m⁻³ with an internal resistance of 110 Ω. Bacterial community structures in the organic waste-decomposing solution and MFCs differed from each other. Clonal analyses targeting 16S rRNA genes indicated that bacterial communities in the biofilms on MFCs developed to specific communities dominated by novel Geobacter. Multidimensional scaling analyses based on DGGE profiles revealed that bacterial communities in the organic waste-decomposing solution fluctuated and had no dynamic equilibrium. Bacterial communities on the anolyte in MFCs had a dynamic equilibrium with fluctuations, while those of the biofilm converged to the Geobacter-dominated structure. These bacterial community dynamics of MFCs differed from those of control-MFCs under open circuit conditions. These results suggested that bacterial communities in the anolyte and biofilm have a gentle symbiotic system through electron flow, which resulted in the advance of current density from complex organic waste.

Microbial community structures differentiated in a single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cell fueled with rice straw hydrolysate

BACKGROUND

The microbial fuel cell represents a novel technology to simultaneously generate electric power and treat wastewater. Both pure organic matter and real wastewater can be used as fuel to generate electric power and the substrate type can influence the microbial community structure. In the present study, rice straw, an important feedstock source in the world, was used as fuel after pretreatment with diluted acid method for a microbial fuel cell to obtain electric power. Moreover, the microbial community structures of anodic and cathodic biofilm and planktonic culturewere analyzed and compared to reveal the effect of niche on microbial community structure.

RESULTS

The microbial fuel cell produced a maximum power density of 137.6 ± 15.5 mW/m2 at a COD concentration of 400 mg/L, which was further increased to 293.33 ± 7.89 mW/m2 through adjusting the electrolyte conductivity from 5.6 mS/cm to 17 mS/cm. Microbial community analysis showed reduction of the microbial diversities of the anodic biofilm and planktonic culture, whereas diversity of the cathodic biofilm was increased. Planktonic microbial communities were clustered closer to the anodic microbial communities compared to the cathodic biofilm. The differentiation in microbial community structure of the samples was caused by minor portion of the genus. The three samples shared the same predominant phylum of Proteobacteria. The abundance of exoelectrogenic genus was increased with Desulfobulbus as the shared most abundant genus; while the most abundant exoelectrogenic genus of Clostridium in the inoculum was reduced. Sulfate reducing bacteria accounted for large relative abundance in all the samples, whereas the relative abundance varied in different samples.

CONCLUSION

The results demonstrated that rice straw hydrolysate can be used as fuel for microbial fuel cells; microbial community structure differentiated depending on niches after microbial fuel cell operation; exoelectrogens were enriched; sulfate from rice straw hydrolysate might be responsible for the large relative abundance of sulfate reducing bacteria.

The significance of the initiation process parameters and reactor design for maximizing the efficiency of microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be used for electricity generation via bioconversion of wastewater and organic waste substrates. MFCs also hold potential for production of certain chemicals, such as H2 and H2O2. The studies of electricity generation in MFCs have mainly focused on the microbial community formation, substrate effect on the anode reaction, and the cathode's catalytic properties. To improve the performance of MFCs, the initiation process requires more investigation because of its significant effect on the anodic biofilm formation. This review explores the factors which affect the initiation process, including inoculum, substrate, and reactor configuration. The key messages are that optimal performance of MFCs for electricity production requires (1) understanding of the electrogenic bacterial biofilm formation, (2) proper substrates at the initiation stage, (3) focus on operational conditions affecting initial biofilm formation, and (4) attention to the reactor configuration.

Alteration of bacterial communities and organic matter in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) supplied with soil and organic fertilizer

The alteration of the organic matter (OM) and the composition of bacterial community in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) supplied with soil (S) and a composted organic fertilizer (A) was examined at the beginning and at the end of 3 weeks of incubation under current-producing as well as no-current-producing conditions. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed a significant alteration of the microbial community structure in MFCs generating electricity as compared with no-current-producing MFCs. The genetic diversity of cultivable bacterial communities was assessed by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis of 106 bacterial isolates obtained by using both generic and elective media. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes of the more representative RAPD groups indicated that over 50.4% of the isolates from MFCs fed with S were Proteobacteria, 25.1% Firmicutes, and 24.5% Actinobacteria, whereas in MFCs supplied with A 100% of the dominant species belonged to γ-Proteobacteria. The chemical analysis performed by fractioning the OM and using thermal analysis showed that the amount of total organic carbon contained in the soluble phase of the electrochemically active chambers significantly decreased as compared to the no-current-producing systems, whereas the OM of the solid phase became more humified and aromatic along with electricity generation, suggesting a significant stimulation of a humification process of the OM. These findings demonstrated that electroactive bacteria are commonly present in aerobic organic substrates such as soil or a fertilizer and that MFCs could represent a powerful tool for exploring the mineralization and humification processes of the soil OM.

A new method for in situ nitrate removal from groundwater using submerged microbial desalination-denitrification cell (SMDDC)

A considerable increase in nitrate concentration in groundwater has become a serious concern worldwide. We developed a novel submerged microbial desalination-denitrification cell (SMDDC) to in situ remove nitrate from groundwater, produce electric energy, and potentially treat wastewater. The SMDDC, which was composed of an anode and a cathode chamber, can be easily applied to subsurface environments. When current was produced by bacteria on the anode, [Formula: see text] and Na(+) were transferred into the anode and cathode through anion and cation exchange membrane, respectively; the anode effluent was directed to the cathode where [Formula: see text] was reduced to N(2) through autotrophic denitrification. For proof-of-concept, the SMDDC was fed with synthetic wastewater as fuel and submerged into a glass reactor filled with synthetic groundwater. The SMDDC produced 3.4 A/m(2) of current density, while removing 90.5% of nitrate from groundwater with 12 h wastewater hydraulic retention time (HRT) and 10 Ω of external resistance. The nitrate concentration and ionic strength of groundwater were the main limiting factors to the system performance. Besides, the external resistance and HRT were also affecting the system performance. Furthermore, the SMDDC showed improved performance with high ionic strength of groundwater (2200 μS/cm) and was able to reduce groundwater salinity as well. External nitrification was beneficial to the current generation and nitrate removal rate, but was not affecting total nitrogen removal. Results clearly indicate that this system holds a great potential for efficient and cost-effective treatment of nitrate-containing groundwater and energy recovery.

Electricity producing property and bacterial community structure in microbial fuel cell equipped with membrane electrode assembly

It is important for practical use of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to not only develop electrodes and proton exchange membranes but also to understand the bacterial community structure related to electricity generation. Four lactate fed MFCs equipped with different membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were constructed with paddy field soil as inoculum. The MEAs significantly affected the electricity-generating properties of the MFCs. MEA-I was made with Nafion 117 solution and the other MEAs were made with different configurations of three kinds of polymers. MFC-I equipped with MEA-I exhibited the highest performance with a stable current density of 55 ± 3 mA m⁻². MFC-III equipped with MEA-III with the highest platinum concentration, exhibited the lowest performance with a stable current density of 1.7 ± 0.1 mA m⁻². SEM observation revealed that there were cracks on MEA-III. These results demonstrated that it is significantly important to prevent oxygen-intrusion for improved MFC performance. By comparing the data of DGGE and phylogenetic analyzes, it was suggested that the dominant bacterial communities of MFC-I were constructed with lactate-fermenters and Fe(III)-reducers, which consisted of bacteria affiliated with the genera of Enterobacter, Dechlorosoma, Pelobacter, Desulfovibrio, Propioniferax, Pelosinus, and Firmicutes. A bacterium sharing 100% similarity to one of the DGGE bands was isolated from MFC-I. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate shared 98% similarity to gram-positive Propioniferax sp. P7 and it was confirmed that the isolate produced electricity in an MFC. These results suggested that these bacteria are valuable for constructing the electron transfer network in MFC.

Bioelectrode-based approach for enhancing nitrate and nitrite removal and electricity generation from eutrophic lakes

Nitrate and nitrite contamination of surface waters (e.g. lakes) has become a severe environmental and health problem, especially in developing countries. The recent demonstration of nitrate reduction at the cathode of microbial fuel cell (MFC) provides an opportunity to develop a new technology for nitrogen removal from surface waters. In this study, a sediment-type MFC based on two pieces of bioelectrodes was employed as a novel in situ applicable approach for nitrogen removal, as well as electricity production from eutrophic lakes. Maximum power density of 42 and 36 mW/m(2) was produced respectively from nitrate- and nitrite-rich synthetic lake waters at initial concentration of 10 mg-N/L. Along with the electricity production a total nitrogen removal of 62% and 77% was accomplished, for nitrate and nitrite, respectively. The nitrogen removal was almost 4 times higher under close-circuit condition with biocathode, compared to either the open-circuit operation or with abiotic cathode. The mass balance on nitrogen indicates that most of the removed nitrate and nitrite (84.7 ± 0.1% and 81.8 ± 0.1%, respectively) was reduced to nitrogen gas. The nitrogen removal and power generation was limited by the dissolved oxygen (DO) level in the water and acetate level injected to the sediment. Excessive oxygen resulted in dramatically decrease of nitrogen removal efficiency and only 7.8% removal was obtained at DO level of 7.8 mg/l. The power generation and nitrogen removal increased with acetate level and was nearly saturated at 0.84 mg/g-sediment. This bioelectrode-based in situ approach is attractive not only due to the electricity production, but also due to no need of extra reactor construction, which may broaden the application possibilities of sediment MFC technology.

Syntrophic interactions drive the hydrogen production from glucose at low temperature in microbial electrolysis cells

H(2) can be obtained from glucose by fermentation at mesophilic temperatures, but here we demonstrate that hydrogen can also be obtained from glucose at low temperatures using microbial electrolysis cells (MECs). H(2) was produced from glucose at 4°C in single-chamber MECs at a yield of about 6 mol H(2)mol(-1) glucose, and at rates of 0.25±0.03-0.37±0.04 m(3) H(2)m(-3)d(-1). Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene and electrochemical analyses showed that syntrophic interactions combining glucose fermentation with the oxidization of fermentation products by exoelectrogens was the predominant pathway for current production at a low temperature other than direct glucose oxidization by exoelectrogens. Another syntrophic interaction, methanogenesis and homoacetogenesis, which have been found in 25°C reactors, were not detected in MECs at 4°C. These results demonstrate the feasibility of H(2) production from abundant biomass of carbohydrates at low temperature in MECs.

Surface area expansion of electrodes with grass-like nanostructures and gold nanoparticles to enhance electricity generation in microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have applications possibilities for wastewater treatment, biotransformation, and biosensor, but the development of highly efficient electrode materials is critical for enhancing the power generation. Two types of electrodes modified with nanoparticles or grass-like nanostructure (termed nanograss) were used. A two-chamber MFC with plain silicium electrodes achieved a maximum power density of 0.002mW/m(2), while an electrode with nanograss of titanium and gold deposited on one side gave a maximum power density of 2.5mW/m(2). Deposition of titanium and gold on both sides of plain silicium showed a maximum power density of 86.0mW/m(2). Further expanding the surface area of carbon-paper electrodes with gold nanoparticles resulted in a maximum stable power density of 346.9mW/m(2) which is 2.9 times higher than that achieved with conventional carbon-paper. These results show that fabrication of electrodes with nanograss could be an efficient way to increase the power generation.

Innovative self-powered submersible microbial electrolysis cell (SMEC) for biohydrogen production from anaerobic reactors

A self-powered submersible microbial electrolysis cell (SMEC), in which a specially designed anode chamber and external electricity supply were not needed, was developed for in situ biohydrogen production from anaerobic reactors. In batch experiments, the hydrogen production rate reached 17.8 mL/L/d at the initial acetate concentration of 410 mg/L (5 mM), while the cathodic hydrogen recovery ( [Formula: see text] ) and overall systemic coulombic efficiency (CE(os)) were 93% and 28%, respectively, and the systemic hydrogen yield ( [Formula: see text] ) peaked at 1.27 mol-H(2)/mol-acetate. The hydrogen production increased along with acetate and buffer concentration. The highest hydrogen production rate of 32.2 mL/L/d and [Formula: see text] of 1.43 mol-H(2)/mol-acetate were achieved at 1640 mg/L (20 mM) acetate and 100 mM phosphate buffer. Further evaluation of the reactor under single electricity-generating or hydrogen-producing mode indicated that further improvement of voltage output and reduction of electron losses were essential for efficient hydrogen generation. In addition, alternate exchanging the electricity-assisting and hydrogen-producing function between the two cell units of the SMEC was found to be an effective approach to inhibit methanogens. Furthermore, 16S rRNA genes analysis showed that this special operation strategy resulted same microbial community structures in the anodic biofilms of the two cell units. The simple, compact and in situ applicable SMEC offers new opportunities for reactor design for a microbial electricity-assisted biohydrogen production system.

Self-stacked submersible microbial fuel cell (SSMFC) for improved remote power generation from lake sediments

Electric energy can be harvested from aquatic sediments by utilizing microbial fuel cells (MFCs). A main challenge of this application is the limited voltage output. In this study, an innovative self-stacked submersible MFC (SSMFC) was developed to improve the voltage generation from lake sediments. The SSMFC successfully produced a maximum power density of 294 mW/m(2) and had an open circuit voltage (OCV) of 1.12 V. However, voltage reversal was observed in one cell at high current density. Investigation on the cause for voltage reversal revealed that voltage reversal was occurring only when low external resistance (≤ 400Ω in this study) was applied. In addition, the internal resistance and OCV were the most important parameters for predicting which cell unit had the highest probability to undergo voltage reversal. Use of a capacitor was found to be an effective way to prevent voltage reversal and at the same time store power. These results provide new insight into the development of effective MFC system, capable of extracting energy and promoting bioremediation of organic pollutants from sediments.

Treatment of alcohol distillery wastewater using a Bacteroidetes-dominant thermophilic microbial fuel cell

Simultaneous electricity generation and distillery wastewater (DWW) treatment were accomplished using a thermophilic microbial fuel cell (MFC). The results suggest that thermophilic MFCs, which require less energy for cooling the DWW, can achieve high efficiency for electricity generation and also reduce sulfate along with oxidizing complex organic substrates. The generated current density (2.3 A/m(2)) and power density (up to 1.0 W/m(2)) were higher than previous wastewater-treating MFCs. The significance of the high Coulombic efficiency (CE; up to 89%) indicated that electrical current was the most significant electron sink in thermophilic MFCs. Bacterial diversity based on pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that known Deferribacteres and Firmicutes members were not dominant in the thermophilic MFC fed with DWW; instead, uncharacterized Bacteroidetes thermophiles were up to 52% of the total reads in the anode biofilm. Despite the complexity of the DWW, one single bacterial sequence (OTU D1) close to an uncultured Bacteriodetes bacterium became predominant, up to almost 40% of total reads. The proliferation of the D1 species was concurrent with high electricity generation and high Coulombic efficiency.

Dysgonomonas oryzarvi sp. nov., isolated from a microbial fuel cell

A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile and coccoid- to short-rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain Dy73(T), was isolated from a microbial fuel cell that had been inoculated with rice paddy field soil and fed starch, peptone and fish extract as fuels. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogeny, strain Dy73(T) was affiliated with the genus Dysgonomonas in the phylum Bacteroidetes, and most closely related to Dysgonomonas mossii CCUG 43457(T) with a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity value of 99.7 %. However, the DNA-DNA relatedness value between strain Dy73(T) and Dysgonomonas mossii CCUG 43457(T) was 34.8%. In addition, strain Dy73(T) was found to be different from other recognized species of the genus Dysgonomonas in taxonomically important traits, including habitat, DNA G+C content, bile resistance and fatty-acid composition. Based on these characteristics, strain Dy73(T) represents a novel species of the genus Dysgonomonas for which the name Dysgonomonas oryzarvi sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is Dy73(T) ( = JCM 16859(T) = KCTC 5936(T)).

Synergistic cooperation between wastewater-born algae and activated sludge for wastewater treatment: influence of algae and sludge inoculation ratios

An algal-bacterial culture, composed of wastewater-born algae and activated sludge, was cultivated to treat domestic wastewater and accumulate biomass simultaneously. The influence of algae and sludge inoculation ratios on the treatment efficiency and the settleability of the accumulated biomass were investigated. There was no significant effect of the inoculation ratios on the chemical oxygen demand removal. Comparatively, the nutrients removal and related mechanism were varied with different inoculation ratios. The highest nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiencies were observed with 5:1 (algae/sludge) culture (91.0±7.0% and 93.5±2.5%, respectively) within 10 days, which was 5-40% higher and 2-4 days faster than those with other inoculation ratios. The biomass settleability was improved with the assistance of sludge, and the 1:5 (algae/sludge) culture showed the best settleability. Furthermore, 16S rDNA gene analysis showed that the bacterial communities were varying with different algae and sludge inoculation ratios and some specific bacteria were enriched during operation.

Electricity generation and microbial community changes in microbial fuel cells packed with different anodic materials

Four materials, carbon felt cube (CFC), granular graphite (GG), granular activated carbon (GAC) and granular semicoke (GS) were tested as packed anodic materials to seek a potentially practical material for microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The microbial community and its correlation with the electricity generation performance of MFCs were explored. The maximum power density was found in GAC, followed by CFC, GG and GS. In GAC and CFC packed MFCs, Geobacter was the dominating genus, while Azospira was the most populous group in GG. Results further indicated that GAC was the most favorable for Geobacter adherence and growth, and the maximum power densities had positive correlation with the total biomass and the relative abundance of Geobacter, but without apparent correlation with the microbial diversity. Due to the low content of Geobacter in GS, power generated in this system may be attributed to other microorganisms such as Synergistes, Bacteroidetes and Castellaniella.

Submersible microbial fuel cell sensor for monitoring microbial activity and BOD in groundwater: focusing on impact of anodic biofilm on sensor applicability

A sensor, based on a submersible microbial fuel cell (SUMFC), was developed for in situ monitoring of microbial activity and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in groundwater. Presence or absence of a biofilm on the anode was a decisive factor for the applicability of the sensor. Fresh anode was required for application of the sensor for microbial activity measurement, while biofilm-colonized anode was needed for utilizing the sensor for BOD content measurement. The current density of SUMFC sensor equipped with a biofilm-colonized anode showed linear relationship with BOD content, to up to 250 mg/L (∼233 ± 1 mA/m(2)), with a response time of <0.67 h. This sensor could, however, not measure microbial activity, as indicated by the indifferent current produced at varying active microorganisms concentration, which was expressed as microbial adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) concentration. On the contrary, the current density (0.6 ± 0.1 to 12.4 ± 0.1 mA/m(2)) of the SUMFC sensor equipped with a fresh anode showed linear relationship, with active microorganism concentrations from 0 to 6.52 nmol-ATP/L, while no correlation between the current and BOD was observed. It was found that temperature, pH, conductivity, and inorganic solid content were significantly affecting the sensitivity of the sensor. Lastly, the sensor was tested with real contaminated groundwater, where the microbial activity and BOD content could be detected in <3.1 h. The microbial activity and BOD concentration measured by SUMFC sensor fitted well with the one measured by the standard methods, with deviations ranging from 15% to 22% and 6% to 16%, respectively. The SUMFC sensor provides a new way for in situ and quantitative monitoring contaminants content and biological activity during bioremediation process in variety of anoxic aquifers.

Municipal wastewater treatment and biomass accumulation with a wastewater-born and settleable algal-bacterial culture

A wastewater-born and settleable algal-bacterial culture, cultivated in a stirred tank photobioreactor under lab conditions, was used to remove the carbon and nutrients in municipal wastewater and accumulate biomass simultaneously. The algal-bacterial culture showed good settleable property and could totally settle down over 20 min, resulting in a reduction of total suspended solids from an initial 1.84 to 0.016 g/l. The average removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand, total kjeldahl nitrogen and phosphate were 98.2 ± 1.3%, 88.3 ± 1.6% and 64.8 ± 1.0% within 8 days, respectively, while the average biomass productivity was 10.9 ± 1.1 g/m(2) · d. Accumulation into biomass, identified as the main nitrogen and phosphorus removal mechanism, accounted for 44.9 ± 0.4% and 61.6 ± 0.5% of total inlet nitrogen and phosphorus, respectively. Microscopic analysis showed the main algae species in the bioreactor were filamentous blue-green algae. Furthermore, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rDNA gene sequencing revealed that the main bacteria present in the photobioreactor were consortia with sequences similar to those of Flavobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia and Betaproteobacteria. This study explores a better understanding of an algae-bacteria system and offers new information on further usage of biomass accumulated during treatment.

The electric picnic: synergistic requirements for exoelectrogenic microbial communities

Characterization of the various microbial populations present in exoelectrogenic biofilms provides insight into the processes required to convert complex organic matter in wastewater streams into electrical current in bioelectrochemical systems (BESs). Analysis of the community profiles of exoelectrogenic microbial consortia in BESs fed different substrates gives a clearer picture of the different microbial populations present in these exoelectrogenic biofilms. Rapid utilization of fermentation end products by exoelectrogens (typically Geobacter species) relieves feedback inhibition for the fermentative consortia, allowing for rapid metabolism of organics. Identification of specific syntrophic processes and the communities characteristic of these anodic biofilms will be a valuable aid in improving the performance of BESs.

In situ microbial fuel cell-based biosensor for organic carbon

The biological oxygen demand (BOD) may be the most used test to assess the amount of pollutant organic matter in water; however, it is time and labor consuming, and is done ex-situ. A BOD biosensor based on the microbial fuel cell principle was tested for online and in situ monitoring of biodegradable organic content of domestic wastewater. A stable current density of 282±23mA/m(2) was obtained with domestic wastewater containing a BOD(5) of 317±15mg O(2)/L at 22±2°C, 1.53±0.04mS/cm and pH 6.9±0.1. The current density showed a linear relationship with BOD(5) concentration ranging from 17±0.5mg O(2)/L to 78±7.6mg O(2)/L. The current generation from the BOD biosensor was dependent on the measurement conditions such as temperature, conductivity, and pH. Thus, a correction factor should be applied to measurements done under different environmental conditions from the ones used in the calibration. These results provide useful information for the development of a biosensor for real-time in situ monitoring of wastewater quality.

Electricity generation and microbial community response to substrate changes in microbial fuel cell

The effect of substrate changes on the performance and microbial community of two-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) was investigated in this study. The MFCs enriched with a single substrate (e.g., acetate, glucose, or butyrate) had different acclimatization capability to substrate changes. The MFC enriched with glucose showed rapid and higher power generation, when glucose was switched with acetate or butyrate. However, the MFC enriched with acetate needed a longer adaptation time for utilizing glucose. Microbial community was also changed when the substrate was changed. Clostridium and Bacilli of phylum Firmicutes were detected in acetate-enriched MFCs after switching to glucose. By contrast, Firmicutes completely disappeared and Geobacter-like species were specifically enriched in glucose-enriched MFCs after feeding acetate to the reactor. This study further suggests that the type of substrate fed to MFC is a very important parameter for reactor performance and microbial community, and significantly affects power generation in MFCs.

Electricity generation from mixed volatile fatty acids using microbial fuel cells

Fermentative hydrogen production, as a process for clean energy recovery from organic wastewater, is limited by its low hydrogen yield due to incomplete conversion of substrates, with most of the fermentation products being volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Thus, further recovery of the energy from VFAs is expected. In this work, microbial fuel cell (MFC) was applied to recover energy in the form of electricity from mixed VFAs of acetate, propionate, and butyrate. Response surface methodology was adopted to investigate the relative contribution and possible interactions of the three components of VFAs. A stable electricity generation was demonstrated in MFCs after the enrichment of electrochemically active bacteria. Analysis showed that power density was more sensitive to the composition of mixed VFAs than coulombic efficiency. The electricity generation could mainly be attributed to the portion of acetate and propionate. However, the two components showed an antagonistic effect when propionate exceeded 19%, causing a decrease in coulombic efficiency. Butyrate was found to exert a negative impact on both power density and coulombic efficiency. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles revealed the enrichment of electrochemically active bacteria from the inoculum sludge. Proteobacteria (Beta-, Delta-) and Bacteroidetes were predominant in all VFA-fed MFCs. Shifts in bacterial community structures were observed when different compositions of VFA mixtures were used as the electron donor. The overall electron recovery efficiency may be increased from 15.7% to 27.4% if fermentative hydrogen production and MFC processes are integrated.

Direct electricity recovery from Canna indica by an air-cathode microbial fuel cell inoculated with rumen microorganisms

Aquatic plants are widely used for phytoremediation, and effective disposal methods should be pursued for their utilization and to avoid further environmental pollution problems. This study demonstrated that, using an air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) inoculated with rumen microorganisms, electricity could be directly produced with a maximum power density of 0.405 W/m(3) from Canna indica (canna), a lignocellulosic aquatic plant rich in cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, without pretreatment. The mechanisms of the Canna indica degradation in the MFC were elucidated through analyzing the changes of canna structure and intermediates, that is, soluble sugars and volatile fatty acids (VFAs), in the electricity generation process. The results showed that lignin was partially removed and more cellulose became exposed on the sample surface during the electricity generation in the MFC. The electron transfer in this MFC was mainly completed through electron shuttling via self-produced mediators. This work presents an attempt to understand how complex substrates like aquatic plants are decomposed in an MFC during electricity generation. It might, hopefully, provide a promising way to utilize lignocellulosic biomass for energy generation.