Sharif Digital Repository

Ethylene glycol is an environmental pollutant, which exists in airport runoff and industrial waste. In this article, biodegradation of ethylene glycol in a two-chamber, batch-mode microbial fuel cell was investigated. Glucose and ethylene glycol at different concentrations were used as carbon and energy sources. Chemical oxygen demand removal in the range of 92-98% indicated that microbial fuel cell can be used for biodegradation of ethylene glycol. Ethylene glycol also improved power generation and the maximum power density was 5.72 mW/m2 (137.32 mW/m3), with respect to the same glucose and ethylene glycol concentrations (500 ppm)  

The present study investigated the biological treatment of produced water in a microbial electrochemical cell (MXC). The main objectives were to develop a novel spiral microbial electrochemical cell (SMXC) and test its performance for produced water treatment under highly saline conditions (salinity > 200000 ppm). The bioelectrochemical performance of the system was also evaluated in terms of power and hydrogen production over time. The comparatively inexpensive material and ease of application increased the feasibility of the SMXC configuration for produced water treatment. Optimal SMXC performance as a microbial fuel cell was achieved at a maximum open circuit potential of 330 mV, maximum... 

The Nafion ionomer affects the efficiency of the platinum (Pt) catalyst by blocking the active sites thereby restricting the gas permeability of the catalyst layer; but, there is a limitation in the quantity of Nafion ionomer that needs to be added without affecting the cell performance. Sulfonation of carbon-supported catalysts as mixed electronic and protonic conductors has been reported to be an efficient way to increase the triple-phase boundaries. In order to improve the utilization and activity of cathodic catalysts in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), Pt nanoparticles were loaded on a mixture of Vulcan XC-72R and MWCNTs, which were functionalized in a mixture of 96% sulfuric acid... 

Due to the importance of hydrogen as an effective antioxidant for its applications in therapy, this research reports the fabrication of a coupled microfluidic microbial electrochemical cell (MXC), including microfluidic microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and a microfluidic microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) series in order to perform it as a self-powered biohydrogen generator. Being able to be a platform of implantable medical devices, utilization a non-phatogenic strain of Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst in order to exploit the embodied energy from human blood and excrement and finally the use of cheap and facile materials (<$2 per device) are the exceptional features of the system. The... 

Enzymatic decolorization of reactive blue 221 (RB221) using laccase was investigated in a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). Suspended laccase was used in the cathode chamber in the absence of any mediators in order to decolorize RB221 and also improve oxygen reduction reaction in the cathode. Molasses was utilized as low cost and high strength energy source in the anode chamber. The capability of MFC for simultaneous molasses and dye removal was investigated. A decolorization efficiency of 87% was achieved in the cathode chamber and 84% COD removal for molasses was observed in the anode chamber. Laccase could catalyze the removal of RB221 and had positive effect on MFC performance as... 

This study reports the fabrication of a microfluidic microbial fuel cell (MFC) using nickel as a novel alternative for conventional electrodes and a non-phatogenic strain of Escherichia coli as the biocatalyst. The feasibility of a microfluidic MFC as an efficient power generator for production of bioelectricity from glucose and urea as organic substrates in human blood and urine for implantable medical devices (IMDs) was investigated. A maximum open circuit potential of 459mV was achieved for the batch-fed microfluidic MFC. During continuous mode operation, a maximum power density of 104Wm-3 was obtained with nutrient broth. For the glucose-fed microfluidic MFC, the maximum power density of... 

This study develops a photosynthetic microalgae microbial fuel cell (PMMFC) engaged Chlorella vulgaris microalgae to investigate effect of light intensities and illumination regimes on simultaneous production of bioelectricity, biomass and wastewater treatment. The performance of the system under different light intensity (3500, 5000, 7000 and 10,000 lx) and light/dark regimes (24/00, 12/12, 16/8 h) was investigated. The optimum light intensity and light/dark regimes for achieving maximum yield of PMMFC were obtained. The maximum power density of 126 mW m−3, the coulombic efficiency of 78% and COD removal of 5.47% were achieved. The maximum biomass concentration of 4 g l−1 (or biomass yield...