Marta C. Hatzell

Capturing power at higher voltages from arrays of microbial fuel cells without voltage reversal

Voltages produced by microbial fuel cells (MFCs) cannot be sustainably increased by linking them in series due to voltage reversal, which substantially reduces stack voltages. It was shown here that MFC voltages can be increased with continuous power production using an electronic circuit containing two sets of multiple capacitors that were alternately charged and discharged (every one second). Capacitors were charged in parallel by the MFCs, but linked in series while discharging to the circuit load (resistor). The parallel charging of the capacitors avoided voltage reversal, while discharging the capacitors in series produced up to 2.5 V with four capacitors. There were negligible energy losses in the circuit compared to 20–40% losses typically obtained with MFCs using DC-DC converters to increase voltage. Coulombic efficiencies were 67% when power was generated via four capacitors, compared to only 38% when individual MFCs were operated with a fixed resistance of 250 Ω. The maximum power produced using the capacitors was not adversely affected by variable performance of the MFCs, showing that power generation can be maintained even if individual MFCs perform differently. Longer capacitor charging and discharging cycles of up to 4 min maintained the average power but increased peak power by up to 2.6 times. These results show that capacitors can be used to easily obtain higher voltages from MFCs, allowing for more useful capture of energy from arrays of MFCs.

Microbial Community Composition Is Unaffected by Anode Potential

There is great controversy on how different set anode potentials affect the performance of a bioelectrochemical system (BES). It is often reported that more positive potentials improve acclimation and performance of exoelectrogenic biofilms, and alter microbial community structure, while in other studies relatively more negative potentials were needed to achieve higher current densities. To address this issue, the biomass, electroactivity, and community structure of anodic biofilms were examined over a wide range of set anode potentials (-0.25, -0.09, 0.21, 0.51, and 0.81 V vs a standard hydrogen electrode, SHE) in single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells. Maximum currents produced using a wastewater inoculum increased with anode potentials in the range of -0.25 to 0.21 V, but decreased at 0.51 and 0.81 V. The maximum currents were positively correlated with increasing biofilm biomass. Pyrosequencing indicated biofilm communities were all similar and dominated by bacteria most similar to Geobacter sulfurreducens. Differences in anode performance with various set potentials suggest that the exoelectrogenic communities self-regulate their exocellular electron transfer pathways to adapt to different anode potentials.

Effect of oxidation of carbon material on suspension electrodes for flow electrode capacitive deionization

Flow electrode deionization (FCDI) is an emerging area for continuous and scalable deionization, but the electrochemical and flow properties of the flow electrode need to be improved to minimize energy consumption. Chemical oxidation of granular activated carbon (AC) was examined here to study the role of surface heteroatoms on rheology and electrochemical performance of a flow electrode (carbon slurry) for deionization processes. Moreover, it was demonstrated that higher mass densities could be used without increasing energy for pumping when using oxidized active material. High mass-loaded flow electrodes (28% carbon content) based on oxidized AC displayed similar viscosities (∼21 Pa s) to lower mass-loaded flow electrodes (20% carbon content) based on nonoxidized AC. The 40% increased mass loading (from 20% to 28%) resulted in a 25% increase in flow electrode gravimetric capacitance (from 65 to 83 F g(-1)) without sacrificing flowability (viscosity). The electrical energy required to remove ∼18% of the ions (desalt) from of the feed solution was observed to be significantly dependent on the mass loading and decreased (∼60%) from 92 ± 7 to 28 ± 2.7 J with increased mass densities from 5 to 23 wt %. It is shown that the surface chemistry of the active material in a flow electrode effects the electrical and pumping energy requirements of a FCDI system.

Quantification of Temperature Driven Flow in a Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Using High-Resolution Neutron Radiography

In this study, the effect of a controlled temperature gradient on water transport across a single fuel cell was quantitatively investigated using high-resolution neutron imaging. The direction of liquid water transport under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions was observed in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic diffusion media (DM). The change in distribution of liquid saturation with time revealed two different mechanisms of water transport; capillary driven flow and phase-change induced (PCI) flow, in which a water vapor concentration gradient is created by condensation at a colder location. This concentration gradient drives diffusion flow toward the colder location. A maximum liquid saturation plateau of ca. 30% was shown for all conditions tested, indicating a critical transition between pendular and funicular modes of liquid water storage was captured. Based on this, it is suggested that PCI-flow may be the main mode of liquid transport below this critical transition threshold, above which, capillary flow dominates. As expected, both average cell temperature and the magnitude of temperature gradient were shown to significantly affect the rate of condensation within the DM. Experimental results were compared with water saturation distribution model predictions from literature and show reasonable qualitative agreement. Finally, it was concluded that current available models significantly over predict vapor phase diffusive transport in saturated fuel cell media using a Bruggeman type model.

Capacitive mixing power production from salinity gradient energy enhanced through exoelectrogen-generated ionic currents

Several approaches to generate electrical power directly from salinity gradient energy using capacitive electrodes have recently been developed, but power densities have remained low. By immersing the capacitive electrodes in ionic fields generated by exoelectrogenic microorganisms in bioelectrochemical reactors, we found that energy capture using synthetic river and seawater could be increased ∼65 times, and power generation ∼46 times. Favorable electrochemical reactions due to microbial oxidation of organic matter, coupled to oxygen reduction at the cathode, created an ionic flow field that enabled more effective passive charging of the capacitive electrodes and higher energy capture. This ionic-based approach is not limited to the use of river water-seawater solutions. It can also be applied in industrial settings, as demonstrated using thermolytic solutions that can be used to capture waste heat energy as salinity gradient energy. Forced charging of the capacitive electrodes, using energy generated by the bioelectrochemical system and a thermolytic solution, further increased the maximum power density to 7 W m−2 (capacitive electrode).

Reference and counter electrode positions affect electrochemical characterization of bioanodes in different bioelectrochemical systems.

The placement of the reference electrode (RE) in various bioelectrochemical systems is often varied to accommodate different reactor configurations. While the effect of the RE placement is well understood from a strictly electrochemistry perspective, there are impacts on exoelectrogenic biofilms in engineered systems that have not been adequately addressed. Varying distances between the working electrode (WE) and the RE, or the RE and the counter electrode (CE) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can alter bioanode characteristics. With well‐spaced anode and cathode distances in an MFC, increasing the distance between the RE and anode (WE) altered bioanode cyclic voltammograms (CVs) due to the uncompensated ohmic drop. Electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) also changed with RE distances, resulting in a calculated increase in anode resistance that varied between 17 and 31 Ω (−0.2 V). While WE potentials could be corrected with ohmic drop compensation during the CV tests, they could not be automatically corrected by the potentiostat in the EIS tests. The electrochemical characteristics of bioanodes were altered by their acclimation to different anode potentials that resulted from varying the distance between the RE and the CE (cathode). These differences were true changes in biofilm characteristics because the CVs were electrochemically independent of conditions resulting from changing CE to RE distances. Placing the RE outside of the current path enabled accurate bioanode characterization using CVs and EIS due to negligible ohmic resistances (0.4 Ω). It is therefore concluded for bioelectrochemical systems that when possible, the RE should be placed outside the current path and near the WE, as this will result in more accurate representation of bioanode characteristics. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2014;111: 1931–1939.

Energy recovery from solutions with different salinities based on swelling and shrinking of hydrogels.

Several technologies, including pressure-retarded osmosis (PRO), reverse electrodialysis (RED), and capacitive mixing (CapMix), are being developed to recover energy from salinity gradients. Here, we present a new approach to capture salinity gradient energy based on the expansion and contraction properties of poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels. These materials swell in fresh water and shrink in salt water, and thus the expansion can be used to capture energy through mechanical processes. In tests with 0.36 g of hydrogel particles 300 to 600 μm in diameter, 124 mJ of energy was recovered in 1 h (salinity ratio of 100, external load of 210 g, water flow rate of 1 mL/min). Although these energy recovery rates were relatively lower than those typically obtained using PRO, RED, or CapMix, the costs of hydrogels are much lower than those of membranes used in PRO and RED. In addition, fouling might be more easily controlled as the particles can be easily removed from the reactor for cleaning. Further development of the technology and testing of a wider range of conditions should lead to improved energy recoveries and performance.

Microbial Reverse-Electrodialysis Electrolysis and Chemical-Production Cell for H2 Production and CO2 Sequestration

Natural mineral carbonation can be accelerated using acid and alkali solutions to enhance atmospheric CO2 sequestration, but the production of these solutions needs to be carbon-neutral. A microbial reverse-electrodialysis electrolysis and chemical-production cell (MRECC) was developed to produce these solutions and H2 gas using only renewable energy sources (organic matter and salinity gradient). Using acetate (0.82 g/L) as a fuel for microorganisms to generate electricity in the anode chamber (liquid volume of 28 mL), 0.45 mmol of acid and 1.09 mmol of alkali were produced at production efficiencies of 35% and 86%, respectively, along with 10 mL of H2 gas. Serpentine dissolution was enhanced 17–87-fold using the acid solution, with approximately 9 mL of CO2 absorbed and 4 mg of CO2 fixed as magnesium or calcium carbonates. The operational costs, based on mineral digging and grinding, and water pumping, were estimated to be only

Hydrogen production from continuous flow, microbial reverse-electrodialysis electrolysis cells treating fermentation wastewater.

25/metric ton of CO2 fixed as insoluble carbonates. Considering the additional economic benefits of H2 generation and possible wastewater treatment, this method may be a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method for CO2 sequestration.

Minimal RED Cell Pairs Markedly Improve Electrode Kinetics and Power Production in Microbial Reverse Electrodialysis Cells

A microbial reverse-electrodialysis electrolysis cell (MREC) was used to produce hydrogen gas from fermentation wastewater without the need for additional electrical energy. Increasing the number of cell pairs in the reverse electrodialysis stack from 5 to 10 doubled the maximum current produced from 60 A/m(3) to 120 A/m(3) using acetate. However, more rapid COD removal required a decrease in the anolyte hydraulic retention time (HRT) from 24 to 12 h to stabilize anode potentials. Hydrogen production using a fermentation wastewater (10 cell pairs, HRT=8 h) reached 0.9±0.1 L H2/Lreactor/d (1.1±0.1 L H2/g-COD), with 58±5% COD removal and a coulombic efficiency of 74±5%. These results demonstrated that consistent rates of hydrogen gas production could be achieved using an MREC if effluent anolyte COD concentrations are sufficient to produce stable anode potentials.