Suman Bajracharya

Carbon dioxide reduction by mixed and pure cultures in microbial electrosynthesis using an assembly of graphite felt and stainless steel as a cathode

Carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction to multi-carbon compounds at the cathode using chemolithoautotrophs is an emerging application of microbial electrosynthesis (MES). In this study, CO2 reduction in MES was investigated at hydrogen evolving potentials, separately by a mixed culture and Clostridium ljungdahlii, using a graphite felt and stainless steel assembly as cathode. The mixed culture reactor produced acetate at the maximum rate of 1.3 mM d(-1), along with methane and hydrogen at -1.1 V/Ag/AgCl. Over 160 days of run-time in four fed-batches, 26% of bicarbonate was converted to acetate between day 28 and 41, whereas in the late batches, methane production prevailed. Out of 45 days of run-time in the C. ljungdahlii reactor, 2.4 mM d(-1) acetate production was achieved at -0.9 V/Ag/AgCl in Batch 1. Simultaneous product degradation occurred when the mixed culture was not selectively enriched. Hydrogen evolution is potentially the rapid way of transferring electrons to the biocatalysts for higher bioproduction rates.

Clean energy generation using capacitive electrodes in reverse electrodialysis

Capacitive reverse electrodialysis (CRED) is a newly proposed technology to generate electricity from mixing of salt water and fresh water (salinity gradient energy) by using a membrane pile as in reverse electrodialysis (RED) and capacitive electrodes. The salinity difference between salt water and fresh water generates a potential difference over ion selective membranes, which can be used as a renewable power source. The strength and unique characteristic of CRED in comparison to the other technologies is that it allows multiple membrane cells between a single set of electrodes and at the same time avoids redox reactions using capacitive electrodes. The capacitive electrodes use activated carbon on a support of Ti/Pt mesh to store ions and their charge. A periodic switching of the feed waters, combined with a switching of the direction of the electric current, ensures that the capacitive electrodes do not get saturated. The large membrane pile enables the electrodes to be charged more than in previous approaches for capacitive mixing. As a consequence, the energy cycle of CRED has a larger range in both voltage and accumulated charge compared to previous capacitive mixing technologies. The power density obtainable with CRED stacks with capacitive electrodes is an order of magnitude higher than in previous attempts for capacitive energy extraction and close to or even better than similar RED stacks with conventional redox based electrode systems. CRED is considered to be a stable, safe, clean and high performing technology to obtain energy from mixing of salt water and fresh water.

Long-term operation of microbial electrosynthesis cell reducing CO2 to multi-carbon chemicals with a mixed culture avoiding methanogenesis

In microbial electrosynthesis (MES), CO2 can be reduced preferably to multi-carbon chemicals by a biocathode-based process which uses electrochemically active bacteria as catalysts. A mixed anaerobic consortium from biological origin typically produces methane from CO2 reduction which circumvents production of multi-carbon compounds. This study aimed to develop a stable and robust CO2 reducing biocathode from a mixed culture inoculum avoiding the methane generation. An effective approach was demonstrated based on (i) an enrichment procedure involving inoculum pre-treatment and several culture transfers in H2:CO2 media, (ii) a transfer from heterotrophic to autotrophic growth and (iii) a sequential batch operation. Biomass growth and gradual acclimation to CO2 electro-reduction accomplished a maximum acetate production rate of 400mgLcatholyte-1d-1 at -1V (vs. Ag/AgCl). Methane was never detected in more than 300days of operation. Accumulation of acetate up to 7-10gL-1 was repeatedly attained by supplying (80:20) CO2:N2 mixture at -0.9 to -1V (vs. Ag/AgCl). In addition, ethanol and butyrate were also produced from CO2 reduction. Thus, a robust CO2 reducing biocathode can be developed from a mixed culture avoiding methane generation by adopting the specific culture enrichment and operation procedures without the direct addition of chemical inhibitor.

Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cells

Increase in human activities across the globe has put forward several challenges for future generations, with uncontrolled energy demand near the top of the list. Relentless efforts are being made by researchers and policy makers to meet energy demands in renewable ways, which shows the possibility of several alternative energy systems. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is one such alternative energy generating system with an additional advantage of valorization of waste. Research in the field of MFC started almost a decade ago and significant improvement was reported up to pilot-scale operations, in spite of its inherent limitations. Cathodic reduction reaction is also as crucial as anodic oxidation in MFC. Plenty of reports consolidated the research outlined in the direction of anodic oxidation, while very few reports have been reported on cathodic reduction in comparison. In this chapter, we brought together all the efforts made by researchers toward cathodic reduction to create a comprehensive understanding of the system.