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Bioelectrochemical Systems: “From Laboratory Scale to Real-World Implementation”

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A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Green Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 February 2021) | Viewed by 15004

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. María José Salar-Garcia

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Guest Editor

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain
Interests: green chemistry; microbial fuel cells; bioenergy; wastewater treatment; ionic liquids; polymer inclusion membranes

Dr. Víctor Manuel Ortiz-Martínez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain
Interests: microbial fuel cells; renewable energy; ionic liquid-based membranes; separation processes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A wide range of environmentally friendly technologies such as bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) has emerged for different purposes, from bioenergy production to resource recovery. BESs involve the use of biocatalysts (e.g. microorganisms and enzymes) for electron transfer between organic/inorganic substrates and electrodes. According to the desired purpose, BESs can be broadly classified into electrogenesis systems, electrohydrogenesis systems, microbial desalination systems, microbial electrosynthesis systems and bioelectrochemical treatment system. To date, big efforts have been made in terms of new material development, process design and modelling. However, further work is still needed in order to deploy the large-scale application and commercialisation of these technologies.

BESs is a multi-disciplinary technology which has been used in different fields, e.g. microbiology, bieoelctrochemictry, environmental science, etc. Among them, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) are representative examples for bioenergy and hydrogen production, respectively, which in addition can utilise substrates of waste nature.

This special issue aims to address the most relevant aspects in the field of BESs for further advancements, from fundamentals to practical applications. Contributions to this issue, both in the form of original research or review articles, may cover all aspects of BES technology: material science, reactor design, modelling, waste treatment capacity, resource recovery, bioenergy generation, chemical production and practical applications are particularly welcome.

Keywords

Microbial Fuel Cells
Microbial Desalination Cells
Enzymatic Fuel Cells
Microbial Electrolysis Cells
Plant Microbial Fuel Cells/Microbial Solar Cells
Electrode Materials
Membranes
Reactor design
Substrates
Modelling
Waste treatment capacity
Energy harvesting
By-product production
Nutrient recovery
Biosensors
Practical application
Pilot scale

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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12 pages, 3810 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Developing 3D-Printable Cathode Electrode for Monolithically Printed Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs)

by Pavlina Theodosiou, John Greenman and Ioannis A. Ieropoulos

Molecules 2020, 25(16), 3635; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25163635 - 10 Aug 2020

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 2887

Abstract

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) employ microbial electroactive species to convert chemical energy stored in organic matter, into electricity. The properties of MFCs have made the technology attractive for bioenergy production. However, a challenge to the mass production of MFCs is the time-consuming assembly process, which could perhaps be overcome using additive manufacturing (AM) processes. AM or 3D-printing has played an increasingly important role in advancing MFC technology, by substituting essential structural components with 3D-printed parts. This was precisely the line of work in the EVOBLISS project, which investigated materials that can be extruded from the EVOBOT platform for a monolithically printed MFC. The development of such inexpensive, eco-friendly, printable electrode material is described below. The electrode in examination (PTFE_FREE_AC), is a cathode made of alginate and activated carbon, and was tested against an off-the-shelf sintered carbon (AC_BLOCK) and a widely used activated carbon electrode (PTFE_AC). The results showed that the MFCs using PTFE_FREE_AC cathodes performed better compared to the PTFE_AC or AC_BLOCK, producing maximum power levels of 286 μW, 98 μW and 85 μW, respectively. In conclusion, this experiment demonstrated the development of an air-dried, extrudable (3D-printed) electrode material successfully incorporated in an MFC system and acting as a cathode electrode. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioelectrochemical Systems: “From Laboratory Scale to Real-World Implementation”)

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12 pages, 3144 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Complete Microbial Fuel Cell Fabrication Using Additive Layer Manufacturing

by Jiseon You, Hangbing Fan, Jonathan Winfield and Ioannis A. Ieropoulos

Molecules 2020, 25(13), 3051; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25133051 - 3 Jul 2020

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 3798

Abstract

Improving the efficiency of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology by enhancing the system performance and reducing the production cost is essential for commercialisation. In this study, building an additive manufacturing (AM)-built MFC comprising all 3D printed components such as anode, cathode and chassis was attempted for the first time. 3D printed base structures were made of low-cost, biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) filaments. For both anode and cathode, two surface modification methods using either graphite or nickel powder were tested. The best performing anode material, carbon-coated non-conductive PLA filament, was comparable to the control modified carbon veil with a peak power of 376.7 µW (7.5 W m⁻³) in week 3. However, PLA-based AM cathodes underperformed regardless of the coating method, which limited the overall performance. The membrane-less design produced more stable and higher power output levels (520−570 µW, 7.4−8.1 W m⁻³) compared to the ceramic membrane control MFCs. As the final design, four AM-made membrane-less MFCs connected in series successfully powered a digital weather station, which shows the current status of low-cost 3D printed MFC development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioelectrochemical Systems: “From Laboratory Scale to Real-World Implementation”)

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20 pages, 2120 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimising the Hydraulic Retention Time in a Pilot-Scale Microbial Electrolysis Cell to Achieve High Volumetric Treatment Rates Using Concentrated Domestic Wastewater

by Daniel D. Leicester, Jaime M. Amezaga, Andrew Moore and Elizabeth S. Heidrich

Molecules 2020, 25(12), 2945; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25122945 - 26 Jun 2020

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4585

Abstract

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) have the potential to deliver energy-neutral wastewater treatment. Pilot-scale tests have proven that they can operate at low temperatures with real wastewaters. However, volumetric treatment rates (VTRs) have been low, reducing the ability for this technology to compete with activated sludge (AS). This paper describes a pilot-scale microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) operated in continuous flow for 6 months. The reactor was fed return sludge liquor, the concentrated filtrate of anaerobic digestion sludge that has a high chemical oxygen demand (COD). The use of a wastewater with increased soluble organics, along with optimisation of the hydraulic retention time (HRT), resulted in the highest VTR achieved by a pilot-scale MEC treating real wastewater. Peak HRT was 0.5-days, resulting in an average VTR of 3.82 kgCOD/m³∙day and a 55% COD removal efficiency. Finally, using the data obtained, a direct analysis of the potential savings from the reduced loading on AS was then made. Theoretical calculation of the required tank size, with the estimated costs and savings, indicates that the use of an MEC as a return sludge liquor pre-treatment technique could result in an industrially viable system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioelectrochemical Systems: “From Laboratory Scale to Real-World Implementation”)

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17 pages, 1232 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ammonium Recovery and Biogas Upgrading in a Tubular Micro-Pilot Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC)

by Lorenzo Cristiani, Marco Zeppilli, Cristina Porcu and Mauro Majone

Molecules 2020, 25(12), 2723; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25122723 - 12 Jun 2020

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3051

Abstract

Here, a 12-liter tubular microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) was developed as a post treatment unit for simultaneous biogas upgrading and ammonium recovery from the liquid effluent of an anaerobic digestion process. The MEC configuration adopted a cation exchange membrane to separate the inner anodic chamber and the external cathodic chamber, which were filled with graphite granules. The cathodic chamber performed the CO₂ removal through the bioelectromethanogenesis reaction and alkalinity generation while the anodic oxidation of a synthetic fermentate partially sustained the energy demand of the process. Three different nitrogen load rates (73, 365, and 2229 mg N/Ld) were applied to the inner anodic chamber to test the performances of the whole process in terms of COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) removal, CO₂ removal, and nitrogen recovery. By maintaining the organic load rate at 2.55 g COD/Ld and the anodic chamber polarization at +0.2 V vs. SHE (Standard Hydrogen Electrode), the increase of the nitrogen load rate promoted the ammonium migration and recovery, i.e., the percentage of current counterbalanced by the ammonium migration increased from 1% to 100% by increasing the nitrogen load rate by 30-fold. The CO₂ removal slightly increased during the three periods, and permitted the removal of 65% of the influent CO₂, which corresponded to an average removal of 2.2 g CO₂/Ld. During the operation with the higher nitrogen load rate, the MEC energy consumption, which was simultaneously used for the different operations, was lower than the selected benchmark technologies, i.e., 0.47 kW/N·m³ for CO₂ removal and 0.88 kW·h/kg COD for COD oxidation were consumed by the MEC while the ammonium nitrogen recovery consumed 2.3 kW·h/kg N. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bioelectrochemical Systems: “From Laboratory Scale to Real-World Implementation”)

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