Simultaneous wastewater treatment, electricity generation and biomass production by an immobilized photosynthetic algal microbial fuel cell

Abstract

A photosynthetic algal microbial fuel cell (PAMFC) was constructed by the introduction of immobilized microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris) into the cathode chamber of microbial fuel cells to fulfill electricity generation, biomass production and wastewater treatment. The immobilization conditions, including the concentration of immobilized matrix, initial inoculation concentration and cross-linking time, were investigated both for the growth of C. vulgaris and power generation. It performed the best at 5 % sodium alginate and 2 % calcium chloride as immobilization matrix, initial inoculation concentration of 10(6) cell/mL and cross-linking time of 4 h. Our findings indicated that C. vulgaris immobilization was an effective and promising approach to improve the performance of PAMFC, and after optimization the power density and Coulombic efficiency improved by 258 and 88.4 %, respectively. Important parameters such as temperature and light intensity were optimized on the performance. PAMFC could achieve a COD removal efficiency of 92.1 %, and simultaneously the maximum power density reached 2,572.8 mW/m(3) and the Coulombic efficiency was 14.1 %, under the light intensity of 5,000 lux and temperature at 25 °C.

Enhancement of Power Output by using Alginate Immobilized Algae in Biophotovoltaic Devices

“…Other studies reported that immobilized microalgae within alginate beads in microbial fuel cells can enhance power generation. The Coulombic efficiency of the microbial fuel cells with immobilized Chlorella vulgaris in alginate beads could reach 9.40% and 14.1%, respectively 29 , 30 . In the present study, we evaluated the feasibility of using alginate immobilized Chlorella cells coated directly on the ITO anode surface, to enhance bioelectricity generation.…”

Synergistic effects in a microbial fuel cell between co-cultures and a photosynthetic alga Chlorella vulgaris improve performance

“…1) a lag phase where increasing light intensity does not improve performance; 2) a light limiting phase where increasing light intensity improves performance, 3) a light saturating phase where increasing light intensity does not improve performance, and 4) a light inhibition phase, where increasing light intensity decreases performance. For C. vulgaris , a light intensity of 500–6500 lux has been reported to be in optimum range [ 44 , 45 ].…”

Biofilm Engineering Approaches for Improving the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells and Bioelectrochemical Systems

“…The cathode is provided with the desired source microbe. After oxidation at the anode protons pass through the PEM to the cathode, where they get reduced into water (He et al, 2014; Figure 1). This is a double-chambered MFC that exists more commonly.…”