Sustainable Energy from Pickled Chili Waste in Microbial Fuel Cells

Abstract

The amount of waste from agriculture has significantly increased in recent decades due to the growing demand for food. Meanwhile, providing electricity to remote areas remains a challenge due to the high installation costs. Single-chamber fuel cells offer a promising solution as they can effectively generate electric power and treat organic waste. For this reason, the main objective of this research is to utilize pickled chili waste as fuel in SC-MFCs (single-chamber fuel cells), using carbon and zinc electrodes to assess its potential as a sustainable alternative fuel source. The fuel cells exhibited a maximum electric current and voltage of 5.565 ± 0.182 mA with 0.963 ± 0.033 V of voltage, respectively, with a substrate electrical conductivity of 113.526 ± 6.154 mS/cm with a pH of 6.62 ± 0.42 on the twelfth day. The internal resistance measured was 46.582 ± 6.845 Ω, and the maximum power density reached 148.128 ± 8.914 mW/cm2 at a current density of 3.657 A/cm2. Additionally, the microorganisms Pseudomonas taiwanensis and Candida parapsilosis were identified with 100% identity in the anode electrode. This study demonstrates that pickled chili residues can successfully generate bioelectricity and light an LED bulb connected to MFCs in series with a voltage of 2.67 V.