Testing of Bacteria Gluconobacter oxydans and Electron Transport Mediators Composition for Application in Biofuel Cell

Abstract

The dependence of EMF, current and voltage at a fixed load, and the fuel cell inner resistance on anolyte composition has been studied using microbial fuel cell (MFC) model. Strain Gluconobacter oxydans subsp. industrius VKM B-1280 was a biocatalyst; glucose was used as a fuel. The following anolyte compositions were considered: (1) water-soluble mediator 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol (DCPIP) in combination with suspension and immobilized bacteria and (2) hydrophobic mediators ferrocene and 1,1'-dimethylferrocene in combination with immobilized bacteria. It was shown that DCPIP in combination with immobilized bacteria versus the cell suspension increases the generated EMF for 36%, current for 25%, power for 56%, and inner resistance for 14%. Ferrocene seems to be more preferable as compared with 1,1'-dimethylferrocene. Ferrocene gives higher values of the generated EMF (for 8%) and current (for 47%), as well as decreases the inner resistance of MFC for 38%. The proposed system can be used for rapid qualitative and quantitative assessment of the "fuel-cell-mediator-electrode" interaction under charge transfer and is used in the search of effective anolyte compositions.

Development of a Bioanode for Microbial Fuel Cells Based on the Combination of a MWCNT‐Au‐Pt Hybrid Nanomaterial, an Osmium Redox Polymer and Gluconobacter oxydans DSM 2343 Cells

“…For example, Reshetilov et al. reported a G. oxydans whole cell based MFC that produced a lower power output of 7.23 nW . In addition, our recent whole cell based G. oxydans MFC paper reported maximum current and power densities of 87.3 mA m −2 and 1.3 mW m −2 .…”

“…GCPE has widely been used by our group in many applications including biosensor and biofuel cell systems ,,. However, CFE, another type of carbon based electrode, is reported to be a good alternative as bioanode and/or biocathode supporting electrode for various MFC systems ,,,,,.…”

“…A diverse range of microorganisms, such as G. oxydans, ,, Rhodoferax ferrireducens, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Geobacter sulfurreducens and Escherichia coli have been used in the design of MFCs. Work in this report shows that G. oxydans can be used as efficiently as any other commonly used microorganism and can be improved by the combination of bioanode components.…”

“…In a previous study, a significant electrocatalytic effect of MWCNT‐Au‐Pt hybrid nanostructure has been demonstrated in comparison with non‐hybrid nanostructures which lead us to use this structure in our system . Because of the bioconversion capability of Gluconobacter oxydans DSM 2343 (G. oxydans) cells on a variety of organic compounds, these cells have been used for decades for both biosensor and MFC applications . It is possible to grow G. oxydans DSM 2343 cells specifically on a certain substrate like ethanol.…”

“…Although there are many works in the literature covering the usage of G. oxydans strains in bioanodes,,, our group developed a combined OsRP and G. oxydans based MFC for the first time . In this previously reported OsRP/ G.oxydans work a glassy carbon paste electrode (GCPE) based bioanode (where the anolyte solution also contained K 3 Fe(CN) 6 as an additional external mediator to further facilitate the electron transfer from the G. oxydans cells to the electrode,) and a salt bridge MFC system were presented.…”