The study of the performance of a microbial fuel cell: a progress towards the improvement of low electrical bioenergy output by using an amplification system.

Objective: A microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been conceived and constructed for the treatment of the sheep manure wastes and their conversion into clean sustainable renewable energy. The aim of the present investigation was to examine the performance of this bioelectrochemical device, in breaking down the organic matter (pollutant removal) and simultaneously producing electricity. Furthermore, the objective was to enhance the low electric energy by using an adequate amplification system.

Platinum nanoparticles embedded into polyaniline on carbon cloth: improvement of oxygen reduction at cathode of microbial fuel cell used for conversion of medicinal plant wastes into bio-energy.

A microbial fuel cell is a biological electrochemical system that extracts electrons stored in organic matter by oxidation using catalytic properties of microorganisms at bioanode. The major problem in such device, is however limited power production due to slow kinetic of oxygen reduction at cathode. It is worthwhile to develop new materials that fulfil these requirements.

Scratching and transplanting of electro-active biofilm in fruit peeling leachate by ultrasound: re-inoculation in new microbial fuel cell for enhancement of bio-energy production and organic matter detection.

Objective: An electro-active biofilm of Fruit Peeling (FP) leachate was formed onto the Carbon Felt (CF) bio-anode in a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), after functioning for a long time. The electro active-biofilm thus formed was then scratched by ultrasound and re-inoculated in a new leachate to be transplanted onto the bio-anode. This procedure allowed the microbial electron charge transfer and therefore the enhancement of the bio-energy production of the fuel cell.

Surfactant- and Binder-Free Hierarchical Platinum Nanoarrays Directly Grown onto a Carbon Felt Electrode for Efficient Electrocatalysis.

The future of fuel cells that convert chemical energy to electricity relies mostly on the efficiency of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to its sluggish kinetics. By effectively bypassing the use of organic surfactants, the postsynthesis steps for immobilization onto electrodes, catalytic ink preparation using binders, and the common problem of nanoparticles (NPs) detachment from the supports involved in traditional methodologies, we demonstrate a versatile electrodeposition method for growing anisotropic microstructures directly onto a three-dimensional (3D) carbon felt electrode, using platinum NPs as the elementary building blocks. The as-synthesized materials were extensively characterized by integrating methods of physical (thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and electroanalytical (voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectrometry) chemistry to examine the intricate relationship of material-to-performance and select the best-performing electrocatalyst to be applied in the model reaction of ORR for its practical integration into a microbial fuel cell (MFC).

Alginate/carbon composite beads for laccase and glucose oxidase encapsulation: application in biofuel cell technology.

Alginate-carbon beads were prepared in order to develop a biocompatible matrix for laccase and glucose oxidase immobilization for application in biofuel cell technology. The enzyme loading capacity was high (91%) in pure alginate beads for glucose oxidase. For laccase, the loading capacity was enhanced from 75% to 83% by introducing carbon.

Nanofibrous poly(acrylonitrile-co-maleic acid) membranes functionalized with gelatin and chitosan for lipase immobilization.

Nanofibrous membranes with an average diameter of 100 and 180 nm were fabricated from poly(acrylonitrile-co-maleic acid) (PANCMA) by the electrospinning process. These nanofibrous membranes contain reactive groups which can be used to covalently immobilize biomacromolecules. Two natural macromolecules, chitosan and gelatin, were tethered on these nanofibrous membranes to fabricate dual-layer biomimetic supports for enzyme immobilization in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-(dimethyl-aminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC)/N-hydroxyl succinimide (NHS).