Pretreatment of cyanobacterial biomass for the production of biofuel in microbial fuel cells.

The present study delves into phototrophic cyanobacterial biomass production by concomitant CO sequestration, selecting an effective pretreatment condition followed by using this as feedstock for green fuel or bioelectricity production by Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC). The performance of the various photobioreactors were put up against Anabaena sp. PCC 7120 biomass production.

Use of biomass-derived biochar in wastewater treatment and power production: A promising solution for a sustainable environment.

Over the past few years, we are witnessing the advent of a revolutionary bioengineering technology in biochar production and its application in waste treatment and an important component in power generation devices. Biochar is a solid product, highly rich in carbon, whose adsorption properties are ideal for wastewater decontamination. Due to its high specific surface area to volume ratio, it can be utilized for many environmental applications.

Bimetallic PtAu Alloy Nanoparticles-Integrated g-CN Hybrid as an Efficient Photocatalyst for Water-to-Hydrogen Conversion.

Herein, we report the synthesis of metal (Pt and Au) and metal alloy (PtAu) nanoparticles (NPs)-integrated graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN) hybrids using a facile solvothermal route for water-splitting application. The metal and metal alloy NPs with varying percentages of Pt and Au are found to be in the size range of 3-5 nm and uniformly distributed on the g-CN sheets. The metal and metal alloy NPs act as cocatalyst for g-CN to enhance the photocatalytic activity for hydrogen (H) generation through higher light absorption and efficient charge separation.

Trimetallic PtAuNi alloy nanoparticles as an efficient electrocatalyst for the methanol electrooxidation reaction.

Platinum is an excellent electrocatalyst. However, the disadvantages of Pt as an electrocatalyst lie in its poor earth abundance, high cost, and poor stability due to surface poisoning. Thus it remains a challenge to find suitable alternative electrocatalysts and/or reduce the use of Pt.

The Design of a New Cobalt Sulfide Nanoparticle Implanted Porous Organic Polymer Nanohybrid as a Smart and Durable Water-Splitting Photoelectrocatalyst.

Development of an inexpensive, efficient and robust nanohybrid catalyst as a substitute for platinum in photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen production has been considered intriguing and challenging. In this study, the design and sequential synthesis of a novel cobalt sulfide nanoparticle grafted Porous Organic Polymer nanohybrid (CoS @POP) is reported and used as an active and durable water-splitting photoelectrocatalyst in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The specific textural and relevant chemical properties of as-synthesised nanohybrid materials (Co O @POP &CoS @POP) were investigated by means of XRD, XPS, FTIR, C CP MAS NMR, spectroscopy, HR-TEM, HAADF-STEM with the corresponding elemental mapping, FE-SEM and nitrogen physisorption studies.

Shape-Dependent Photocatalytic Activity of Hydrothermally Synthesized Cadmium Sulfide Nanostructures.

The effective surface area of the nanostructured materials is known to play a prime role in catalysis. Here we demonstrate that the shape of the nanostructured materials plays an equally important role in their catalytic activity. Hierarchical CdS microstructures with different morphologies such as microspheres assembled of nanoplates, nanorods, nanoparticles, and nanobelts are synthesized using a simple hydrothermal method by tuning the volume ratio of solvents, i.

A new benzimidazole based covalent organic polymer having high energy storage capacity.

We report the synthesis of a new benzimidazole-based covalent organic polymer (TpDAB) via solvothermal Schiff base condensation between 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol (Tp) and 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (DAB). TpDAB showed high energy storage capacity with a specific capacitance of 335 F g(-1) at 2 mV s(-1) scan rate and good cyclic stability with 93% retention of its initial specific capacitance after 1000 cycles.

Monodisperse AuCuSn trimetallic nanocube catalysts.

Monodisperse trimetallic AuCuSn nanocubes are reported where Sn and Cu are inserted into the crystal lattice following co-precipitation protocols along with Au. These trimetallics are explored further towards catalytic hydrazine electrooxidation and their enhanced catalytic activity compared with their bimetallic counterpart AuCu is reported.

Bifunctional Manganese Ferrite/Polyaniline Hybrid as Electrode Material for Enhanced Energy Recovery in Microbial Fuel Cell.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are emerging as a sustainable technology for waste to energy conversion where electrode materials play a vital role on its performance. Platinum (Pt) is the most common material used as cathode catalyst in the MFCs. However, the high cost and low earth abundance associated with Pt prompt the researcher to explore inexpensive catalysts.

Reduction of start-up time through bioaugmentation process in microbial fuel cells using an isolate from dark fermentative spent media fed anode.

An electrochemically active bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa IIT BT SS1 was isolated from a dark fermentative spent media fed anode, and a bioaugmentation technique using the isolated strain was used to improve the start-up time of a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Higher volumetric current density and lower start-up time were observed with the augmented system MFC-PM (13.7 A/m(3)) when compared with mixed culture MFC-M (8.

Improvement of power generation using Shewanella putrefaciens mediated bioanode in a single chambered microbial fuel cell: effect of different anodic operating conditions.

Three different approaches were employed to improve single chambered microbial fuel cell (sMFC) performance using Shewanella putrefaciens as biocatalyst. Taguchi design was used to identify the key process parameter (anolyte concentration, CaCl₂ and initial anolyte pH) for maximization of volumetric power. Supplementation of CaCl₂ was found most significant and maximum power density of 4.

Manganese cobaltite/polypyrrole nanocomposite-based air-cathode for sustainable power generation in the single-chambered microbial fuel cells.

Manganese cobaltite nanorods (MnCo2O4 NRs) were prepared and tested as potential air-cathode catalyst for the single-chambered microbial fuel cells (sMFC). The power generation of sMFC increases with MnCo2O4 NRs loading to the cathode. The Polypyrrole (PPy) and Vulcan XC were used as conducting support to the MnCo2O4 NRs to form composites either by in situ or by mechanical mixing in the cathode fabrication.