A novel oxidizer-less and high performance microbial fuel cell by using DNA as a final electron acceptor in the cathodic chamber. (17th August 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Asghary, Maryam; Raoof, Jahan Bakhsh; Rahimnejad, Mostafa; Ojani, Reza
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 41:Number 31(2016)
• Page Start: 13611
• Page End: 13618
• Publication Date: 2016-08-17
• Subjects: Oxidizer-less -- Microbial fuel cell -- DNA modified carbon paste electrode -- Biocathode; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.05.187
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: A novel oxidizer-less and high performance microbial fuel cell (MFC) was developed using DNA modified carbon paste electrode (DNA/CPE) as a biocathode in the cathodic chamber. Applying bare CPE as the cathode, the output power of MFC differed when adding various oxidizers such as: permanganate (289.76 mW/m 2 at 621.87 mA/m 2 ), ferricyanide (111.94 mW/m 2 at 377.5 mA/m 2 ), and oxygen (41.77 mW/m 2 at 210.11 mA/m 2 ). While for DNA/CPE as biocathode, the maximum power and current density of MFC (510.13 mW/m 2 at 1200.01 mA/m 2 ) were the same in presence of various oxidizers. Furthermore, the type of oxidizer had also no effect on the performance of MFC. Finally, the effect of DNA sequence, composed of pure bases including only adenine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine sequences, on the output power of MFC was examined. The obtained results confirmed that the performance of biocathode remained independent from both the type of base and the quality of DNA. Graphical abstract: Highlights: A novel oxidizer-less dual chamber MFC system was introduced. The requirement of oxidizer in cathode chamber can be removed by applying DNA/CPE. DNA/CPE was used as a new biocathode in oxidizer-less MFC. The type of oxidizers had no effect on the performance of MFC by using DNA/CPE. DNA/CPE is an economical and environmentally friendly cathode in MFC.