Flow dependent performance of microfluidic microbial fuel cells

Daniele Vigolo*, Talal T. Al-Housseiny, Yi Shen, Fiyinfoluwa O. Akinlawon, Saif T. Al-Housseiny, Ronald K. Hobson, Amaresh Sahu, Katherine I. Bedkowski, Thomas J. Dichristina, Howard A. Stone

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The integration of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) in a microfluidic geometry can significantly enhance the power density of these cells, which would have more active bacteria per unit volume. Moreover, microfluidic MFCs can be operated in a continuous mode as opposed to the traditional batch-fed mode. Here we investigate the effect of fluid flow on the performance of microfluidic MFCs. The growth and the structure of the bacterial biofilm depend to a large extent on the shear stress of the flow. We report the existence of a range of flow rates for which MFCs can achieve maximum voltage output. When operated under these optimal conditions, the power density of our microfluidic MFC is about 15 times that of a similar-size batch MFC. Furthermore, this optimum suggests a correlation between the behaviour of bacteria and fluid flow.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)12535-12543
Number of pages9
JournalPhysical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Volume16
Issue number24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 May 2014

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Physics and Astronomy(all)
  • Medicine(all)

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