(625y) Simultaneous Heavy Metal Treatment and Energy Generation Using Pseudomonas Aeruginosa in a Microbial FUEL CELL

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an electrochemical device capable of “bio-converting” a substrate to produce electrical energy. In this study, a dual chamber MFC was constructed with P. aeruginosaas bio-catalysts to facilitate the conversion. The effect of varying different MFC components (i.e., substrate concentration and heavy metal load) on the overall power generation was evaluated. Incorporation of chromium in the anode compartment decreased the potential from 565 mV to 201 mV (lowest value achieved at highest chromium concentration of 300 ppm). On the other hand, replacing K₃Fe(CN)₆ with K₂Cr₂O₇ as electron acceptor resulted in substantial increase in the potential (from 565 mV to 703 mV). In varying glucose concentration, results indicated that an increase in the substrate concentration increased the time needed to reach constant OCV, the maximum potential (606 mV) achieved was at 1200 ppm of glucose. For an actual system, incorporation of P. aeruginosa increased the potential from 256 mV to 592 mV. Based from results of the study, MFC can be a new core technology for generating alternative energy while treating waste (either organic/inorganic).