Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are of increasing interest as bioelectrochemical systems for decomposing organic materials and converting chemical energy into electricity. The main challenge for this technology is that the low power and voltage of the devices restricts the use of MFCs in practical applications. In this paper, a power management system (PMS) is developed to store the energy and export an increased voltage. The designed PMS successfully increases the low voltage generated by an individual MFC to a high potential of 5 V, capable of driving a wireless temperature and humidity sensor based on nRF24L01 data transmission modules. With the PMS, MFCs can intermittently power the sensor for data transmission to a remote receiver. It is concluded that even an individual MFC can supply the energy required to power the sensor and telemetry system with the designed PMS. The presented PMS can be widely used for unmanned environmental monitoring such as wild rivers, lakes, and adjacent water areas, and offers promise for further advances in MFC technology.
Keywords: DC-DC; boost converter; charge pump; microbial fuel cells (MFCs); microcontroller unit (MCU); power management system (PMS); sensors.