Microbial fuel cells equipped with an iron-plated carbon-felt anode and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 with corn steep liquor as a fuel

Abstract

A single chamber type microbial fuel cell (MFC) with 100 mL of chamber volume and 50 cm² of air-cathode was developed in this study wherein a developed iron-plated carbon-felt anode and Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 were used. The performance of the iron-plated carbon-felt anode and the possibility of corn steep liquor (CSL) as a fuel, which was the byproduct of corn wet milling and contained lactic acid, was investigated here. MFCs equipped with iron-plated or non-plated carbon-felt anodes exhibited maximum current densities of 443 or 302 mA/m² using 10 g/L of reagent-grade lactic acid, respectively. In addition, using centrifuged CSL without insoluble ingredients or non-centrifuged CSL as a fuel, the maximum current densities of the MFCs with iron-plated carbon-felt anode were 321 or 158 mA/m², respectively. This report demonstrated the effect of iron-plated carbon-felt anode for electricity generation of MFC using S. oneidensis MR-1 and the performance of CSL as a fuel.

Keywords: Corn steep liquor; Iron-plated carbon-felt anode; Lactic acid; Microbial fuel cell; Shewanella oneidensis MR-1.