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Development of efficient electroactive biofilm in urine-fed microbial fuel cell cascades for bioelectricity generation

Development of efficient electroactive biofilm in urine-fed microbial fuel cell cascades for bioelectricity generation
Development of efficient electroactive biofilm in urine-fed microbial fuel cell cascades for bioelectricity generation
The Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology harnesses the potential of some naturally occurring bacteria for electricity generation. Digested sludge is commonly used as the inoculum to initiate the process. There are, however, health hazards and practical issues associated with the use of digested sludge depending on its origin as well as the location for system deployment. This work reports the development of an efficient electroactive bacterial community within ceramic-based MFCs fed with human urine in the absence of sludge inoculum. The results show the development of a uniform bacterial community with power output levels equal to or higher than those generated from MFCs inoculated with sludge. In this case, the power generation begins within 2 days of the experimental set-up, compared to about 5 days in some sludge-inoculated MFCs, thus significantly reducing the start-up time. The metagenomics analysis of the successfully formed electroactive biofilm (EAB) shows significant shifts between the microbial ecology of the feeding material (fresh urine) and the developed anodic biofilm. A total of 21 bacteria genera were detected in the urine feedstock whilst up to 35 different genera were recorded in the developed biofilm. Members of Pseudomonas (18%) and Anaerolineaceae (17%) dominate the bacterial community of the fresh urine feed while members of Burkholderiaceae (up to 50%) and Tissierella (up to 29%) dominate the anodic EAB. These results highlight a significant shift in the bacterial community of the feedstock towards a selection and adaptation required for the various electrochemical reactions essential for survival through power generation.
Urine, Microbial fuel cell, Electroactive bacteria, Microbial community structure
0301-4797
Obata, Oluwatosin
a4215b3c-fcf2-4894-b1a7-f82707a0632b
Salar-Garcia, Maria J.
1a342bfd-1231-4c7e-90f3-3f50788e2d17
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Kurt, Halil
d22e1560-890d-420f-9774-2dce1f7efd4a
Chandran, Kartik
d97e2014-6de4-4572-810d-c8e66398f38d
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
Obata, Oluwatosin
a4215b3c-fcf2-4894-b1a7-f82707a0632b
Salar-Garcia, Maria J.
1a342bfd-1231-4c7e-90f3-3f50788e2d17
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Kurt, Halil
d22e1560-890d-420f-9774-2dce1f7efd4a
Chandran, Kartik
d97e2014-6de4-4572-810d-c8e66398f38d
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13

Obata, Oluwatosin, Salar-Garcia, Maria J., Greenman, John, Kurt, Halil, Chandran, Kartik and Ieropoulos, Ioannis (2020) Development of efficient electroactive biofilm in urine-fed microbial fuel cell cascades for bioelectricity generation. Journal of Environmental Management, 258, [109992]. (doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109992).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology harnesses the potential of some naturally occurring bacteria for electricity generation. Digested sludge is commonly used as the inoculum to initiate the process. There are, however, health hazards and practical issues associated with the use of digested sludge depending on its origin as well as the location for system deployment. This work reports the development of an efficient electroactive bacterial community within ceramic-based MFCs fed with human urine in the absence of sludge inoculum. The results show the development of a uniform bacterial community with power output levels equal to or higher than those generated from MFCs inoculated with sludge. In this case, the power generation begins within 2 days of the experimental set-up, compared to about 5 days in some sludge-inoculated MFCs, thus significantly reducing the start-up time. The metagenomics analysis of the successfully formed electroactive biofilm (EAB) shows significant shifts between the microbial ecology of the feeding material (fresh urine) and the developed anodic biofilm. A total of 21 bacteria genera were detected in the urine feedstock whilst up to 35 different genera were recorded in the developed biofilm. Members of Pseudomonas (18%) and Anaerolineaceae (17%) dominate the bacterial community of the fresh urine feed while members of Burkholderiaceae (up to 50%) and Tissierella (up to 29%) dominate the anodic EAB. These results highlight a significant shift in the bacterial community of the feedstock towards a selection and adaptation required for the various electrochemical reactions essential for survival through power generation.

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Published date: 15 March 2020
Keywords: Urine, Microbial fuel cell, Electroactive bacteria, Microbial community structure

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 453987
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/453987
ISSN: 0301-4797
PURE UUID: dcb2d1b4-6f50-4d27-831b-5a0f7809ea4a
ORCID for Ioannis Ieropoulos: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9641-5504

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Date deposited: 27 Jan 2022 18:09
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:10

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Contributors

Author: Oluwatosin Obata
Author: Maria J. Salar-Garcia
Author: John Greenman
Author: Halil Kurt
Author: Kartik Chandran

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