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Enhancement of Electricity Production in Microbial Fuel Cells Using a Biosurfactant-Producing Co-Culture
oleh: Carolina Montoya-Vallejo, Jorge Omar Gil Posada, Juan Carlos Quintero-Díaz
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2023-11-01 |
Deskripsi
Microbial fuel cells are bio-electrochemical devices that enable the conversion of chemical energy into bioelectricity. In this manuscript, the use of biosurfactants (Tween 80 and surfactin) and the effect of coculturing <i>E. coli</i> and <i>L. plantarum</i> were used to investigate the generation of bioelectricity coming from an H-type microbial fuel cell. In this setup, <i>E. coli</i> acts as an electron donor while <i>L. plantarum</i> acts as an in situ biosurfactant producer. It was observed that the use of exogenous surfactants enhanced electricity production compared to conventional <i>E. coli</i> cultures. The utilization of Tween 80 and surfactin increased the power generation from 204 µW m<sup>−2</sup> to 506 µW m<sup>−2</sup> and 577 µW m<sup>−2</sup>, respectively. Furthermore, co-culturing <i>E. coli</i> and <i>L. plantarum</i> also resulted in a higher power output compared to pure cultures (132.8% more when compared to using <i>E. coli</i> alone and 68.1% more when compared to using <i>L. plantarum</i> alone). Due to the presence of surfactants, the internal resistance of the cell was reduced. The experimental evidence collected here clearly indicates that the production of endogenous surfactants, as well as the addition of exogenous surfactants, will enhance MFC electricity production.