Bacillus Biocathode Enables Effective Electricity Generation with Microbial Fuel Cells

S. Han, C. Zhou
Missouri University of Science and Technology,
United States

Keywords: bacillus, microbial fuel cells, 16s rdna, biocathode

Summary:

In a microbial fuel cell (MFC), biocathodes alleviate the need to use noble catalysts to reduce oxygen, which substantially increases the viability and sustainability of a MFC. Three electrochemically active strains of bacteria are isolated from the electroactive biofilm formed in the sediment of a MFC cathode and identified as Bacillus, according to 16S rDNA sequence analysis and biochemical, physiological, and morphological characteristics. Electrochemically active of every strain was detected by cyclic voltammograms methode. The performance of a biocathode in the terminal electron-accepting process that is biocatalyzed by these Bacillus bacteria is investigated. The maximum power density of biocathode MFC is 2.4 times more than that of an abiotic cathode MFC. This study examines a widespread property among bacteria such as Bacillus that can utilize carbon substrates for cathode O2 reduction, thus developing new and interesting routes in the field of electroactive bacteria research.