Sun Min, Sheng Guo-Ping, Zhang Lei, Xia Chang-Rong, Mu Zhe-Xuan, Liu Xian-Wei, Wang Hua-Lin, Yu Han-Qing, Qi Rong, Yu Tao, Yang Min
Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026 China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2008 Nov 1;42(21):8095-100. doi: 10.1021/es801513c.
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices that use bacteria as the catalysts to oxidize organic and inorganic matter and generate current whereas microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) are a reactor for biohydrogen production by combining MFC and electrolysis. In an MEC, an external voltage must be applied to overcome the thermodynamic barrier. Here we report an MEC-MFC-coupled system for biohydrogen production from acetate, in which hydrogen was produced in an MEC and the extra power was supplied by an MFC. In this coupled system, hydrogen was produced from acetate without external electric power supply. At 10 mM of phosphate buffer, the hydrogen production rate reached 2.2 +/- 0.2 mL L(-1) d(-1), the cathodic hydrogen recovery (RH2) and overall systemic Coulombic efficiency (CEsys) were 88 to approximately 96% and 28 to approximately 33%, respectively, and the overall systemic hydrogen yield (Y(sysH2)) peaked at 1.21 mol-H2 mol-acetate(-1). The hydrogen production was elevated by increasing the phosphate buffer concentration, and the highest hydrogen production rate of 14.9 +/- 0.4 mL L(-1) d(-1) and Y(sysH2) of 1.60 +/- 0.08 mol-H2 mol-acetate(-1) were achieved at 100 mM of phosphate buffer. The performance of the MEC and the MFC was influenced by each other. This MEC-MFC-coupled system has a potential for biohydrogen production from wastes, and provides an effective way for in situ utilization of the power generated from MFCs.
微生物燃料电池（MFCs）是利用细菌作为催化剂来氧化有机和无机物质并产生电流的装置，而微生物电解池（MECs）是通过结合MFC和电解用于生物制氢的反应器。在MEC中，必须施加外部电压以克服热力学障碍。在此，我们报告了一种用于从乙酸盐生产生物氢的MEC-MFC耦合系统，其中在MEC中产生氢气，额外的电力由MFC提供。在这个耦合系统中，无需外部电源即可从乙酸盐中产生氢气。在10 mM的磷酸盐缓冲液中，产氢速率达到2.2±0.2 mL L(-1) d(-1)，阴极氢气回收率（RH2）和整体系统库仑效率（CEsys）分别为88%至约96%和28%至约33%，整体系统氢气产率（Y(sysH2)）在1.21 mol-H2 mol-乙酸盐(-1)时达到峰值。通过增加磷酸盐缓冲液浓度可提高产氢量，在100 mM磷酸盐缓冲液下实现了最高产氢速率14.9±0.4 mL L(-1) d(-1)和Y(sysH2) 1.60±0.08 mol-H2 mol-乙酸盐(-1)。MEC和MFC的性能相互影响。这种MEC-MFC耦合系统具有从废物中生产生物氢的潜力，并为原位利用MFC产生的电力提供了有效途径。
