Biffinger Justin C, Ringeisen Bradley R
US Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave. SW., Code 6113, Washington, DC 20375, USA.
Recent Pat Biotechnol. 2008;2(3):150-5. doi: 10.2174/187220808786240962.
Fundamental research into how microbes generate electricity within microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has far outweighed the practical application and large scale development of microbial energy harvesting devices. MFCs are considered alternatives to standard commercial polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology because the fuel supply does not need to be purified, ambient operating temperatures are maintained with biologically compatible materials, and the biological catalyst is self-regenerating. The generation of electricity during wastewater treatment using MFCs may profoundly affect the approach to anaerobic treatment technologies used in wastewater treatment as a result of developing this energy harvesting technology. However, the materials and engineering designs for MFCs were identical to commercial fuel cells until 2003. Compared to commercial fuel cells, MFCs will remain underdeveloped as long as low power densities are generated from the best systems. The variety of designs for MFCs has expanded rapidly in the last five years in the literature, but the patent protection has lagged behind. This review will cover recent and important patents relating to MFC designs and progress.
微生物在微生物燃料电池（MFC）中如何发电的基础研究远远超过了微生物能量收集装置的实际应用和大规模开发。MFC被认为是标准商业聚合物电解质膜（PEM）燃料电池技术的替代品，因为燃料供应无需纯化，使用生物相容性材料可维持环境工作温度，且生物催化剂可自我再生。由于开发了这种能量收集技术，在废水处理过程中使用MFC发电可能会深刻影响废水处理中使用的厌氧处理技术的方法。然而，直到2003年，MFC的材料和工程设计与商业燃料电池相同。与商业燃料电池相比，只要最佳系统产生的功率密度较低，MFC就仍将处于欠发达状态。在过去五年中，文献中MFC的设计种类迅速增加，但专利保护却滞后了。本综述将涵盖与MFC设计和进展相关的近期重要专利。
