School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, Merz Court, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2011 Apr;90(2):789-98. doi: 10.1007/s00253-011-3126-5. Epub 2011 Feb 24.
This study determined the influence of substrate degradation on power generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and microbial community selection on the anode. Air cathode MFCs were fed synthetic medium containing different substrates (acetate, glucose and starch) using primary clarifier sewage as source of electroactive bacteria. The complexity of the substrate affected the MFC performance both for power generation and COD removal. Power output decreased with an increase in substrate complexity from 99±2 mWm(-2) for acetate to 4±2 mWm(-2) for starch. The organic matter removal and coulombic efficiency (CE) of MFCs with acetate and glucose (82% of COD removal and 26% CE) were greater than MFCs using starch (60% of COD removal and 19% of CE). The combined hydrolysis-fermentation rate obtained (0.0024 h(-1)) was considerably lower than the fermentation rate (0.018 h(-1)), indicating that hydrolysis of complex compounds limits current output over fermentation. Statistical analysis of microbial community fingerprints, developed on the anode, showed that microbial communities were enriched according to the type of substrate used. Microbial communities producing high power outputs (fed acetate) clustered separately from bacterial communities producing low power outputs (fed complex compounds).
本研究旨在确定基质降解对微生物燃料电池（MFC）发电的影响，以及微生物群落对阳极的选择。空气阴极 MFC 以原初沉淀池污水作为电活性细菌的来源，以含有不同基质（乙酸盐、葡萄糖和淀粉）的合成培养基为食。基质的复杂性不仅影响 COD 去除，还影响 MFC 的发电性能。从乙酸盐的 99±2 mWm(-2)到淀粉的 4±2 mWm(-2)，功率输出随基质复杂性的增加而降低。以乙酸盐和葡萄糖为食的 MFC 的有机物去除率和库仑效率（CE）（82%的 COD 去除率和 26%的 CE）大于以淀粉为食的 MFC（60%的 COD 去除率和 19%的 CE）。获得的水解-发酵综合速率（0.0024 h(-1)) 明显低于发酵速率（0.018 h(-1))，表明复杂化合物的水解限制了发酵过程中的电流输出。根据所用基质的类型，对阳极上的微生物群落指纹进行统计分析表明，微生物群落是根据基质的类型而富集的。产生高功率输出（喂食乙酸盐）的微生物群落与产生低功率输出（喂食复杂化合物）的群落分离。
