Ye Dingding, Zhang Pengqing, Zhu Xun, Yang Yang, Li Jun, Fu Qian, Chen Rong, Liao Qiang, Zhang Biao
Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems (Chongqing University), Ministry of Education Chongqing 400030 China
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University Chongqing 400030 China.
RSC Adv. 2018 Oct 1;8(59):33637-33641. doi: 10.1039/c8ra07340f. eCollection 2018 Sep 28.
Laminar-flow microbial fuel cells (LFMFCs) utilize the co-laminar flow feature in the microchannel as a virtual barrier to separate the anolyte and catholyte. However, for LFMFCs reported before, syringe pumps were always used to drive the fluid and form the co-laminar flow of anolyte and catholyte in the microchannel, reducing the net power output and the efficiency of the whole system. In this study, a laminar-flow microbial fuel cell (LFMFC) without any additional power supply is proposed. The LFMFC is successfully started-up after inoculation for 90 h. The anode biofilm distribution becomes sparser along the flow direction due to the thicker boundary layer and unfavorable crossover from the catholyte downstream. Moreover, the LFMFC delivers a maximum volumetric power density of 3200 W m, which is higher than that of previous LFMFCs without membranes. Considering the practical application of LFMFC as a power source, the cell voltage responses to different conditions are further investigated. When the external resistance is switched between 1000 Ω and 4000 Ω, it takes the LFMFC 10 minutes to reach a stable voltage output. However, the voltage response to the intermittent supply takes 1 h to reach a stable value. Additionally, short-term cold storage has little effect on bacterial metabolic activity and cell voltage.
层流微生物燃料电池（LFMFC）利用微通道中的共层流特性作为虚拟屏障来分隔阳极电解液和阴极电解液。然而，对于之前报道的LFMFC，总是使用注射泵来驱动流体并在微通道中形成阳极电解液和阴极电解液的共层流，这降低了净功率输出和整个系统的效率。在本研究中，提出了一种无需任何额外电源的层流微生物燃料电池（LFMFC）。接种90小时后，LFMFC成功启动。由于边界层较厚以及下游阴极电解液的不利交叉，阳极生物膜分布沿流动方向变得更稀疏。此外，该LFMFC的最大体积功率密度为3200 W/m³，高于之前无膜的LFMFC。考虑到LFMFC作为电源的实际应用，进一步研究了电池对不同条件的电压响应。当外部电阻在1000Ω和4000Ω之间切换时，LFMFC需要10分钟才能达到稳定的电压输出。然而，对间歇供电的电压响应需要1小时才能达到稳定值。此外，短期冷藏对细菌代谢活性和电池电压影响很小。
