National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave, Montreal, QC H4P 2R2, Canada.
Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, 3480 Rue University #350, Montreal, QC H3A 0E9, Canada.
Sensors (Basel). 2023 Aug 10;23(16):7065. doi: 10.3390/s23167065.
A microbial fuel cell (MFC) biosensor with an anode as a sensing element is often unreliable at low or significantly fluctuating organic matter concentrations. To remove this limitation, this work demonstrates capillary action-aided carbon source delivery to an anode-sensing MFC biosensor for use in carbon-depleted environments, e.g., potable water. First, different carbon source delivery configurations using several thread types, silk, nylon, cotton, and polyester, are evaluated. Silk thread was determined to be the most suitable material for passive delivery of a 40 g L acetate solution. This carbon source delivery system was then incorporated into the design of an MFC biosensor for real-time detection of toxicity spikes in tap water, providing an organic matter concentration of 56 ± 15 mg L. The biosensor was subsequently able to detect spikes of toxicants such as chlorine, formaldehyde, mercury, and cyanobacterial microcystins. The 16S sequencing results demonstrated the proliferation of (10.7% of the total population), (10.3%), and (10.2%) genera. Overall, this work shows that the proposed approach can be used to achieve real-time toxicant detection by MFC biosensors in carbon-depleted environments.
微生物燃料电池（MFC）生物传感器的阳极作为传感元件，在有机物浓度低或波动较大时往往不可靠。为了消除这一限制，本工作展示了一种利用毛细作用向阳极传感 MFC 生物传感器输送碳源的方法，用于碳耗尽环境，例如饮用水。首先，评估了使用几种线类型、丝绸、尼龙、棉花和聚酯的不同碳源输送配置。确定丝线是输送 40 g L 乙酸盐溶液的最适合的材料。然后，将该碳源输送系统纳入 MFC 生物传感器的设计中，以实时检测自来水中的毒性峰值，提供 56 ± 15 mg L 的有机物浓度。该生物传感器随后能够检测到氯、甲醛、汞和蓝藻微囊藻毒素等有毒物质的峰值。16S 测序结果表明， （占总种群的 10.7%）、 （10.3%）和 （10.2%）属的增殖。总的来说，这项工作表明，所提出的方法可用于在碳耗尽环境中实现 MFC 生物传感器的实时毒物检测。
