Presented to:Ms.

Vineeta Singh
(Department of Biotechnology)
Presented by:Nancy Singhal
(1513354025)

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CONTENTS
 Introduction
 Concept
 Definition
 Types of mfc
 Electrochemically active bacteria
 Components
 Construction
 Working
 Environmental impacts
 Efficiency
 Applications
 Advantages
 Limitations
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INTRODUCTION
 Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are an emerging
technology that uses bacteria to generate electricity
from waste.
 Microbial Fuel Cells are used to produce electricity
while simultaneously cleaning wastewater.

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CONCEPT
 Bacteria convert substrate into electrons.
 The electrons run through the circuit and to power
the load.
 The by-products include carbon dioxide, water, and
energy.

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DEFINITION
 A microbial fuel cell is a device that converts chemical
energy in to electrical energy by the catalytic reaction
of microorganisms(bacteria).

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TYPES OF MFCs
 Mediator microbial fuel cell: The electron transfer
from microbial cells to the electrode is facilitated by
mediators such as thionine, methyl blue, neutral red
and so on.
 Mediator-free microbial fuel cell: Mediator-free
microbial fuel cells do not require a mediator but use
electrochemically active bacteria to transfer electrons
to the electrode.

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ELECTROCHEMICALLY ACTIVE
BACTERIAs
 Shewanella putrefaciens
 Aeromonas hydrophila
 Geobacteraceae etc.

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COMPONENTS OF MFC
 Anode
 Cathode
 Proton exchange membrane
 Electrical circuit

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CONSTRUCTION OF
MFC

Anode:
C6H12O6+6H2O=6CO2+24H++24e
Cathode: 24H++24e-+6O2= 12H20
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WORKING
1.The bacteria on the anode decompose organic matter and free H+
ions and electrons.
2. The electrons flow from the bacteria to the anode, sometimes
assisted by a mediator molecule.
3. The electrons flow up from the anode, through a wire, and onto
the cathode. While flowing through the wire, an electrical
current is generated that can be used to perform work.
4. The H+ ions flow through the semi-permeable membrane to the
cathode. This process is driven by the electro-chemical
gradient resulting from the high concentration of H+ ions near
the anode.
5. The electrons from the cathode combine with dissolved oxygen
and the H+ ions to form pure H2O.

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Working of mfc

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
 If the variety of substrates is increased, waste can be
used to create more energy.
 Instead of big factory manufacturing, fertilizer for
farmers can be created with MFCs and common
materials.
 MFCs can be used to desalinate seawater without
burning fossil fuels.

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EFFICIENCY
 The efficiency varies based on the substrate used, but
it can reach very high efficiencies.
 91% efficiency has been reached.

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LITERATURE SURVEY
 “Electricity production coupled with Waste Water
treatment using MICROBIALFUELCELL”
 by Vineetha V, Shibu K. Department of Civil
Engineering, College of Engineering,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
 This paper presents the study on mediator less MFCs
for waste water treatment using modified anodes .
 comparison of electricity generation was carried out
with Plain carbon rods and iron coated carbon rods as
anodes.
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 It was observed that this single chambered mediator less microbial fuel cell
was capable of giving higher removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and
Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD).
maximum voltage production was obtained from MFC with heated iron
coated carbon as anode.

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APPLICATIONS
 WASTE WATER TREATMENT:Food manufacturing
wastewater can be treated by microbial fuel cells
because their wastewater is rich in organic compounds
that can serve as food for the microorganisms.
 SEWAGE TREATMENT: Sewage wastewater can also
be converted via microbial fuel cells to decompose the
waste organic material contained within it.
 Research has shown that MFCs can reduce the amount
of organic material present in sewage wastewater up to
80%.croorganisms.

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•DESALINATION: Desalination of sea water and brackish water for use as drinking water
has always presented significant problems because of the amount of energy required to
remove the dissolved salts from the water.
• By using an adapted microbial fuel cell, this process could proceed with no external
electrical energy input.

• TREATING POLLUTED RIVERS AND LAKES:The anode is submerged in the

water where organic pollutants feed the bacteria while the cathode floats on top of
the water.
• The organic pollutants are decomposed to carbon dioxide and water, cleansing the
polluted lake or stream.

BIOHYDROGEN PRODUCTION:MFCs supply a renewable hydrogen source that

can be donated to the overall hydrogen demand in a hydrogen economy.
For this,anodic potential must be increased with an additional voltage of about
0.23V or more.

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ADVANTAGES
 Generation of energy out of biowaste
 Direct conversion of substrate energy into electricity.
 Aeration
 Bioremediation of toxic compounds
 Waste water treatment and power generation at the
same time

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LIMITATIONS
 Low power density
 High initial cost
 Activation losses
 Bacterial metabolic losses
 Very slow performance in waste water treatment

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THANK YOU...

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