Modeling of microfluidic microbial fuel cells using quantitative bacterial transport parameters

The objective of present study is to analyze the dynamic modeling of bioelectrochemical processes and improvement of the performance of previous models using quantitative data of bacterial transport parameters. The main deficiency of previous MFC models concerning spatial distribution of biocatalysts is an assumption of initial distribution of attached/suspended bacteria on electrode or in anolyte bulk which is the foundation for biofilm formation. In order to modify this imperfection, the quantification of chemotactic motility to understand the mechanisms of the suspended microorganisms' distribution in anolyte and/or their attachment to anode surface to extend the biofilm is implemented numerically. The spatial and temporal distributions of the bacteria, as well as the dynamic behavior of the anolyte and biofilm are simulated. The performance of the microfluidic MFC as a chemotaxis assay is assessed by analyzing the bacteria activity, substrate variation, bioelectricity production rate and the influences of external resistance on the biofilm and anolyte's features.