Evaluation of Laminaria-based microbial fuel cells (LbMs) for electricity production

Marine algae represents a sustainable feedstock in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) due to its low water and energy requirements for cultivation, higher capacity to sequester carbondioxide, and high carbohydrate content. Two-compartment MFCs were evaluated under batch-fed mode using Laminaria saccharina as the model for algae-based electron donor, and mixed microbial consortia as the biocatalyst, in the anode compartment. The Laminaria-based MFCs (LBMs) were studied with three different pretreatment conditions for the L. saccharina: (i) autoclaving (Auto), (ii) microwave irradiation (Micro), and (iii) as received treatment (No-Treat). A control was setup to establish base line performance for two-compartment MFCs using glucose as the electron donor in the anode. The performance of LBMs (250 mW/m2 and 900 mA/m2) was on par with glucose-based MFCs. AC impedance analysis revealed that the charge transfer resistance was at least 50-fold higher than the corresponding ohmic losses in both LBMs and glucose-based MFCs.

► Demonstrated the performance of microbial fuel cells based on marine algae.
► Laminaria saccharina was evaluated as the electron-donor in MFCs.
► The LbMs were evaluated with pretreated Laminaria as well as as-received Laminaria.
► The performance of pretreated LbMs was on par with glucose-based MFCs.
► The polarization resistance in LbMs was 50-fold larger than the ohmic losses.