Kinetics investigation of diversity cultures of E. coli and Shewanella sp., and their combined effect with mediator on MFC performance

•Determination of kinetics parameters of diversity cultures.•Mixed culture of E. coli and Shewanella sp.•Effect of methylene blue as mediator on the mixed culture.•Power density can be decreased by applying mediator in mixed culture.

One of the most important factors influencing performance of microbial fuel cell (MFC) process is choose of bacterial type. In this study, kinetic parameters of strains including: Escherichia coli, Shewanella sp. and their mixed culture were predicted using Monod and Moser models. The electricity generation was then investigated in an air cathode microbial fuel cell, using pure cultures of E. coli and Shewanella sp. and their mixtures as well. In this step, the main objective was to look into the combined effect of methylene blue (MB) concentration, as mediator, and the microorganism's type on maximum output power density.