title: Generation of electricity from FeCl3 pretreatment of rice straw using a fuel cell system.
abstract: This study explored a new approach to the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass using FeCl3 combined with a fuel cell system to generate electricity. After pretreatment, ferric iron (Fe(3+)), a strong catalyst in the hydrolysis of carbohydrate, was found to be reduced to ferrous iron (Fe(2+)) by means of the oxidation of xylose and lignin. Ferrous iron, as a fuel, was employed to the anode part of a fuel cell, generating power of 1110 mW/m(2). During the fuel cell operation, ferrous iron was completely removed through oxidation to ferric iron and precipitated out. The optimal conditions for the operation of the fuel cell were found to be a pH of 7.0 and ferrous iron concentration of above 0.008 M. These results clearly show that a fuel cell system could be used not only to remove ferrous iron from liquid hydrolysate, but also to produce electricity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ilgook
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saif Ur Rehman
authors.forename: Kyoung Heon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-In
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D019149:Bioreactors; D002712:Chlorides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004560:Electricity; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration / Q000187:drug effects; D006868:Hydrolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D012275:Oryza / Q000187:drug effects*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002712:Chlorides; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D014866:Waste Products; C024555:ferric chloride