title: Algal biocathode for in situ terminal electron acceptor (TEA) production: synergetic association of bacteria-microalgae metabolism for the functioning of biofuel cell.
abstract: Replacement of energy intensive mechanical aeration with sustainable oxygenic photosynthesis by microalgae at cathode was studied in dual-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC). The synergistic association between bacterial fermentation at anode and the oxygenic photosynthesis of microalgae at cathode facilitated good power output as well as treatment efficiency. However, MFC operation during spring showed higher bioelectrogenic activity (57.0 mW/m(2)) over summer (1.1 mW/m(2)) due to the higher oxygenic photosynthetic activity of microalgae and respective dissolved oxygen (DO) levels. This can be attributed to RuBisCO inactivation under high temperatures and light intensity of summer, which prevented rich algal biomass growth as well as their photosynthetic activity. Unlike abiotic cathode, the algal cathode potential increased with operation time due to the algal biomass growth during spring but was negligible during summer. The catalytic currents on voltammetric signatures and the bioprocess parameters also corroborated well with the observed power output.
authors: Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences (BEES), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad 500 007, India. Electronic address: vmohan_s@yahoo.com.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Venkata Mohan
authors: Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences (BEES), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad 500 007, India.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Srikanth
authors: Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences (BEES), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad 500 007, India.
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Chiranjeevi
authors: Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences (BEES), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad 500 007, India.
authors: Somya
authors: S
authors: Arora
authors: Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences (BEES), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT), Hyderabad 500 007, India.
authors: Rashmi
authors: R
authors: Chandra
mesh_terms: D001421:Bacteria, Anaerobic / Q000378:metabolism*; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D005285:Fermentation; D058086:Microalgae / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010788:Photosynthesis; D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase / Q000378:metabolism; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D012273:Ribulose-Bisphosphate Carboxylase
keywords: Bioelectrochemical system (BES); Microbial fuel cell; Oxygenic photosynthesis; Seasonal variation