title: Understanding electricity generation in osmotic microbial fuel cells through integrated experimental investigation and mathematical modeling.
abstract: Osmotic microbial fuel cells (OsMFCs) are a new type of MFCs with integrating forward osmosis (FO). However, it is not well understood why electricity generation is improved in OsMFCs compared to regular MFCs. Herein, an approach integrating experimental investigation and mathematical model was adopted to address the question. Both an OsMFC and an MFC achieved similar organic removal efficiency, but the OsMFC generated higher current than the MFC with or without water flux, resulting from the lower resistance of FO membrane. Combining NaCl and glucose as a catholyte demonstrated that the catholyte conductivity affected the electricity generation in the OsMFC. A mathematical model of OsMFCs was developed and validated with the experimental data. The model predicated the variation of internal resistance with increasing water flux, and confirmed the importance of membrane resistance. Increasing water flux with higher catholyte conductivity could decrease the membrane resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Mohan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Qingyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ping
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Yaobin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Ibrahim M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Abu-Reesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. Electronic address: zhenhe@vt.edu.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D061249:Batch Cell Culture Techniques; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004560:Electricity; D005947:Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009995:Osmosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000032:analysis; D012996:Solutions
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012996:Solutions; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D005947:Glucose
keywords: Forward osmosis; Internal resistance; Ion exchange membrane; Osmotic microbial fuel cells; Wastewater treatment