title: Application of a weak magnetic field to improve microbial fuel cell performance.
abstract: Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have emerged as a promising technology for wastewater treatment with concomitant energy production but the performance is usually limited by low microbial activities. This has spurred intensive research interest for microbial enhancement. This study demonstrated an interesting stimulation effect of a static magnetic field (MF) on sludge-inoculated MFCs and explored into the mechanisms. The implementation of a 100-mT MF accelerated the reactor startup and led to increased electricity generation. Under the MF exposure, the activation loss of the MFC was decreased, but there was no increased secretion of redox mediators. Thus, the MF effect was mainly due to enhanced bioelectrochemical activities of anodic microorganisms, which are likely attributed to the oxidative stress and magnetohydrodynamic effects under an MF exposure. This work implies that weak MF may be applied as a simple and effective approach to stimulate microbial activities for various bioelectrochemical energy production and decontamination applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.|Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano Science and Technology, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
authors.forename: Han-Qing
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China. wwli@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wen-Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
authors.forename: Yun-Kun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
authors.forename: Xian-Wei
authors.initials: XW
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Science & Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Ping
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Sheng
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D004560:Electricity; D060526:Magnetic Fields
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels
keywords: Electricity production; Electrochemical activity; Magnetic field (MF); Microbial fuel cells (MFCs); Mixed culture