title: Increased performance of hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells under alkaline conditions.
abstract: This work reports the first successful enrichment and operation of alkaline bioelectrochemical systems (microbial fuel cells, MFC, and microbial electrolysis cells, MEC). Alkaline (pH=9.3) bioelectrochemical hydrogen production presented better performance (+117%) compared to conventional neutral conditions (2.6 vs 1.2 litres of hydrogen gas per litre of reactor per day, LH2·L(-1)REACTOR·d(-1)). Pyrosequencing results of the anodic biofilm showed that while Geobacter was mainly detected under conventional neutral conditions, Geoalkalibacter sp. was highly detected in the alkaline MFC (21%) and MEC (48%). This is the first report of a high enrichment of Geoalkalibacter from an anaerobic mixed culture using alkaline conditions in an MEC. Moreover, Alkalibacter sp. was highly present in the anodic biofilm of the alkaline MFC (37%), which would indicate its potentiality as a new exoelectrogen.
authors: GENOCOV, Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental, Escola d'Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain. Electronic address: Laura.Rago@live.com.
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Rago
authors: GENOCOV, Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental, Escola d'Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain. Electronic address: JuanAntonio.Baeza@uab.cat.
authors: Juan A
authors: JA
authors: Baeza
authors: GENOCOV, Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental, Escola d'Enginyeria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain. Electronic address: Albert.Guisasola@uab.cat.
authors: Albert
authors: A
authors: Guisasola
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development; D004566:Electrodes; D004572:Electrolysis; D004867:Equipment Design; D045302:Geobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007777:Lactobacillaceae / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D006859:Hydrogen
keywords: Alkalibacter; Alkaline; Geoalkalibacter; Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC); Microbial fuel cell (MFC); Pyrosequencing