title: Poly iron sulfate flocculant as an effective additive for improving the performance of microbial fuel cells.
abstract: Laboratory microbial fuel cells were supplied with artificial wastewater and used to examine how supplementation with poly iron sulfate, an inorganic polymer flocculant widely used in wastewater-treatment plants, affects electricity generation and anode microbiomes. It is shown that poly iron sulfate substantially increases electric outputs from microbial fuel cells. Microbiological analyses show that iron and sulfate separately affect anode microbiomes, and the increase in power output is associated with the increases in bacteria affiliated with the families Geobacteraceae and/or Desulfuromonadaceae. We suggest that poly iron sulfate is an effective additive for increasing the electric output from microbial fuel cells. Other utilities of poly iron sulfate in microbial fuel cells are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Morio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyahara
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kouzuma
authors.affiliation: School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: kazuyaw@toyaku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kazuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D020564:Deltaproteobacteria; D004566:Electrodes; D005427:Flocculation; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D013431:Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000379:methods; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D007501:Iron; D013431:Sulfates; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: 16S rRNA gene; Exoelectrogen; Polarization analyses; Pyrosequencing; Real-time PCR