Microbial fuel cells using Cellulomonas spp. with cellulose as fuel.
Cellulomonas fimi, Cellulomonas biazotea, and Cellulomonas flavigena are cellulose-degrading microorganisms chosen to compare the degradation of cellulose. C. fimi degraded 2.5 g/L of cellulose within 4 days, which was the highest quantity among the three microorganisms. The electric current generation by the microbial fuel cell (MFC) using the cellulose-containing medium with C. fimi was measured over 7 days. The medium in the MFC was sampled every 24 h to quantify the degradation of cellulose, and the results showed that the electric current increased with the degradation of cellulose. The maximum electric power generated by the MFC was 38.7 mW/m2, and this numeric value was 63% of the electric power generated by an MFC with Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, a well-known current-generating microorganism. Our results showed that C. fimi was an excellent candidate to produce the electric current from cellulose via MFCs.
Department of Biobased Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
Yuya
Y
Takeuchi
Department of Biobased Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
Wichean
W
Khawdas
Department of Biobased Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan.
Yuji
Y
Aso
Department of Biobased Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan. Electronic address: ohara@kit.ac.jp.
Hitomi
H
Ohara
D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D040143:Cellulomonas / Q000378:metabolism*; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism*; D004560:Electricity
D002482:Cellulose
Air-cathode; Carbon felt; Cellulomonas; Cellulose; Microbial fuel cell