MODIFICATION OF MEMBRANE, CATHODE ELECTROLITE AND ANODIC MATERIALS IN MICROBIAL FUEL CELL (MFC) SYSTEM

I Nyoman P. Aryantha1,2 and Jamilah2

1Microbiology-Genetics-Cell Molecular Biology Division, School of Life Sciences and Technology
2Center for Life Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132

Email : nyoman@sith.itb.ac.id

Abstract

The study of Microbial Fuel Cell system has been increasing rapidly. Current MFC system consists of microbial culture as anodic electrolyte, Nafion as proton exchange membrane, Potassium Ferricyanide as cathode electrolyte and both anode and cathode components use graphite as electrode. Nafion membrane and Potassium Ferricyanide are relatively expensive which may inhibit the research development on MFC. Electrodes for anode and cathode components using the same material (graphite) produce relatively low electrical voltage. This research tries to develop a modified system which is cheaper and results in a higher electrical voltage. Hydrogen bacteria (Hydrogenophaga palleronii and Pseudomonas hydrogenovora) from previous research at Center for Life Sciences ITB were used as anode component in this research. These bacteria were grown on modified medium containing Sidoarjo sludge as a primary substrate supplemented with CO(NH2)2 and NaHCO3 with initial pH of 7-8 and inoculum concentration of 15% v/v (Jamilah and Aryantha, 2008). Polyalumunium chloride, Sodium hypochlorite and Acetic acid were evaluated for their potency as cathode electrolyte to substitute Potassium Ferricyanide. A combination of zeolite, Plered clay soil, gypsum, kaoline sediment, Sidoarjo sludge and cement were evaluated their potency as membrane formula to substitute Nafion membrane. Carbon (graphite) based cathode (catho-electrode) was combined with zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and tin (Sn) materials as an anode (ano-electrode), to substitute graphite in previous system. The result with the best value of electrical voltage (1743,6 mV) was achieved by a combination of zeolit-clay soil-cement (zeclace) as a membrane formula, carbon as catho-electrode and zinc as ano-electrode. This arrangement was combine with acetic acid (acticid) as cathode electrolyte (catho-electolyte) to substitute Potassium Ferricyanide in previous system. This result is a significant improvement on MFC system which is much cheaper and produce much higher electrical voltage than previous system.

Keywords: Modified MFC system, Hydrogenophaga palleronii, Pseudomonas hydrogenovora, zeolite-clay-cement (zeclace), zinc, acetic acid.
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International Conference And Exhibition-Science & Technology In Biomass Production: Optimizing University-Industry Collaboration, ITB Bandung, 25-26 November 2009

The electrical voltage production of Gamma-irradiated iron bacteria (Pseudomonas sp) in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) system

Shinta Asharina1 and I Nyoman P. Aryantha1,2

1Microbiology-Genetics-Cell Molecular Biology Division, School of Life Sciences and Technology
2Center for Life Sciences

Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132

Email : nyoman@sith.itb.ac.id

ABSTRACT

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a new energy generating system using microbes ability to produce electricity directly from renewable materials. Pseudomonas sp, an iron bacterium has been known for its ability to convert chemical energy from mineral intto electrical voltage through MFC system. In this study, the performance of Pseudomonas sp was evaluated after being treated with several doses of Gamma ray. Gamma ray, which is a strong ionizing agent can result in the damage of DNA. Radiation doses from 0.1-1 KGy were exposed to bacterial cell suspension before regrown on agar media. The result showed that, the survival rate of bacteria was the lowest at the dose of 1 KGy and slightly higher at the dose of 0.8 KGy treatment. The survived isolates from each dose were then chosen randomly before electrical voltage evaluation in MFC system. Iron modified medium consisting of Sidoarjo mud, Urea, and FeCl3 was used for growing the mutant candidates. The chosen mutant isolate (dose 0.8 KGy) produced 1.353 V. The electrical voltage measurement of the chosen mutant and wild type were compared using MFC system during 5 days. The initial pH of modified medium was adjusted at 7. The result showed that there was no significant differences on electrical voltage production between the mutant and wild type isolate. This suggests that random mutation through Gamma irradiation on this iron bacterium (Pseudomonas sp.) seems to be instable. Further study needs to be conducted to find out the optimum radiation dose for this iron bacterium in order to obtain a higher electrical voltage.

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International Conference And Exhibition-Science & Technology In Biomass Production: Optimizing University-Industry Collaboration, ITB Bandung, 25-26 November 2009