Fuel cell on bacteria strains: 1 teaspoon of sugar = 80 hours of operation

    Welcome to the iCover Blog Pages ! As students from Tianjin University were able to prove, a microbial fuel cell “fed” with 1 tablespoon of sugar under certain conditions can generate electricity for 80 hours. And this is far from the limit, the authors of the method are sure. The project of the student team was recognized as the best at the prestigious International Exhibition of Achievements of Genetic Engineering IGem, held in September 2015. Learn more



    A group of 17 Chinese students from Tianjin University proposed their own version of the microbial fuel cell (MFC), which, when a spoonful of sugar is added, develops up to 520 mV of output and ensures the generation process for 80 hours. The development brought students an award for the best energy project and a gold medal at the prestigious September competition of Genetically Engineered Mechanisms 2015 ( IGem ).

    The innovative methods of electric power of the sun, wind, water and other renewable sources are united by one big drawback - the dependence of the amount of generated energy on environmental conditions, time of year, climate features, etc. The search for a source that would free the process of energy collection and accumulation from such influence factors and led a group of young researchers to create a new type of microbial fuel cell.

    Investigation of the capabilities of single-strain microbial fuel cells to produce energy has been going on for many years, but due to limited potential and strict cultivation requirements, a number of problems arose in the path to creating an effective source of electricity, primarily using one type of electrogenic microorganism. Student of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Technologies and Team Leader Ling Wei said that the main focus of their research was the genetic modification of three types of bacterial strains - Shewanella, B. Subtilis, E. Coli.

    “This is an innovative solution, since before us no one tried to reproduce a really working and efficient microbial fuel cell (MFC) from three types of microbes. The modifications obtained allow us, mixing various types of microbes, to obtain combinations of the two elements necessary for MFC electrogens to produce electricity. ” - Lin explained, adding that in comparison with the existing methods of generating energy by using the energy potential of wind, water and the sun, their system is much more stable, independent of weather conditions and location, allows, at the same time, the possibility of scaling within any limits of interest .

    “Alternative methods of obtaining energy, such as solar energy and wind energy, have a low conversion rate, and perhaps because of this we are not able to use them to their full potential, achieving an average efficiency of 20 percent or less. Our microbial fuel cell can efficiently produce electricity and convert inorganic substances such as salt to electricity with simple glucose ... ”, Lin summarizes.

    According to the biomechanical engineer Liu Yue, the team will be able to produce a significantly smaller fuel cell, designed for a long time. In the future, this will allow the use of MFC as an effective alternative to the lithium batteries popular today.



    A source



    Dear readers, we are always happy to meet and wait for you on the pages of our blog. We are ready to continue to share with you the latest news, review articles and other publications and will try to do our best to make the time spent with us useful for you. And, of course, do not forget to subscribe to our columns .

    Our other articles and events


    Also popular now: