microbial fuel cell tagged posts

A Northwestern University-led team of researchers has developed a new fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in dirt.

About the size of a standard paperback book, the completely soil-powered technology could fuel underground sensors used in precision agriculture and green infrastructure. This potentially could offer a sustainable, renewable alternative to batteries, which hold toxic, flammable chemicals that leach into the ground, are fraught with conflict-filled supply chains and contribute to the ever-growing problem of electronic waste.

To test the new fuel cell, the researchers used it to power sensors measuring soil moisture and detecting touch, a capability that could be valuable for track...

Enterobacteriaceae: Large family of Gram-negative bacteria that includes many of the more familiar pathogens, such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli. Credit: © ktsdesign / Fotolia

A scientific breakthrough has taken an emerging biotechnology a step closer to being used to treat wastewater in the Developing World. Researchers at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) (Ieropoulos & Greenman) have discovered that technology they have developed which has already been proven to generate electricity through the process of cleaning organic waste, such as urine, also kills bacteria harmful to humans.

Experts have shown that a special process they have developed in which wastewater flows through a series of cells filled with electroactive microbes can be used to attack and destroy a ...

A new disposable battery that folds like an origami ninja star could power biosensors and other small devices for use in challenging field conditions. Credit: Jonathan Cohen/Binghamton University

A new disposable battery that folds like an origami ninja star could power biosensors and other small devices for use in challenging field conditions. Seokheun “Sean” Choi, assistant professor of computer and electrical engineering at Binghamton University, along with 2 of his students, developed the device, a microbial fuel cell that runs on the bacteria available in a few drops of dirty water.

Choi previously developed a paper-based origami battery. The first design, shaped like a matchbook, stacked 4 modules together. The ninja star version, which measures about 2...

MFCs used in this study; A: Photograph of MFC_S; B: Photograph of MFC_L; C: Schematic layout of the device.

An affordable, renewable and carbon-neutral way of generating power as been created by Uni of bath researchers. In the near future this device could provide a means of generating much needed electricity to remote areas at very little cost, each device costs just £1-£2. With growing global pressures to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and the associated greenhouse gas emissions, microbial fuel cells could be an exciting alternative.

A microbial fuel cell is a device that uses natural biological processes of ‘electric’ bacteria to turn organic matter, such as urine, into electricity...