Microbial community dynamics and electron transfer of a biocathode in microbial fuel cells

Guo-Wei Chen; Soo-Jung Choi; Jae-Hwan Cha; Tae-Ho Lee; Chang-Won Kim

Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.27, No.5, 1513-1520, September, 2010

DOI10.1007/s11814-010-0231-6 Export Citation

Microbial community dynamics and electron transfer of a biocathode in microbial fuel cells

Guo-Wei Chen^{1, 2}, Soo-Jung Choi¹, Jae-Hwan Cha¹, Tae-Ho Lee¹, and Chang-Won Kim^{1, †}

¹Department of Environmental Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea
²School of Civil Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China

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Microbial community dynamics and its electron transfer process within a biocathode in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) were investigated in this study. The MFC was operated steadily over 400 days, and the power density reached 1.92 and 10.27W/m3 based on the reduction of nitrate and oxygen, respectively. The six major groups of the clones that were categorized among the 26 clone types were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, Firmicutes and uncultured bacteria. Microbial community dynamics showed that Betaproteobacteria was replaced by Gammaproteobacteria as the most abundant division among all the clone types with a percentage of 48.86% in the cathode compartment, followed by 20.45% of uncultured bacteria, 17.05% of Bacteroidetes, and others. Distinct oxidation and reduction peaks could be observed in the profiles of cathodic effluent during the cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry tests. It confirmed that nitrate and oxygen reduction in the cathode compartment could be significantly enhanced by the presence of microbes, which are able to excrete metabolites to assist the electron transfer process either in the anode or in the cathode compartment.

Keywords:Biocathode;Electron Transfer;Microbial Community Dynamics;Microbial Fuel Cell

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[Referenced By]

[1] Angenent LT, Karim K, Al-Dahhan MH, Wrenn BA, Domiguez-Espinosa R, Trends Biotechnol., 22, 477 (2004)

[2] Kim BH, Chang IS, Gadd GM, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 76(3), 485 (2007)

[3] Logan BE, Hamelers B, Rozendal R, Schroder U, Keller J, Freguia S, Aelterman P, Verstraete W, Rabaey K, Eviron. Sci. Technol., 40, 5181 (2006)

[4] Rabaey K, Ossieur W, Verhaege M, Verstraete W, Water Sci.Technol., 52, 515 (2005)

[5] Rittmann BE, Trends Biotechnol., 24, 261 (2006)

[6] Tender LM, Reimers CE, Stecher HA, Holmes DE, Bond DR, Lowy DA, Pilobello K, Fertig SJ, Lovely DR, Nat.Biotechnol., 20, 821 (2002)

[7] Trinh NT, Park JH, Kim BW, Korean J. Chem. Eng., 26(3), 748 (2009)

[8] Freguia S, Rabaey K, Yuan Z, Keller J, Water Res., 42, 1387 (2008)

[9] Zhao F, Harnisch F, Schrorder U, Scholz F, Bogdanoff P, Herrmann I, Eviron. Sci. Technol., 40, 5193 (2006)

[10] Bergel A, Feron D, Mollica A, Electrochem. Commun., 7, 900 (2005)

[11] Chen GW, Choi SJ, Lee TH, Lee GY, Cha JH, Kim CW, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 79(3), 379 (2008)

[12] Clauwaert P, Rabaey K, Aelterman P, Schamphelaire LD, Pham TH, Boeckx P, Boon N, Verstraete W, Eviron. Sci. Technol., 41, 3354 (2007)

[13] Clauwaert P, Van der Ha D, Boon N, Verbeken K, Verhaege M, Rabaey K, Verstraete W, Eviron. Sci. Technol., 41, 7564 (2007)

[14] Freguia S, Rabaey K, Yuan Z, Keller J, Electrochim. Acta, 53(2), 598 (2007)

[15] He Z, Angenent LT, Electronal., 18, 2009 (2006)

[16] Rabaey K, Read ST, Clauwaert P, Freguia S, Bond PL, Blackall LL, Keller J, ISME J., 2, 519 (2008)

[17] Park HI, Kim JS, Kim DK, Choi YJ, Pak D, Enzyme Microb. Technol., 39(3), 453 (2006)

[18] Gralnick JA, Newman DK, Mol. Microbiol., 65, 1 (2007)

[19] Bullen RA, Arnot TC, Lakeman JB, Walsh FC, Biosens.Bioelectron., 21, 2015 (2006)

[20] Hernandez ME, Newman DK, Cell Mol. Life Sci., 58, 1562 (2001)

[21] Schroder U, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 9, 2619 (2007)

[22] Rabaey K, Boon N, Siciliano SD, Verhaege M, Verstraete W, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 70, 5373 (2004)

[23] Bard AJ, Faulkner LR, Electrochemical method: Fundamentals and applications, 2nd Ed., Wiley, New York (2001)

[24] Stewart V, Biochem. Soc. T., 31, 1 (2003)

[25] White HK, Reimers CE, Cordes EE, Dilly GF, Girguis PR, ISME J., 3, 635 (2009)

[26] Reimers CE, Girguis P, Stecher III HA, Tender LM, Ryckerlynck N, Whaling P, Geobiology., 4, 123 (2006)

[27] Thomsen TR, Kong Y, Nielsen PH, FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 60, 370 (2007)

[28] Hoeft SE, Blum JS, Stolz JF, Tabita FR, Witte B, King GM, Santini JM, Oremland RS, Int. J. Syst. Evol. Micr., 57, 504 (2007)

[29] Fernandez N, Sierra-Alvarez R, Field JA, Ricardo A, Sanz JL, Chemoshpere., 70, 462 (2008)

[30] Osaka T, Ebie Y, Tsuneda S, Hirata1 A, Iwami N, Inamori Y, FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 64, 494 (2008)

[31] Sorokin DY, Tourova TP, Bezsoudnova EY, Pol A, Muyzer G, Archives Microbiol., 187, 441 (2007)

[32] Labrenz M, Jost G, Pohl C, Beckmann S, Martens-Habbena W, Jurgens K, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 71, 6664 (2005)

[33] Heylen K, Vanparys B, Wittebolle L, Verstraete W, Boon N, De Vos P, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 72, 2637 (2006)

[34] Ravcheev DA, Rakhmaninova AB, Mironov AA, Gelfand MS, Mol. Biol., 39, 832 (2005)

[35] Gorby YA, Yanina S, McLean JS, Rosso KM, Moyles D, Dohnalkova A, Beveridge TJ, Chang IS, Kim BH, Kim KS, Culley DE, Reed SB, Romine MF, Saffarini DA, Hill EA, Shi L, Elias DA, Kennedy DW, Pinchuk G, Watanabe K, Ishii S, Logan B, Nealson KH, Fredrickson JK, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., 103, 11358 (2006)

[36] Reguera G, McCarthy KD, Mehta T, Nicoll JS, Tuominen MT, Lovley DR, Nature., 435, 1098 (2005)