A small-scale air-cathode microbial fuel cell for on-line monitoring of water quality
2014
Di Lorenzo, Mirella | Thomson, Alexander R. | Schneider, Kenneth | Cameron, Petra J. | Ieropoulos, Ioannis
The heavy use of chemicals for agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes has increased the risk of freshwater contamination worldwide. Consequently, the demand for efficient new analytical tools for on-line and on-site water quality monitoring has become particularly urgent.In this study, a small-scale single chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cell (SCMFC), fabricated by rapid prototyping layer-by-layer 3D printing, was tested as a biosensor for continuous water quality monitoring.When acetate was fed as the rate-limiting substrate, the SCMFC acted as a sensor for chemical oxygen demand (COD) in water. The linear detection range was 3–164ppm, with a sensitivity of 0.05μAmM−1cm−2 with respect to the anode total surface area. The response time was as fast as 2.8min.At saturating acetate concentrations (COD>164 ppm), the miniature SCMFC could rapidly detect the presence of cadmium in water with high sensitivity (0.2μgl−1cm−2) and a lower detection limit of only 1μgl−1. The biosensor dynamic range was 1–25μgl−1. Within this range of concentrations, cadmium affected only temporarily the electroactive biofilm at the anode. When the SCMFCs were again fed with fresh wastewater and no pollutant, the initial steady-state current was recovered within 12min.
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