Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology

Microbial fuel cells â?? modification of the electrodes with carbon nanomaterials to improve microenergy

Joint Event on 4^th World Congress and Expo on Applied Microbiology & 2^nd International Conference on Food Microbiology

November 29-December 01, 2017 Madrid, Spain

A N Reshetilov, T A Reshetilova and R G Vasilios

FSBIS A N Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russia
Kurchatov Complex of NBIKS Technologies - NRC Kurchatov Institute, Russia

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Microb Biochem Technol

Abstract:

The biological materials - enzymes, cells, subcellular structures - have the high biotechnological potential thanks to which it is applied as the catalyst in biosensors, sensors self-providing themselves with energy, biological fuel cells (BFC), etc. The combination of biological material with carbon nanomaterials allows to increase overall performance of BFC and opens new opportunities in microenergy and allows to development of compact portable biosensors, autonomous biofuel elements and to solve a problem of increase of life time of wireless sensor networks. However, despite broad advantages, there are some key problems limiting practical use of bioelectrochemical devices. Increase of life time, obtaining high values of the generated electric energy, ensuring more reliable electric contact between biomolecules and electrodes concerns some of them. In the presented material the main attention is paid to interaction of nanomaterials and bacterial cells, directed to obtaining high values of the generated electric energy by microbial BFE (MBFC). As the model culture of biological material Gluconobacter bacteria are considered. Changes of parameters which arise at modification of electrodes of MBFC such carbon nanomaterials as thermos expanded graphite, nanotubes, the high-oriented pyrolitic graphite, oxidized and the restored graphene, carbon fibers are analyzed. Thus, the data available on the occurrence of direct electron transport and the generation of electricity when using membrane fractions of Gluconobacter combined with thermos expanded graphite during the oxidation of ethanol; modification of fuel cells electrodes with multiwall carbon nanotubes leads to an increase of the power of the microbial fuel cells. Finally, the conditions that would allow the positive effects of modification in practice are discussed.