Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology

Microbial fuel cells and biosensors: Change of electrode properties under the action of some carbon nanomaterials

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 GK 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:

Generation of electrical signals in electrochemical-type microbial biosensors and fuel cells is of similar nature and depends on a number of interrelated local factors: interaction of biocatalyst with electrodes and mediators, diffusion of substrate and products of its transformation. Numerous research efforts in this field focus at present on the properties of nanomaterials. This review considers the interaction of Gluconobacter bacteria with such nanomaterials as multiwalled carbon nanotubes, thermally expanded and highly oriented pyrolytic graphites, graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide and carbon fibres. Changes in the cyclic current�??voltage characteristics, in the value of the generated potential, impedance, anode resistance as well as electric power on the whole under the influence of nanomaterials have been investigated. The use of multiwalled carbon nanotubes has been found to lead to a 26% power increase; the charge transfer resistance at applied 0 and 200-mV potentials has been, respectively, ~2.1 kOhm cm2 and ~2.3 Ohm cm2, which is 30% and 47% lower than in the non-modified electrode. In the anode of the microbial fuel cell, we have been the first to use bacterial membrane fractions in combination with graphenelike nanomaterial, thermally expanded graphite. It has been shown that electric energy can be accumulated using a direct voltage converter. The initial voltage of a fuel cell has risen from 0.5 V to the resulting value of 3.1 V and can be stored by a high-value capacitor. This approach is considered to be the initial stage of research into the practical application of the fuel cell�?? converter pair. The designed models determine the possible ways for the miniaturization of fuel cell electrodes and the applied use of the fuel cell. Thus, for the first time in the world practice the fuel cell has been implanted into the organism of the frog Rana temporaria. The voltage across the output terminals of a fuel cell (~50 mV) and the time of its generation (7�??12 min) are within the limits sufficient for practical application in hybrid systems and correspond to those described in the literature for the implantation of fuel cells into other organisms (snails, lobsters).