Journal
ACS NANO
Volume 7, Issue 10, Pages 8728-8735Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/nn403082m
Keywords
microbial fuel cell; photoelectrochemical; hybrid; self-biased; sustainable hydrogen generation
Categories
Funding
- NSF [CBET 1034222, CBET 1033505]
- LDRD [11-LW-054]
- U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory [DEAC52-07NA27344]
- Directorate For Engineering
- Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys [1034222] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Div Of Chem, Bioeng, Env, & Transp Sys
- Directorate For Engineering [1033505] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Here we demonstrate the feasibility of continuous, self-sustained hydrogen gas production based solely on solar light and biomass (wastewater) recycling, by coupling solar water splitting and microbial electrohydrogenesis in a photoelectrochemical cell microbial fuel cell (PEC-MFC) hybrid device. The PEC device is composed of a TiO2 nanowire-arrayed photoanode and a Pt cathode. The MFC is an air cathode dual-chamber device, inoculated with either Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (batch-fed on artificial growth medium) or natural microbial communities (batch-fed on local municipal wastewater). Under light illumination, the TiO2 photoanode provided a photovoltage of similar to 0.7 V that shifted the potential of the MFC bioanode to overcome the potential barrier for microbial electrohydrogenesis. As a result, under light illumination (AM 1.5G, 100 mW/cm(2)) without external bias, and using wastewater as the energy source, we observed pronounced current generation as well as continuous production of hydrogen gas. The successful demonstration of such a self-biased, sustainable microbial device for hydrogen generation could provide a new solution that can simultaneously address the need of wastewater treatment and the increasing demand for clean energy.
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