Kinetics of Anode Reactions for a Yeast-Catalysed Microbial Fuel Cell

Chronoamperometric investigations with rotating disc electrodes (RDEs) were used to characterise the anodic half-cell of yeast powered microbial fuel cells using methylene blue (MB) as a mediator. Both convection and mediator adsorption were shown to affect the anodic current. A microbe-mediator limited reaction model was developed and shown to agree well with the experimental data. A power density of similar to 150 mu W cm(-2) was achieved in a full cell, which represented a significant increase from prior reports on yeast-catalysed fuel cells. The increased power density was enabled by using high mediator concentrations and by controlling the mediator adsorption.