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Enhancement of electricity production in a mediatorless air–cathode microbial fuel cell using Klebsiella sp. IR21

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Abstract

A novel dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria, Klebsiella sp. IR21, was isolated from the anode biofilm of an MFC reactor. Klebsiella sp. IR21 reduced 27.8 % of ferric iron to ferrous iron demonstrating that Klebsiella sp. IR21 has electron transfer ability. Additionally, Klebsiella sp. IR21 generated electricity forming a biofilm on the anode surface. When a pure culture of Klebsiella sp. IR21 was supplied into a single chamber, air–cathode MFC fed with a mixture of glucose and acetate (500 mg L−1 COD), 40–60 mV of voltage (17–26 mA m−2 of current density) was produced. Klebsiella sp. IR21 was also utilized as a biocatalyst to improve the electrical performance of a conventional MFC reactor. A single chamber, air–cathode MFC was fed with reject wastewater (10,000 mg L−1 COD) from a H2 fermentation reactor. The average voltage, current density, and power density were 142.9 ± 25.74 mV, 60.5 ± 11.61 mA m−2, and 8.9 ± 3.65 mW m−2, respectively, in the MFC without inoculation of Klebsiella sp. IR21. However, these electrical performances of the MFC were significantly increased to 204.7 ± 40.24 mV, 87.5 ± 17.20 mA m−2, and 18.6 ± 7.23 mW m−2, respectively, with inoculation of Klebsiella sp. IR21. The results indicate that Klebsiella sp. IR21 can be utilized as a biocatalyst for enhancement of electrical performance in MFC systems.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and future Planning (NRF-2012R1A2A2A0346724).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, 11-1 Daehyun-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-750, Republic of Korea

    Yun-Yeong Lee, Tae Gwan Kim & Kyung-suk Cho

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Correspondence to Kyung-suk Cho.

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Lee, YY., Kim, T.G. & Cho, Ks. Enhancement of electricity production in a mediatorless air–cathode microbial fuel cell using Klebsiella sp. IR21. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 39, 1005–1014 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-016-1579-8

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