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Bioelectricity Generation Using Sweet Lemon Peels as Anolyte and Cow Urine as Catholyte in a Yeast-Based Microbial Fuel Cell

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Abstract

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a budding technology for organic waste treatment with simultaneous bioelectricity generation. The present investigation explores the potential of pretreated sweet lime peel slurry as an anolyte with yeast and bacteria anode biocatalyst for bioenergy generation in MFCs. Sterilised cow urine was used as catholyte and Chlorella pyrenoidosa strain as cathode biocatalyst. Three H-shaped dual-chamber MFCs were fabricated using two plastic containers operating with no inoculum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae as only inoculum and co-culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with isolated cellulolytic bacteria, respectively, in the anode chamber. The anode was prepared using a rectangular stainless-steel mesh; the cathode was a cylindrical graphite rod. The maximum open-circuit voltages achieved by co-culture of bacteria and S. cerevisiae were 792.33 ± 1.53 mV and 481.33 ± 3.51 mV, respectively. The maximum power densities in these two MFCs were found to be 22.20 ± 1.28 mW/m2 (210.66 ± 6.11 mA/m2) and 204.80 ± 1.28 mW/m2 (640.0 ± 2.0 mA/m2) correspondingly. Results noticeably disclosed that microorganisms consumed the carbon source available in sweet lime peel. Thus, the sweet lime peel can be an inexpensive alternative for operating MFCs.

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Abbreviations

CB:

Cellulolytic bacteria

HPTCL:

High pressure and temperature pretreated sweet lime peel slurry

MFC:

Microbial fuel cell

OCV:

Open circuit voltage

PCL:

Pretreated peels

PCLY:

Pretreated peel with yeast

PCLYB:

Pretreated peel with yeast and bacteria

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Acknowledgements

The authors of the manuscript are thankful to the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, Varanasi, for extending their technical and financial support.

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  1. School of Biochemical Engineering, IIT (BHU), Varanasi, U. P, India, 221005

    Manisha Verma & Vishal Mishra

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  1. Manisha Verma
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MV has conducted the experiments and prepared the manuscript. VM is corresponding author of manuscript.

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Verma, M., Mishra, V. Bioelectricity Generation Using Sweet Lemon Peels as Anolyte and Cow Urine as Catholyte in a Yeast-Based Microbial Fuel Cell. Waste Biomass Valor 14, 2643–2657 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-023-02050-6

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