1. Evaluation of Kefir as a New Anodic Biocatalyst Consortium for Microbial Fuel Cell
- Author
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José Maurício Schneedorf and Gustavo Silveira
- Subjects
Microbial fuel cell ,Bioelectric Energy Sources ,Microbial Consortia ,Bioengineering ,02 engineering and technology ,010501 environmental sciences ,Electrochemistry ,01 natural sciences ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,Biochemistry ,Redox ,Kefir ,Spectrophotometry ,medicine ,Molecular Biology ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Chemistry ,General Medicine ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Yeast ,Methylene Blue ,Chemical engineering ,Linear sweep voltammetry ,Fermentation ,Cyclic voltammetry ,0210 nano-technology ,Biotechnology - Abstract
Kefir, a combined consortium of bacteria and yeast encapsulated by a polymeric matrix of exopolysaccharides, was used as anodic biocatalyst in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). Fermentation was followed during 72 h and polarization curves were obtained from linear sweep voltammetry. The effect of methylene blue as charge-transfer mediator in the kefir metabolism was evaluated. UV/Vis spectrophotometry and cyclic voltammetry were applied to evaluate the redox state of the mediator and to characterize the electrochemical activity, whereas current interruption was used for internal resistance determination. Aiming to establish a relationship between the microbial development inside the anodic chamber with the generated power in the MFC, total titratable acidity, pH, viscosity, carbohydrate assimilation, and microbial counting were assayed. The kefir-based MFC demonstrated a maximum power density of 54 mW m−2 after 24 h fermentation, revealing the potential use of kefir as a biocatalyst for microbial fuel cells.
- Published
- 2018