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Optimizing Plant Microbial Fuel Cell Energy Output: The Effect of Anodic Substance and Configuration

CSEF · 2023 Alternative Energy First Award

Gandhi Maya · 8

Overview

Fossil fuels account for the majority of our world's energy production and are also responsible for over 90% of the harmful carbon emissions in our atmosphere. Because of this, it has become important to look further into alternative renewable clean energy sources. While renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal energy are currently being utilized, they are quite expensive to scale and to implement long term. Due to this limitation, I decided to explore a novel technology known as plant microbial fuel cells. Plant microbial fuel cells utilize the ability of soil bacteria to oxidize rhizodeposits released by the roots of plants to generate electricity. One of the most important components of a plant microbial fuel cell is the anode, where the electron flow is generated. In efforts to optimize plant microbial fuel cell energy output, for my science fair project, I tested the effect of different anodic substances and configuration on the output of a single chambered plant microbial fuel cell. I selected 4 different configurations of anodes to test based on differences in electrical conductivity and bacterial adherence: stainless steel, stainless steel mesh plus activated carbon, graphite rod, and carbon copper brush. I hypothesized that the stainless steel mesh plus activated carbon anode would yield the greatest energy output due to the high electrical conductivity of the stainless steel and the beneficial bacterial bonding affinity with the carbon surface. After constructing 12 plant microbial fuel cells (3 per variation of anodic structure), I connected the anode and cathode of each fuel cell to a load resistor of 22 kΩ to form the circuit. I measured the voltage (in mV) of each plant microbial fuel cell every 12 hours for the duration of the experimental period (168 hours). Overall, my hypothesis was not supported as my results showed that the plant microbial fuel cell with the carbon copper brush anode had a significantly greater output compared to the rest of the plant microbial fuel cells after hour 12. This is likely because the microscopic surface area of the carbon brush may have yielded much greater bacterial growth and thus electron output which in turn overcame any lack of electrical conductivity. I believe this result can inform further investigation into the optimal anode choice to yield the greatest plant microbial fuel cell output. I am intrigued by plant microbial fuel cells in that they utilize the plant’s natural environment to generate electricity. Given the vast amount of vegetation throughout the world, plant microbial fuel cell technology has the potential to be an important renewable clean energy source for the future of our environment.

Source coverage

This record comes from a published award list, not a complete project archive. Its abstract comes from CSEF's public project showcase as archived by the Internet Archive before judging (https://web.archive.org/web/20230401224130/https://ca-csef.zfairs.com/showcase/ShowcaseInfo?f=838e60b7-ea75-46e8-865c-fde4864244b3); the version presented may differ.

Awards (1)

Competition history

  • CSEF 2023 Alternative Energy · Entry J0209

Resources

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