This book is the first dedicated entirely to Microbial fuel cells. It serves as an introduction to MFC theory, as well as a manual for research and maintenance of MFCs. Its accessible and explanatory nature makes it appealing as both a text and general reference volume. Topics include voltage and power generation, MFC architecture, mass transfer, bioreactors, and electron transfer, as well as a discussion of the role of MFCs in the climate-change debate.

Bruce E. Logan, PHD, is the Stan and Flora Kappe Professor of EnvironmentalEngineering at Penn State University, and Director of Penn State's Hydrogen Energy (H2E) Center and the Engineering Environmental Institute. Dr. Logan's areas of expertise include bioenergy (microbial fuel cells and biohydrogen production),bacterial adhesion, colloid transport, and bioremediation. He is the author or coauthor of over 200 refereed publications and books on environmental transport processes, microbial fuel cells, and perchlorate reduction.

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Energy needs	p. 1
Energy and the challenge of global climate change	p. 2
Bioelectricity generation using a microbial fuel cell-the process of electrogenesis	p. 4
MFCs and energy sustainability of the water infrastructure	p. 6
MFC technologies for wastewater treatment	p. 7
Renewable energy generation using MFCs	p. 9
Other applications of MFC technologies	p. 11
Exoelectrogens	p. 12
Introduction	p. 12
Mechanisms of electron transfer	p. 13
MFC studies using known exoelectrogenic strains	p. 18
Community analysis	p. 22
MFCs as tools for studying exoelectrogens	p. 27
Voltage Generation	p. 29
Voltage and current	p. 29
Maximum voltages based on thermodynamic relationships	p. 30
Anode potentials and enzyme potentials	p. 36
Role of communities versus enzymes in setting anode potentials	p. 40
Voltage generation by fermentative bacteria?	p. 41
Power Generation	p. 44
Calculating power	p. 44
Coulombic and energy efficiency	p. 48
Polarization and power density curves	p. 50
Measuring internal resistance	p. 54
Chemical and electrochemical analysis of reactors	p. 57
Materials	p. 61
Finding low-cost, highly efficient materials	p. 61
Anode materials	p. 62
Membranes and separators (and chemical transport through them)	p. 68
Cathode materials	p. 76
Long-term stability of different materials	p. 83
Architecture	p. 85
General requirements	p. 85
Air-cathode MFCs	p. 86
Aqueous cathodes using dissolved oxygen	p. 95
Two-chamber reactors with soluble catholytes or poised potentials	p. 97
Tubular packed bed reactors	p. 102
Stacked MFCs	p. 104
Metal catholytes	p. 105
Biohydrogen MFCs	p. 108
Towards a scalable MFC architecture	p. 110
Kinetics and Mass Transfer	p. 111
Kinetic- or mass transfer-based models?	p. 111
Boundaries on rate constants and bacterial characteristics	p. 112
Maximum power from a monolayer of bacteria	p. 116
Maximum rate of mass transfer to a biofilm	p. 118
Mass transfer per reactor volume	p. 122
MECS for Hydrogen Production	p. 125
Principle of operation	p. 125
MEC systems	p. 127
Hydrogen yield	p. 131
Hydrogen recovery	p. 132
Energy recovery	p. 134
Hydrogen losses	p. 142
Differences between the MEC and MFC systems	p. 145
MFCs for Wastewater Treatment	p. 146
Process trains for WWTPs	p. 146
Replacement of the biological treatment reactor with an MFC	p. 149
Energy balances for WWTPs	p. 154
Implications for reduced sludge generation	p. 157
Nutrient removal	p. 158
Electrogenesis versus methanogenesis	p. 159
Other MFC Technologies	p. 162
Different applications for MFC-based technologies	p. 162
Sediment MFCs	p. 162
Enhanced sediment MFCs	p. 166
Bioremediation using MFC technologies	p. 168
Fun!	p. 171
MFCs for new scientists and inventors	p. 171
Choosing your inoculum and media	p. 174
MFC materials: electrodes and membranes	p. 175
MFC architectures that are easy to build	p. 176
MEC reactors	p. 180
Operation and assessment of MFCs	p. 181
Outlook	p. 182
MFCs yesterday and today	p. 182
Challenges for bringing MFCs to commercialization	p. 183
Accomplishments and outlook	p. 184
Notation	p. 186
References	p. 189
Index	p. 199
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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