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Maximising electricity production by controlling the biofilm specific growth rate in microbial fuel cells (2012)
Journal Article
Ledezma, P., Greenman, J., & Ieropoulos, I. (2012). Maximising electricity production by controlling the biofilm specific growth rate in microbial fuel cells. Bioresource Technology, 118, 615-618. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.05.054

The aim of this work is to study the relationship between growth rate and electricity production in perfusion-electrode microbial fuel cells (MFCs), across a wide range of flow rates by co-measurement of electrical output and changes in population nu... Read More about Maximising electricity production by controlling the biofilm specific growth rate in microbial fuel cells.

Investigating a cascade of seven hydraulically connected microbial fuel cells (2012)
Journal Article
Winfield, J., Ieropoulos, I., & Greenman, J. (2012). Investigating a cascade of seven hydraulically connected microbial fuel cells. Bioresource Technology, 110, 245-250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.01.095

Seven miniature microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were hydraulically linked in sequence and operated in continuous-flow (cascade). Power output and treatment efficiency were investigated using varying organic loads, flow-rates and electrical configurations... Read More about Investigating a cascade of seven hydraulically connected microbial fuel cells.

Urine utilisation by microbial fuel cells; Energy fuel for the future (2012)
Journal Article
Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., & Melhuish, C. (2012). Urine utilisation by microbial fuel cells; Energy fuel for the future. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 14(1), 94-98. https://doi.org/10.1039/c1cp23213d

This communication reports for the first time the direct utilisation of urine in MFCs for the production of electricity. Different conversion efficiencies were recorded, depending on the amount treated. Elements such as N, P, K can be locked into new... Read More about Urine utilisation by microbial fuel cells; Energy fuel for the future.

Microbial fuel cells for robotics: Energy autonomy through artificial symbiosis (2012)
Journal Article
Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., Melhuish, C., & Horsfield, I. (2012). Microbial fuel cells for robotics: Energy autonomy through artificial symbiosis. ChemSusChem, 5(6), 1020-1026. https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201200283

The development of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has seen an enormous growth over the last hundred years since its inception by Potter in 1911. The technology has reached a level of maturity that it is now considered to be a field in its o... Read More about Microbial fuel cells for robotics: Energy autonomy through artificial symbiosis.

Urine as a suitable fuel for microbial fuel cells (2011)
Conference Proceeding
Ieropoulos, I. A., Greenman, J., & Melhuish, C. (2011). Urine as a suitable fuel for microbial fuel cells. In P. Lunghi, S. Ubertini, & V. Cigolotti (Eds.), Proceedings of EFC11. , (325-326)

MFCs show promise in utilising a wide variety of organic sources. This paper describes the utilisation of neat urine as the main feedstock, with conversion efficiencies of >50%. Power densities of 4.93mW/m2 were recorded when 48 small-scale MFCs were... Read More about Urine as a suitable fuel for microbial fuel cells.

Dielectric elastomer pump for artificial organisms (2011)
Journal Article
Rossiter, J. M., Bowers, A. E., Walters, P., & Ieropoulos, I. (2011). Dielectric elastomer pump for artificial organisms. Proceedings of SPIE, 7976, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.880440

This paper presents a bio-inspired, dielectric elastomer (DE) based tubular pumping unit, developed for eventual use as a component of an artificial digestive tract onboard a microbial fuel cell powered robot (EcoBot). The pump effects fluid displace... Read More about Dielectric elastomer pump for artificial organisms.

Investigating the effects of fluidic connection between microbial fuel cells (2011)
Journal Article
Winfield, J., Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., & Dennis, J. (2011). Investigating the effects of fluidic connection between microbial fuel cells. Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, 34(4), 477-484. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-010-0491-x

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can 'treat' wastewater but individually are thermodynamically restricted. Scale-up might, therefore, require a plurality of units operating in a stack which could introduce losses simply through fluidic connections. Experi... Read More about Investigating the effects of fluidic connection between microbial fuel cells.

The overshoot phenomenon as a function of internal resistance in microbial fuel cells (2011)
Journal Article
Winfield, J., Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., & Dennis, J. (2011). The overshoot phenomenon as a function of internal resistance in microbial fuel cells. Bioelectrochemistry, 81(1), 22-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2011.01.001

A method for assessing the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is the polarisation sweep where different external resistances are applied at set intervals (sample rates). The resulting power curves often exhibit an overshoot where both power a... Read More about The overshoot phenomenon as a function of internal resistance in microbial fuel cells.

Power for robotic artificial muscles (2011)
Journal Article
O'Brien, B., Anderson, I. A., Ieropoulos, I., McKay, T., & Melhuish, C. (2011). Power for robotic artificial muscles. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 16(1), 107-111. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMECH.2010.2090894

Artificial muscles based on the dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) are an attractive technology for autonomous robotic systems. We are currently exploring their use on EcoBot (Ecological roBot), an autonomous robot being developed by Bristol Robotic... Read More about Power for robotic artificial muscles.

Microbial fuel cells: Scalability and their use in robotics (2011)
Book Chapter
Greenman, J., Ieropoulos, I., & Melhuish, C. (2011). Microbial fuel cells: Scalability and their use in robotics. In N. Eliaz (Ed.), Applications of Electrochemistry and Nanotechnology in Biology and Medicine I (239-290). Springer

This is probably the first written and relatively accurate description of microorganisms, made by the Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro (116-27 B.C.). It was then Anthony van Leeuwenhoek (ca. 1677) who, for the first time, observed little animals... Read More about Microbial fuel cells: Scalability and their use in robotics.

Digital fabrication of a novel bio-actuator for bio-robotic art and design (2011)
Conference Proceeding
Walters, P., McGoran, D., & Ieropoulos, I. (2011). Digital fabrication of a novel bio-actuator for bio-robotic art and design. In Society for Imaging Science and Technology (Ed.), NIP27: International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies and Digital Fabrication 2011 (496-499)

We describe the design, fabrication and testing of a biologically-driven actuator which serves as a proof-or-concept "artificial heartbeat" for future use within bio-robotic art and design. The actuator employs live biological material, both as a sou... Read More about Digital fabrication of a novel bio-actuator for bio-robotic art and design.

Small scale microbial fuel cells and different ways of reporting output (2010)
Journal Article
Ieropoulos, I., Winfield, J., Greenman, J., & Melhuish, C. (2010). Small scale microbial fuel cells and different ways of reporting output. ECS Transactions, 28(9), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3492221

The present study, reports on the findings of connecting 2 stacks of 48 MFCs and the importance of maturity and acclimation for the anodic biofilms. Furthermore, an attempt is made to emphasize the importance of a universal unit for quantifying power... Read More about Small scale microbial fuel cells and different ways of reporting output.

MFCs and algae (2010)
Journal Article
Ieropoulos, I. A., Greenman, J., & Sauer, M. (2010). MFCs and algae. ECS Transactions, 28(9), 23-30. https://doi.org/10.1149/1.3492223

Algae and photosynthetic bacteria may be integrated or associated with Microbial Fuel Cells MFCs in a number of different ways including: (1) use of whole (intact) or lipid-extracted lyzed cells as the primary carbon-energy source for anodic microbia... Read More about MFCs and algae.

Microbial fuel cell driven behavioral dynamics in robot simulations (2010)
Conference Proceeding
Montebelli, A., Lowe, R., Ieropoulos, I., Melhuish, C., Greenman, J., & Ziemke, T. (2010). Microbial fuel cell driven behavioral dynamics in robot simulations. In M. Hanczyc, M. Dorr, & H. Fellermann (Eds.), Artificial Life XII: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems. , (749-756)

With the present study we report the first application of a recently proposed model for realistic microbial fuel cells (MFCs) energy generation dynamics, suitable for robotic simulations with minimal and extremely limited computational overhead. A si... Read More about Microbial fuel cell driven behavioral dynamics in robot simulations.

Grounding motivation in energy autonomy: A study of artificial metabolism constrained robot dynamics (2010)
Conference Proceeding
Lowe, R., Montebelli, A., Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., Melhuish, C., & Ziemke, T. (2010). Grounding motivation in energy autonomy: A study of artificial metabolism constrained robot dynamics. In H. Fellermann, M. Hanczyc, & M. Dorr (Eds.), Artificial Life XII: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems. , (725-732)

We present an evolutionary robotics investigation into the metabolism constrained homeostatic dynamics of a simulated robot. Unlike existing research that has focused on either energy or motivation autonomy the robot described here is considered in t... Read More about Grounding motivation in energy autonomy: A study of artificial metabolism constrained robot dynamics.

EcoBot-III: A robot with guts (2010)
Conference Proceeding
Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., Melhuish, C., & Horsfield, I. (2010). EcoBot-III: A robot with guts. In H. Fellermann, M. Dörr, M. M. Hanczyc, L. L. Laursen, S. Maurer, D. Merkle, …S. Rasmussen (Eds.), Artificial Life XII: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, ALIFE 2010. , (733-740)

This paper describes the work carried out to develop EcoBot- III, which is a robot with an artificial digestion system. The robot is powered by Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) and it is designed to collect food and water from the environment, digest the... Read More about EcoBot-III: A robot with guts.

Effects of flow-rate, inoculum and time on the internal resistance of microbial fuel cells (2010)
Journal Article
Ieropoulos, I., Winfield, J., & Greenman, J. (2010). Effects of flow-rate, inoculum and time on the internal resistance of microbial fuel cells. Bioresource Technology, 101(10), 3520-3525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2009.12.108

To process large volumes of wastewater, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) would require anodophilic bacteria preferably operating at high flow-rates. The effect of flow-rate on different microbial consortia was examined during anodic biofilm development, u... Read More about Effects of flow-rate, inoculum and time on the internal resistance of microbial fuel cells.

Optimization of bio-inspired multi-segment IPMC cilia (2010)
Journal Article
Sareh, S., Conn, A. T., Rossiter, J. M., Ieropoulos, I., & Walters, P. (2010). Optimization of bio-inspired multi-segment IPMC cilia. Proceedings of SPIE, 7642, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.847552

In nature, unidirectional fluid flows are often induced at micro-scales by cilia and related organelles. A controllable unidirectional flow is beneficial at these scales for a range of novel robotic and medical applications, whether the flow is used... Read More about Optimization of bio-inspired multi-segment IPMC cilia.

A hybrid microbial dielectric elastomer generator for autonomous robots (2010)
Journal Article
Anderson, I. A., Ieropoulos, I., McKay, T., O'Brien, B., & Melhuish, C. (2010). A hybrid microbial dielectric elastomer generator for autonomous robots. Proceedings of SPIE, 7642, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.847379

We are developing a hybrid Dielectric Elastomer Generator (DEG)-Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) energy harvester. The system is for EcoBot, an Autonomous Robot (AR) that currently uses its MFCs to extract electrical energy from biomass, in the form of flie... Read More about A hybrid microbial dielectric elastomer generator for autonomous robots.