Outputs (181)

Impact of disinfectant on the electrical outputs of urine-fed ceramic and membrane-less microbial fuel cell cascades (2024)
Journal Article

The application of microbial fuel cells in sanitation has demonstrated feasibility in supplying electricity and providing safety in underserved communities, especially at toilet blocks. Two different designs of urine fed MFC cascades, ceramic MFCs (c... Read More about Impact of disinfectant on the electrical outputs of urine-fed ceramic and membrane-less microbial fuel cell cascades.

Impact of feedstock dilution on the performance of urine-fed ceramic and membrane-less microbial fuel cell cascades designs (2023)
Journal Article

Recent advancements in the microbial fuel cell (MFC) field have led to the deployment of pilot-scale autonomous sanitation systems converting the organic content of urine into electricity to power lights in decentralised areas. Two designs have been... Read More about Impact of feedstock dilution on the performance of urine-fed ceramic and membrane-less microbial fuel cell cascades designs.

Microbial fuel cell compared to a chemostat (2022)
Journal Article

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) represent a green and sustainable energy conversion system that integrate bacterial biofilms within an electrochemical two-electrode set-up to produce electricity from organic waste. In this review, we focus on a novel exp... Read More about Microbial fuel cell compared to a chemostat.

Microbial fuel cell scale-up options: Performance evaluation of membrane (c-MFC) and membrane-less (s-MFC) systems under different feeding regimes (2021)
Journal Article

In recent years, bioelectrochemical systems have advanced towards upscaling applications and tested during field trials, primarily for wastewater treatment. Amongst reported trials, two designs of urine-fed microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were tested suc... Read More about Microbial fuel cell scale-up options: Performance evaluation of membrane (c-MFC) and membrane-less (s-MFC) systems under different feeding regimes.

Microbial fuel cells in the house: A study on real household wastewater samples for treatment and power (2021)
Journal Article

In line with the global movement towards sustainable buildings and dwellings, this work investigated the potential for integrating microbial fuel cell technology into future architecture. Various types of domestic greywater and wastewater from five d... Read More about Microbial fuel cells in the house: A study on real household wastewater samples for treatment and power.

Microbial fuel cells and their electrified biofilms (2021)
Journal Article

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) represent a wide range of different biofilm-based bioreactors that includes microbial fuel cells (MFCs), microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) and microbial desalination cells (MDCs). The first described bioelectrical b... Read More about Microbial fuel cells and their electrified biofilms.

Electrosynthesis, modulation, and self-driven electroseparation in microbial fuel cells (2021)
Journal Article

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) represents a sustainable platform that converts waste into resources, using microorganisms within an electrochemical cell. Traditionally, MES refers to the oxidation/reduction of a reactant at the electrode surface wi... Read More about Electrosynthesis, modulation, and self-driven electroseparation in microbial fuel cells.

Neural networks predicting microbial fuel cells output for soft robotics applications (2021)
Journal Article

The development of biodegradable soft robotics requires an appropriate eco-friendly source of energy. The use of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) is suggested as they can be designed completely from soft materials with little or no negative effects to the... Read More about Neural networks predicting microbial fuel cells output for soft robotics applications.

Impact of inoculum type on the microbial community and power performance of urine-fed microbial fuel cells (2020)
Journal Article

Bacteria are the driving force of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, which benefits from their natural ability to degrade organic matter and generate electricity. The development of an efficient anodic biofilm has a significant impact on the p... Read More about Impact of inoculum type on the microbial community and power performance of urine-fed microbial fuel cells.

Effect of iron oxide content and microstructural porosity on the performance of ceramic membranes as microbial fuel cell separators (2020)
Journal Article

Ceramic materials based on naturally occurring clays are a low cost and environmentally friendly alternative to commercial polymer-based membranes in bioelectrochemical systems. In this work, ceramic membranes containing different amounts of iron oxi... Read More about Effect of iron oxide content and microstructural porosity on the performance of ceramic membranes as microbial fuel cell separators.

Effect of microbial fuel cell operation time on the disinfection efficacy of electrochemically synthesised catholyte from urine (2020)
Journal Article

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer an excellent solution to tackle some of the major challenges currently faced by humankind: sustainable energy sources, waste management and water stress. Besides treating wastewater and producing useful electricity f... Read More about Effect of microbial fuel cell operation time on the disinfection efficacy of electrochemically synthesised catholyte from urine.

Evaluation of artificial neural network algorithms for predicting the effect of the urine flow rate on the power performance of microbial fuel cells (2020)
Journal Article

© 2020 The Authors Microbial fuel cell (MFC) power performance strongly depends on the biofilm growth, which in turn is affected by the feed flow rate. In this work, an artificial neural network (ANN) approach has been used to simulate the effect of... Read More about Evaluation of artificial neural network algorithms for predicting the effect of the urine flow rate on the power performance of microbial fuel cells.

Improving the power performance of urine-fed microbial fuel cells using PEDOT-PSS modified anodes (2020)
Journal Article

© 2020 The Authors The need for improving the energy harvesting from Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) has boosted the design of new materials in order to increase the power performance of this technology and facilitate its practical application. According... Read More about Improving the power performance of urine-fed microbial fuel cells using PEDOT-PSS modified anodes.

Scaling up self-stratifying supercapacitive microbial fuel cell (2020)
Journal Article

Self-stratifying microbial fuel cells with three different electrodes sizes and volumes were operated in supercapacitive mode. As the electrodes size increased, the equivalent series resistance decreased, and the overall power was enhanced (small: ES... Read More about Scaling up self-stratifying supercapacitive microbial fuel cell.

Developing 3D-printable cathode electrode for monolithically printed microbial fuel cells (MFCs) (2020)
Journal Article

© 2020 by the authors. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) employ microbial electroactive species to convert chemical energy stored in organic matter, into electricity. The properties of MFCs have made the technology attractive for bioenergy production. Howe... Read More about Developing 3D-printable cathode electrode for monolithically printed microbial fuel cells (MFCs).

From the lab to the field: Self-stratifying microbial fuel cells stacks directly powering lights (2020)
Journal Article

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology relies on energy storage and harvesting circuitry to deliver stable power outputs. This increases costs, and for wider deployment into society, these should be kept minimal. The present study reports how a MFC... Read More about From the lab to the field: Self-stratifying microbial fuel cells stacks directly powering lights.

Complete microbial fuel cell fabrication using additive layer manufacturing (2020)
Journal Article

Improving the efficiency of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology by enhancing the system performance and reducing the production cost is essential for commercialisation. In this study, building an additive manufacturing (AM)-built MFC comprising all... Read More about Complete microbial fuel cell fabrication using additive layer manufacturing.

Air-breathing cathode self-powered supercapacitive microbial fuel cell with human urine as electrolyte (2020)
Journal Article

In this work, a membraneless microbial fuel cell (MFC) with an empty volume of 1.5 mL, fed continuously with hydrolysed urine, was tested in supercapacitive mode (SC-MFC). In order to enhance the power output, a double strategy was used: i) a double... Read More about Air-breathing cathode self-powered supercapacitive microbial fuel cell with human urine as electrolyte.

Electroosmotically generated disinfectant from urine as a by-product of electricity in microbial fuel cell for the inactivation of pathogenic species (2020)
Journal Article

This work presents a small scale and low cost ceramic based microbial fuel cell, utilising human urine into electricity, while producing clean catholyte into an initially empty cathode chamber through the process of electro-osmostic drag. It is the f... Read More about Electroosmotically generated disinfectant from urine as a by-product of electricity in microbial fuel cell for the inactivation of pathogenic species.

Multidimensional benefits of improved sanitation: Evaluating 'PEE POWER®' in Kisoro, Uganda (2020)
Journal Article

With 2.3 billion people around the world lacking adequate sanitation services, attention has turned to alternative service provision models. This study suggests an approach for meeting the sanitation challenge, especially as expressed in Sustainable... Read More about Multidimensional benefits of improved sanitation: Evaluating 'PEE POWER®' in Kisoro, Uganda.

Resilience and limitations of MFC anodic community when exposed to antibacterial agents (2020)
Journal Article

This study evaluates the fate of certain bactericidal agents introduced into microbial fuel cell (MFC) cascades and the response of the microbial community. We tested the response of functioning urine fed MFC cascades using two very different bacteri... Read More about Resilience and limitations of MFC anodic community when exposed to antibacterial agents.

Urine in bioelectrochemical systems: An overall review (2020)
Journal Article

In recent years, human urine has been successfully used as an electrolyte and organic substrate in bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) mainly due of its unique properties. Urine contains organic compounds that can be utilised as a fuel for energy recov... Read More about Urine in bioelectrochemical systems: An overall review.

Scalability and stacking of self-stratifying microbial fuel cells treating urine (2020)
Journal Article

The scalability of Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is key to the development of stacks. A recent study has shown that self-stratifying membraneless MFCs (S-MFCs) could be scaled down to 2 cm without performance deterioration. However, the scaling-up limi... Read More about Scalability and stacking of self-stratifying microbial fuel cells treating urine.

Microbial fuel cell stack performance enhancement through carbon veil anode modification with activated carbon powder (2020)
Journal Article

The chemical energy contained in urine can be efficiently extracted into direct electricity by Microbial Fuel Cell stacks to reach usable power levels for practical implementation and a decentralised power source in remote locations. Herein, a novel... Read More about Microbial fuel cell stack performance enhancement through carbon veil anode modification with activated carbon powder.

Optimisation of the internal structure of ceramic membranes for electricity production in urine-fed microbial fuel cells (2020)
Journal Article

The need to find a feasible alternative to commercial membranes for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) poses an important challenge for the practical implementation of this technology. This work aims to analyse the influence of the internal structure of low... Read More about Optimisation of the internal structure of ceramic membranes for electricity production in urine-fed microbial fuel cells.

Development of efficient electroactive biofilm in urine-fed microbial fuel cell cascades for bioelectricity generation (2020)
Journal Article

The Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology harnesses the potential of some naturally occurring bacteria for electricity generation. Digested sludge is commonly used as the inoculum to initiate the process. There are, however, health hazards and practic... Read More about Development of efficient electroactive biofilm in urine-fed microbial fuel cell cascades for bioelectricity generation.

Microbial fuel cells directly powering a microcomputer (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Authors Many studies have demonstrated that microbial fuel cells (MFC) can be energy-positive systems and power various low power applications. However, to be employed as a low-level power source, MFC systems rely on energy management circ... Read More about Microbial fuel cells directly powering a microcomputer.

A comprehensive study of custom-made ceramic separators for microbial fuel cells: Towards "living" bricks (2019)
Journal Article

Towards the commercialisation of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology, well-performing, cost-effective, and sustainable separators are being developed. Ceramic is one of the promising materials for this purpose. In this study, ceramic separators made... Read More about A comprehensive study of custom-made ceramic separators for microbial fuel cells: Towards "living" bricks.

Combination of bioelectrochemical systems and electrochemical capacitors: Principles, analysis and opportunities (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Authors Bioelectrochemical systems combine electrodes and reactions driven by microorganisms for many different applications. The conversion of organic material in wastewater into electricity occurs in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The powe... Read More about Combination of bioelectrochemical systems and electrochemical capacitors: Principles, analysis and opportunities.

Long Term Feasibility Study of In-field Floating Microbial Fuel Cells for Monitoring Anoxic Wastewater and Energy Harvesting (2019)
Journal Article

© Copyright © 2019 Cristiani, Gajda, Greenman, Pizza, Bonelli and Ieropoulos. In the present work different prototypes of floating MFCs have been tested in anoxic water environments of wastewater plants in Italy, over a period of 3 years. Several con... Read More about Long Term Feasibility Study of In-field Floating Microbial Fuel Cells for Monitoring Anoxic Wastewater and Energy Harvesting.

Living architecture: Toward energy generating buildings powered by microbial fuel cells (2019)
Journal Article

In this study, possibilities of integrating microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology and buildings were investigated. Three kinds of conventional house bricks from two different locations were tested as MFC reactors and their electrochemical characterist... Read More about Living architecture: Toward energy generating buildings powered by microbial fuel cells.

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) and microalgae; Photo microbial fuel cell (PMFC) as complete recycling machines (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Humans can exploit natural processes by microorganisms by using Microbial Fuel Cells and integrated Photo Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC/PMFC) chambers containing electrodes to maximise microbial oxidation rates and... Read More about Microbial fuel cells (MFC) and microalgae; Photo microbial fuel cell (PMFC) as complete recycling machines.

Removal of Hepatitis B virus surface HBsAg and core HBcAg antigens using microbial fuel cells producing electricity from human urine (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019, The Author(s). Microbial electrochemical technology is emerging as an alternative way of treating waste and converting this directly to electricity. Intensive research on these systems is ongoing but it currently lacks the evaluation of possi... Read More about Removal of Hepatitis B virus surface HBsAg and core HBcAg antigens using microbial fuel cells producing electricity from human urine.

Artificial neural network simulating microbial fuel cells with different membrane materials and electrode configurations (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are gaining interest due to higher power production achieved by deep analysis of their characteristics and their effect on the overall efficiency. To date, investigations on MFC efficiency, can only be... Read More about Artificial neural network simulating microbial fuel cells with different membrane materials and electrode configurations.

Modelling the energy harvesting from ceramic-based microbial fuel cells by using a fuzzy logic approach (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Author(s) Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is a promising technology that is able to simultaneously produce bioenergy and treat wastewater. Their potential large-scale application is still limited by the need of optimising their power density.... Read More about Modelling the energy harvesting from ceramic-based microbial fuel cells by using a fuzzy logic approach.

Effect of the ceramic membrane properties on the microbial fuel cell power output and catholyte generation (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Authors Ceramic membranes for MFCs offer a low cost alternative to the expensive ion exchange membranes, whilst promoting catholyte accumulation. However, their physicochemical properties need to be optimised, in order to increase the powe... Read More about Effect of the ceramic membrane properties on the microbial fuel cell power output and catholyte generation.

Response of ceramic microbial fuel cells to direct anodic airflow and novel hydrogel cathodes (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Authors The presence of air in the anode chamber of microbial fuel cells (MFCs)might be unavoidable in some applications. This study purposely exposed the anodic biofilm to air for sustained cycles using ceramic cylindrical MFCs. A method... Read More about Response of ceramic microbial fuel cells to direct anodic airflow and novel hydrogel cathodes.

Iron-streptomycin derived catalyst for efficient oxygen reduction reaction in ceramic microbial fuel cells operating with urine (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Authors In recent years, the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has drawn the attention of the scientific community due to its ability to produce clean energy and treat different types of waste at the same time. Often, expensive catalyst... Read More about Iron-streptomycin derived catalyst for efficient oxygen reduction reaction in ceramic microbial fuel cells operating with urine.

Supercapacitors in bioelectrochemical systems (2019)
Book Chapter

Fate of three bioluminescent pathogenic bacteria fed through a cascade of urine microbial fuel cells (2019)
Journal Article

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is currently gaining recognition as one of the most promising bioenergy technologies of the future. One aspect of this technology that has received little attention is the disinfection of effluents and the fate of... Read More about Fate of three bioluminescent pathogenic bacteria fed through a cascade of urine microbial fuel cells.

Towards the optimisation of ceramic-based microbial fuel cells: A three-factor three-level response surface analysis design (2019)
Journal Article

© 2019 The Authors Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an environment-friendly technology, which addresses two of the most important environmental issues worldwide: fossil fuel depletion and water scarcity. Modelling is a useful tool that allows us to un... Read More about Towards the optimisation of ceramic-based microbial fuel cells: A three-factor three-level response surface analysis design.

Transport of Live Cells under Sterile Conditions Using a Chemotactic Droplet (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 The Author(s). 1-Decanol droplets, formed in an aqueous medium containing decanoate at high pH, become chemotactic when a chemical gradient is placed in the external aqueous environment. We investigated if such droplets can be used as transpor... Read More about Transport of Live Cells under Sterile Conditions Using a Chemotactic Droplet.

Miniaturized ceramic-based microbial fuel cell for efficient power generation from urine and stack development (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 Gajda, Stinchcombe, Merino-Jimenez, Pasternak, Sanchez-Herranz, Greenman and Ieropoulos. One of the challenges in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology is the improvement of the power output and the lowering of the cost required to scale up the... Read More about Miniaturized ceramic-based microbial fuel cell for efficient power generation from urine and stack development.

Dynamic evolution of anodic biofilm when maturing under different external resistive loads in microbial fuel cells. Electrochemical perspective (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 The Authors Appropriate inoculation and maturation may be crucial for shortening the startup time and maximising power output of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), whilst ensuring stable operation. In this study we explore the relationship between e... Read More about Dynamic evolution of anodic biofilm when maturing under different external resistive loads in microbial fuel cells. Electrochemical perspective.

Binder materials for the cathodes applied to self-stratifying membraneless microbial fuel cell (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 The Authors The recently developed self-stratifying membraneless microbial fuel cell (SSM-MFC) has been shown as a promising concept for urine treatment. The first prototypes employed cathodes made of activated carbon (AC) and polytetrafluoroe... Read More about Binder materials for the cathodes applied to self-stratifying membraneless microbial fuel cell.

Recent advancements in real-world microbial fuel cell applications (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. This short review focuses on the recent developments of the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology, its scale-up and implementation in real world applications. Microbial Fuel Cells produce (bio)energy from waste streams, which can... Read More about Recent advancements in real-world microbial fuel cell applications.

Urine microbial fuel cells in a semi-controlled environment for onsite urine pre-treatment and electricity production (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 Microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems have the ability to oxidize organic matter and transfer electrons to an external circuit as electricity at voltage levels of

Self-stratifying microbial fuel cell: The importance of the cathode electrode immersion height (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 The Author(s) Power generation of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) is a very important electrochemical parameter to consider particularly when the output has to be harvested for practical applications. This work studies the effect of cathode... Read More about Self-stratifying microbial fuel cell: The importance of the cathode electrode immersion height.

A New Method for Modulation, Control and Power Boosting in Microbial Fuel Cells (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are energy transducers, which through the metabolic reactions of facultative anaerobic microorganisms, transform the energy in organic matter directly into electricity. E... Read More about A New Method for Modulation, Control and Power Boosting in Microbial Fuel Cells.

PEE POWER® urinal II - Urinal scale-up with microbial fuel cell scale-down for improved lighting (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 The Authors A novel design of microbial fuel cells (MFC) fuelled with undiluted urine was demonstrated to be an efficient power source for decentralised areas, but had only been tested under controlled laboratory conditions. Hence, a field-tri... Read More about PEE POWER® urinal II - Urinal scale-up with microbial fuel cell scale-down for improved lighting.

Modelling microbial fuel cells using Lattice Boltzmann methods (2018)
Journal Article

An accurate modelling of bio-electrochemical processes that govern Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) and mapping their behaviour according to several parameters will enhance the development of MFC technology and enable their successful implementation in we... Read More about Modelling microbial fuel cells using Lattice Boltzmann methods.

Investigation of ceramic MFC stacks for urine energy extraction (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 The Authors Two ceramic stacks, terracotta (t-stack) and mullite (m-stack), were developed to produce energy when fed with neat undiluted urine. Each stack consisted of twelve identical microbial fuel cells (MFCs) which were arranged in cascad... Read More about Investigation of ceramic MFC stacks for urine energy extraction.

Design mining microbial fuel cell cascades (2018)
Journal Article

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) perform wastewater treatment and electricity production through the conversion of organic matter using microorganisms. For practical applications, it has been suggested that greater efficiency can be achieved by arranging... Read More about Design mining microbial fuel cell cascades.

Microbial fuel cell, method of controlling and measuring the redox potential difference of the fuel cell (2018)
Patent

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) in which the anode and/or cathode half-cell comprises at least one additional electrode insulated from direct contact with the working electrode and arranged to be coupled to an external voltage or current source, wherein... Read More about Microbial fuel cell, method of controlling and measuring the redox potential difference of the fuel cell.

Novel Analytical Microbial Fuel Cell Design for Rapid in Situ Optimisation of Dilution Rate and Substrate Supply Rate, by Flow, Volume Control and Anode Placement (2018)
Journal Article

© 2018 MDPI AG. All rights reserved. A new analytical design of continuously-fed microbial fuel cell was built in triplicate in order to investigate relations and effects of various operating parameters such as flow rate and substrate supply rate, in... Read More about Novel Analytical Microbial Fuel Cell Design for Rapid in Situ Optimisation of Dilution Rate and Substrate Supply Rate, by Flow, Volume Control and Anode Placement.

Passive feeding in paper-based microbial fuel cells (2018)
Journal Article

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are often constructed using materials such as plastic that can be hazardous to the environment. Building MFCs from paper is a sustainable option, making the fuel cells lightweight and easy to carry. Transported in the bott... Read More about Passive feeding in paper-based microbial fuel cells.

Energy and metabolism (2018)
Book Chapter

© Oxford University Press, 2018 and University of Tartu Press, 2012. Energy resulting from metabolism is essential for any living system-from single-cell to multicellular organisms. This also applies to symbiotic robots (SymBots), which function util... Read More about Energy and metabolism.

Improved power and long term performance of microbial fuel cell with Fe-N-C catalyst in air-breathing cathode (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 Power output limitation is one of the main challenges that needs to be addressed for full-scale applications of the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology. Previous studies have examined electrochemical performance of different cathode electrode... Read More about Improved power and long term performance of microbial fuel cell with Fe-N-C catalyst in air-breathing cathode.

EvoBot: Towards a robot-chemostat for culturing and maintaining Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) (2017)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

In this paper we present EvoBot, a RepRap open-source 3D-printer modified to operate like a robot for culturing and maintaining Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs). EvoBot is a modular liquid handling robot that has been adapted to host MFCs in its experimen... Read More about EvoBot: Towards a robot-chemostat for culturing and maintaining Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs).

Towards a self-powered biosensors for environmental applications in remote, off-grid areas (2017)
Journal Article

One important factor for developing biosensors is taking the source of electrical energy into account. The source of electricity is needed whenever we consider point-of-care diagnostics, in-vivo tests or in particular – environmental applications. Th... Read More about Towards a self-powered biosensors for environmental applications in remote, off-grid areas.

Electricity production from human urine in ceramic microbial fuel cells with alternative non-fluorinated polymer binders for cathode construction (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is one of the most common binders employed to prepare cathode electrodes in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and yet this fluorinated polymer is neither sustainable nor environmentally friendly. In this... Read More about Electricity production from human urine in ceramic microbial fuel cells with alternative non-fluorinated polymer binders for cathode construction.

Urine disinfection and in situ pathogen killing using a Microbial Fuel Cell cascade system (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 Ieropoulos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are... Read More about Urine disinfection and in situ pathogen killing using a Microbial Fuel Cell cascade system.

Towards implementation of cellular automata in Microbial Fuel Cells (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 Tsompanas et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are... Read More about Towards implementation of cellular automata in Microbial Fuel Cells.

Special section: “Microbial fuel cells: From fundamentals to applications”: Guest editors' note (2017)
Journal Article

The Special Section “Microbial fuel cells: From fundamentals to applications” covers many diverse and multidisciplinary aspects of the entire microbial electrochemical field, with a special emphasis on microbial and abiotic/microbial electron transfe... Read More about Special section: “Microbial fuel cells: From fundamentals to applications”: Guest editors' note.

Cellular non-linear network model of microbial fuel cell (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. A cellular non-linear network (CNN) is a uniform regular array of locally connected continuous-state machines, or nodes, which update their states simultaneously in discrete time. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an electro-chemica... Read More about Cellular non-linear network model of microbial fuel cell.

Gelatin as a promising printable feedstock for microbial fuel cells (MFC) (2017)
Journal Article

© 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an energy transducer that can directly produce electricity from bacterial oxidation of organic matter. MFCs consist of two reaction chambers (anode and cathode) separated by a s... Read More about Gelatin as a promising printable feedstock for microbial fuel cells (MFC).

Self-powered, autonomous Biological Oxygen Demand biosensor for online water quality monitoring (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 The Authors Standard Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) analysis requires 5days to complete. To date, microbial fuel cell biosensors used as an alternative method for BOD assessment requires external apparatus, which limits their use for on-line m... Read More about Self-powered, autonomous Biological Oxygen Demand biosensor for online water quality monitoring.

Allometric scaling of microbial fuel cells and stacks: The lifeform case for scale-up (2017)
Journal Article

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. This case study reports for the first time on the comparison between allometric scaling of lifeforms and scale-up of microbial fuel cell entities; enlarging individual units in volume, footprint and electrode surface area but als... Read More about Allometric scaling of microbial fuel cells and stacks: The lifeform case for scale-up.

3D printed components of microbial fuel cells: Towards monolithic microbial fuel cell fabrication using additive layer manufacturing (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors For practical applications of the MFC technology, the design as well as the processes of manufacturing and assembly, should be optimised for the specific target use. Another burgeoning technology, additive manufacturing (3D printin... Read More about 3D printed components of microbial fuel cells: Towards monolithic microbial fuel cell fabrication using additive layer manufacturing.

Autonomous energy harvesting and prevention of cell reversal in MFC stacks (2016)
Journal Article

© The Author(s) 2016. This study presents a novel method for avoiding cell reversal whilst optimising energy harvesting from stacked Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) by dynamically reconfiguring the electrical connections between them. The sequential chan... Read More about Autonomous energy harvesting and prevention of cell reversal in MFC stacks.

Electricity and catholyte production from ceramic MFCs treating urine (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors The use of ceramics as low cost membrane materials for Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) has gained increasing interest, due to improved performance levels in terms of power and catholyte production. The catholyte production in ceramic M... Read More about Electricity and catholyte production from ceramic MFCs treating urine.

Enhanced MFC power production and struvite recovery by the addition of sea salts to urine (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors Urine is an excellent fuel for electricity generation in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), especially with practical implementations in mind. Moreover, urine has a high content in nutrients which can be easily recovered. Struvite (MgNH4... Read More about Enhanced MFC power production and struvite recovery by the addition of sea salts to urine.

Toward Energetically Autonomous Foraging Soft Robots (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. A significant goal of robotics is to develop autonomous machines, capable of independent and collective operation free from human assistance. To operate with complete autonomy robots must be capable of independent movem... Read More about Toward Energetically Autonomous Foraging Soft Robots.

Eating, drinking, living, dying and decaying soft robots (2016)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Soft robotics opens up a whole range of possibilities that go far beyond conventional rigid and electromagnetic robotics. New smart materials and new design and modelling methodologies mean we can start to replicate the operations and functionalities... Read More about Eating, drinking, living, dying and decaying soft robots.

The dawn of biodegradable robots (2016)
Journal Article

Robotics is a field that is not normally associated with green technology or sustainability. Robots are generally constructed using materials that are non-biodegradable, toxic and expensive. These factors can limit the potential uses that an artifici... Read More about The dawn of biodegradable robots.

An iTRAQ characterisation of the role of TolC during electron transfer from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Anodophilic bacteria have the ability to generate electricity in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) by extracellular electron transfer to the anode. We investigated the anode-specific responses of Shewanel... Read More about An iTRAQ characterisation of the role of TolC during electron transfer from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1.

A review into the use of ceramics in microbial fuel cells (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer great promise as a technology that can produce electricity whilst at the same time treat wastewater. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, the requirement for cheaper materi... Read More about A review into the use of ceramics in microbial fuel cells.

Microbial fuel cell – A novel self-powered wastewater electrolyser for electrocoagulation of heavy metals (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors This paper describes the suitability of the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) for generation of electrical power with a simultaneous synthesis of active catholyte in the form of caustic solution. The active solution formed inside a terraco... Read More about Microbial fuel cell – A novel self-powered wastewater electrolyser for electrocoagulation of heavy metals.

Urine transduction to usable energy: A modular MFC approach for smartphone and remote system charging (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors This study reports for the first time the full charging of a state-of-the-art mobile smartphone, using Microbial Fuel Cells fed with urine. This was possible by employing a new design of MFC that allowed scaling-up without power de... Read More about Urine transduction to usable energy: A modular MFC approach for smartphone and remote system charging.

Microalgae as substrate in low cost terracotta-based microbial fuel cells: Novel application of the catholyte produced (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. In this work, the by-product generated during the operation of cylindrical MFCs, made out of terracotta material, is investigated as a feasible means of degrading live microalgae for the first time. In addition to the low cost ma... Read More about Microalgae as substrate in low cost terracotta-based microbial fuel cells: Novel application of the catholyte produced.

Small scale ceramic MFCs for efficient energy harvesting from wastewater and full system development (2016)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The main aim of this work was to increase the efficiency of the ceramic based MFCs by compacting the design and exploring the ceramic support as the building block for small scale modular multi-unit systems. The improved energy density would then all... Read More about Small scale ceramic MFCs for efficient energy harvesting from wastewater and full system development.

Electricity and disinfectant production from wastewater: Microbial Fuel Cell as a self-powered electrolyser (2016)
Journal Article

This study presents a simple and sustainable Microbial Fuel Cell as a standalone, self-powered reactor for in situ wastewater electrolysis, recovering nitrogen from wastewater. A process is proposed whereby the MFC electrical performance drives the e... Read More about Electricity and disinfectant production from wastewater: Microbial Fuel Cell as a self-powered electrolyser.

Scaling-up of a novel, simplified MFC stack based on a self-stratifying urine column (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 Walter et al. Background: The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a technology in which microorganisms employ an electrode (anode) as a solid electron acceptor for anaerobic respiration. This results in direct transformation of chemical energy into e... Read More about Scaling-up of a novel, simplified MFC stack based on a self-stratifying urine column.

Study of the effects of ionic liquid-modified cathodes and ceramic separators on MFC performance (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Ceramic-based MFC designs have proven to be a low cost alternative for power production and wastewater treatment. The use of ionic liquids in ceramic MFCs is explored for the first time in the present work in order to improve pow... Read More about Study of the effects of ionic liquid-modified cathodes and ceramic separators on MFC performance.

Regeneration of the power performance of cathodes affected by biofouling (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors. Air cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were used in a cascade-system, to treat neat human urine as the fuel. Their long-term operation caused biodeterioration and biofouling of the cathodes. The cathodes were made from two graphi... Read More about Regeneration of the power performance of cathodes affected by biofouling.

On hybrid circuits exploiting thermistive properties of slime mould (2016)
Journal Article

Slime mould Physarum polycephalum is a single cell visible by the unaided eye. Let the slime mould span two electrodes with a single protoplasmic tube: if the tube is heated to approximately ≈40 °C, the electrical resistance of the protoplasmic tube... Read More about On hybrid circuits exploiting thermistive properties of slime mould.

Towards effective small scale microbial fuel cells for energy generation from urine (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. To resolve an increasing global demand in energy, a source of sustainable and environmentally friendly energy is needed. Microbial fuel cells (MFC) hold great potential as a sustainable and green bioener... Read More about Towards effective small scale microbial fuel cells for energy generation from urine.

The practical implementation of microbial fuel cell technology (2016)
Book Chapter

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. New green technologies are emerging in response to decades of damaging human activity. Among those are microbial fuel cells (MFCs), electric transducers that transform wet organic matter into electricity via... Read More about The practical implementation of microbial fuel cell technology.

From single MFC to cascade configuration: The relationship between size, hydraulic retention time and power density (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 The Authors. Achieving useful electrical power production with the MFC technology requires a plurality of units. Therefore, the main objective of much of the MFC research is to increase the power density of each unit. Collectives of MFCs will... Read More about From single MFC to cascade configuration: The relationship between size, hydraulic retention time and power density.

Comprehensive Study on Ceramic Membranes for Low-Cost Microbial Fuel Cells (2016)
Journal Article

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) made with different types of ceramic membranes were investigated to find a low-cost alternative to commercially available proton exchange membranes. The MFCs operated wi... Read More about Comprehensive Study on Ceramic Membranes for Low-Cost Microbial Fuel Cells.

Pee power urinal-microbial fuel cell technology field trials in the context of sanitation (2016)
Journal Article

This paper reports on the pee power urinal field trials, which are using microbial fuel cells for internal lighting. The first trial was conducted on Frenchay Campus (UWE, Bristol) from February-May 2015 and demonstrated the feasibility of modular MF... Read More about Pee power urinal-microbial fuel cell technology field trials in the context of sanitation.

Analysis of microbial fuel cell operation in acidic conditions using the flocculating agent ferric chloride (2016)
Journal Article

© 2014 Society of Chemical Industry. BACKGROUND: Ferric chloride (FeCl3) is widely used as a flocculating agent during wastewater treatment but can detrimentally lower pH and increase iron concentration. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising te... Read More about Analysis of microbial fuel cell operation in acidic conditions using the flocculating agent ferric chloride.

Here today, gone tomorrow: Biodegradable soft robots (2016)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

© 2016 SPIE. One of the greatest challenges to modern technologies is what to do with them when they go irreparably wrong or come to the end of their productive lives. The convention, since the development of modern civilisation, is to discard a brok... Read More about Here today, gone tomorrow: Biodegradable soft robots.

Slime Mould Controller for Microbial Fuel Cells (2016)
Journal Article

Microbial fuels cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical transducers that generate energy from the metabolism of electro-active microorganisms. The organism Physarum polycephalum is a species of slime mould, which has demonstrated many novel and interest... Read More about Slime Mould Controller for Microbial Fuel Cells.

Electricity and catholyte production from ceramic MFCS treating urine (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer a promising technology for electricity production. In the anodic chamber, an anaerobic biofilm breaks down the organic compounds present in the urine to generate electricity. In the cathodic chamber, the oxygen reduc... Read More about Electricity and catholyte production from ceramic MFCS treating urine.

A new design of membraneless microbial fuel cell: Anode and cathode share the same self-stratified electrolyte of urine (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Regardless of architecture, microbial fuel cell technology requires a plurality of units to achieve exploitable electrical power. This implies that each unit needs a simple design allowing the production of the needed multiplicity. Here, we present a... Read More about A new design of membraneless microbial fuel cell: Anode and cathode share the same self-stratified electrolyte of urine.

Row-bot: An energetically autonomous artificial water boatman (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

© 2015 IEEE. We present a design for an energetically autonomous artificial organism, combining two subsystems; a bio-inspired energy source and bio-inspired actuation. The work is the first demonstration of energetically autonomy in a microbial fuel... Read More about Row-bot: An energetically autonomous artificial water boatman.

Microbial fuel cell - A self-powered wastewater electrolyser for electrocoagulation (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This abstract describes the suitability of the Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) for generation of electrical power with a simultaneous synthesis of active catholyte in the form of caustic solution. The active solution was a product of self-powered electroly... Read More about Microbial fuel cell - A self-powered wastewater electrolyser for electrocoagulation.

Self sufficient wireless transmitter powered by foot-pumped urine operating wearable MFC (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd. The first self-sufficient system, powered by a wearable energy generator based on microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is introduced. MFCs made from compliant material were developed in the frame of a pair of socks, which w... Read More about Self sufficient wireless transmitter powered by foot-pumped urine operating wearable MFC.

Stability and reliability of anodic biofilms under different feedstock conditions: Towards microbial fuel cell sensors (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 The Authors. Stability and reliability of microbial fuel cell anodic biofilms, consisting of mixed cultures, were investigated in a continuously fed system. Two groups of anodic biofilm matured with different substrates, acetate and casein for... Read More about Stability and reliability of anodic biofilms under different feedstock conditions: Towards microbial fuel cell sensors.

Electro-osmotic-based catholyte production by Microbial Fuel Cells for carbon capture (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 The Authors. In Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), the recovery of water can be achieved with the help of both active (electro-osmosis), and passive (osmosis) transport pathways of electrolyte through the semi-permeable selective separator. The elec... Read More about Electro-osmotic-based catholyte production by Microbial Fuel Cells for carbon capture.

Self-sustainable electricity production from algae grown in a microbial fuel cell system (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 The Authors. This paper describes the potential for algal biomass production in conjunction with wastewater treatment and power generation within a fully biotic Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). The anaerobic biofilm in the anodic half-cell is genera... Read More about Self-sustainable electricity production from algae grown in a microbial fuel cell system.

Simultaneous electricity generation and microbially-assisted electrosynthesis in ceramic MFCs (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. To date, the development of microbially assisted synthesis in Bioelectrochemical Systems (BESs) has focused on mechanisms that consume energy in order to drive the electrosynthesis process. This work reports - for the first time... Read More about Simultaneous electricity generation and microbially-assisted electrosynthesis in ceramic MFCs.

Fade to Green: A Biodegradable Stack of Microbial Fuel Cells (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. The focus of this study is the development of biodegradable microbial fuel cells (MFCs) able to produce useful power. Reactors with an 8mL chamber volume were designed using all biodegradable produ... Read More about Fade to Green: A Biodegradable Stack of Microbial Fuel Cells.

Ceramic MFCs with internal cathode producing sufficient power for practical applications (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

© 2015, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This communication reports on the potential of using MFCs for powering real world applications, whereby three interconnected MFCs directly energise an external... Read More about Ceramic MFCs with internal cathode producing sufficient power for practical applications.

Cast and 3D printed ion exchange membranes for monolithic microbial fuel cell fabrication (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. We present novel solutions to a key challenge in microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology; greater power density through increased relative surface area of the ion exchange membrane that separates the anode and c... Read More about Cast and 3D printed ion exchange membranes for monolithic microbial fuel cell fabrication.

Urine-activated origami microbial fuel cells to signal proof of life (2015)
Journal Article

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015. The adaptability and practicality of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are highly desirable traits in the search for alternative sources of energy. An innovative application for the technology could be to power portab... Read More about Urine-activated origami microbial fuel cells to signal proof of life.

Microbial fuel cells continuously fuelled by untreated fresh algal biomass (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are energy transducers that convert organic matter directly into electricity, via the anaerobic respiration of electro-active microorganisms. An avenue of research in this field is to employ algae as the organic c... Read More about Microbial fuel cells continuously fuelled by untreated fresh algal biomass.

A novel small scale Microbial Fuel Cell design for increased electricity generation and waste water treatment (2015)
Journal Article

© 2015 Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are a sustainable energy technology with minimal carbon footprint, which is promising for wastewater remediation and generation of u... Read More about A novel small scale Microbial Fuel Cell design for increased electricity generation and waste water treatment.

An energetically-autonomous robotic tadpole with single membrane stomach and tail (2015)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015. We present an energetically autonomous robotic tadpole that uses a single membrane component for both electrical energy generation and propulsive actuation. The coupling of this small bio-inspired... Read More about An energetically-autonomous robotic tadpole with single membrane stomach and tail.

Physarum polycephalum: Towards a biological controller (2015)
Journal Article

© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Microbial fuels cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical transducers that generate energy from the metabolism of electro-active microorganisms. The organism Physarum polycephalum is a slime mould, which has demonstrated many... Read More about Physarum polycephalum: Towards a biological controller.

Dynamic electrical reconfiguration for improved capacitor charging in microbial fuel cell stacks (2014)
Journal Article

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bioelectrochemical device that uses anaerobic bacteria to convert chemical energy locked in biomass into small amounts of electricity. One viable way of increasing energy extraction is by stacking multiple MFC units a... Read More about Dynamic electrical reconfiguration for improved capacitor charging in microbial fuel cell stacks.

Electricity generation and struvite recovery from human urine using microbial fuel cells (2014)
Journal Article

BACKGROUND: Urine is an abundant waste product which requires energy intensive treatment processes in modern wastewater treatment plants. However urine can be utilised as fertiliser in the form of struvite. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising... Read More about Electricity generation and struvite recovery from human urine using microbial fuel cells.

A small-scale air-cathode microbial fuel cell for on-line monitoring of water quality (2014)
Journal Article

The heavy use of chemicals for agricultural, industrial and domestic purposes has increased the risk of freshwater contamination worldwide. Consequently, the demand for efficient new analytical tools for on-line and on-site water quality monitoring h... Read More about A small-scale air-cathode microbial fuel cell for on-line monitoring of water quality.

Controlling for peak power extraction from microbial fuel cells can increase stack voltage and avoid cell reversal (2014)
Journal Article

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are bioelectrochemical systems which can degrade organic materials and are increasingly seen as potential contributors to low carbon technologies, particularly in energy recovery from and treatment of wastewaters. The theo... Read More about Controlling for peak power extraction from microbial fuel cells can increase stack voltage and avoid cell reversal.

Ceramic MFCs for energy conversion in practical applications (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Towards disposable microbial fuel cells: Natural rubber glove membranes (2014)
Journal Article

© 2014 Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Natural rubber from laboratory gloves (GNR) was compared to cation exchange membrane (CEM) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). GNR-MFCs immediately generated power... Read More about Towards disposable microbial fuel cells: Natural rubber glove membranes.

High-Performance, Totally Flexible, Tubular Microbial Fuel Cell (2014)
Journal Article

© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. The current study addresses the development of a flexible microbial fuel cell (MFC) in a tubular configuration. Nafion tubing is employed as a one-compartment MFC and is used as the membrane and th... Read More about High-Performance, Totally Flexible, Tubular Microbial Fuel Cell.

Simultaneous electricity generation and microbially-assisted electrosynthesis in MFCs (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical transducers that generate electricity as a direct result of microbial metabolism, when breaking down organic matter for continuous growth and maintenance. On the other hand, Microbial Electrolysis C... Read More about Simultaneous electricity generation and microbially-assisted electrosynthesis in MFCs.

Intermittent load implementation in microbial fuel cells improves power performance (2014)
Journal Article

© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. This study reports on the response of small-scale MFCs to intermittent loading, in terms of power output over time. The aim was to understand the evolution with time of power output under different duty cycles, in conditions clos... Read More about Intermittent load implementation in microbial fuel cells improves power performance.

Artificial photosynthesis coupled with electricity generation - microbial fuel cells as artificial plants (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

To meet the global goal of carbon reduction process there is a need to develop an artificial system that may act as an autonomous CO2 scrubber. This paper describes the direct electricity generation by the Microbial Fuel Cell with the simultaneous bi... Read More about Artificial photosynthesis coupled with electricity generation - microbial fuel cells as artificial plants.

Algal 'lagoon' effect for oxygenating MFC cathodes (2014)
Journal Article

© 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This paper describes the active oxygenation performed by photosynthetic organisms in the cathode of a two-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell system. The algal biomass... Read More about Algal 'lagoon' effect for oxygenating MFC cathodes.

Electro-osmotic-based catholyte production by Microbial Fuel Cells (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Small-scale microbial fuel cells utilising uric salts (2014)
Journal Article

With exhausting fossil fuels and increasing greenhouse gas emissions, numerous attempts, to overcome future energy challenges, are being pursued. In this study, small-scale microbial fuel cells (MFCs, 0.7mL anodic chamber volume) were built to invest... Read More about Small-scale microbial fuel cells utilising uric salts.

Towards fully biodegradable microbial fuel cells (2014)
Book Chapter

Introduction. In order to sustainably protect and manage the environment, a number of challenges need to be addressed, including: (i) the search for new sources of green energy; (ii) improving the efficiency of human waste treatment; and (iii) identi... Read More about Towards fully biodegradable microbial fuel cells.

Biodegradable and edible gelatine actuators for use as artificial muscles (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

The expense and use of non-recyclable materials often requires the retrieval and recovery of exploratory robots. Therefore, conventional materials such as plastics and metals in robotics can be limiting. For applications such as environmental monitor... Read More about Biodegradable and edible gelatine actuators for use as artificial muscles.

Wearable self sufficient MFC communication system powered by urine (2014)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

A new generation of self-sustainable and wearable Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) is introduced. Two different types of energy - chemical energy found in urine and mechanical energy harvested by manual pumping - were converted to electrical energy. The w... Read More about Wearable self sufficient MFC communication system powered by urine.

Towards disposable microbial fuel cells: Natural rubber glove membranes (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Copyright © 2013 Delta Energy and Environment. Natural rubber from laboratory gloves (GNR) was compared to cation exchange membrane (CEM) in microbial fuel cells (MFC). GNR-MFCs produced an immediate working voltage (50mV) indicating the availability... Read More about Towards disposable microbial fuel cells: Natural rubber glove membranes.

Smart miniature microbial fuel cell design for increased electricity generation and waste water treatment (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Copyright © 2013 Delta Energy and Environment. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are a green sustainable energy with minimal carbon footprint, suitable for wastewater remediation and generation of useful amounts of electricity. This study focuses on the ar... Read More about Smart miniature microbial fuel cell design for increased electricity generation and waste water treatment.

Algal "lagoon" effect for oxygenating MFC cathodes (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Copyright © 2013 Delta Energy and Environment. This paper describes the active oxygenation performed by the photosynthetic organisms in the cathode of a two-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell system. The algal growth provided dissolved oxygen to the cathode... Read More about Algal "lagoon" effect for oxygenating MFC cathodes.

Optimized activated carbon cathode in membraneless single chamber microbial fuel cell treating acetate (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Copyright © 2013 Delta Energy and Environment. Activated Carbon (AC) have been used as cheap alternative cathode for microbial fuel cell (MFC) applications. Different parameters (applied pressure and temperature treatment) have been changed and the c... Read More about Optimized activated carbon cathode in membraneless single chamber microbial fuel cell treating acetate.

Dynamic polarisation reveals differential steady-state stabilisation and capacitive-like behaviour in microbial fuel cells (2013)
Journal Article

In this paper we present several preliminary results produced with a purposely-designed external-resistor (R ext ) sweeping tool for microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Fast sampling rates show that MFCs exhibit differential steady-state stabilisation behav... Read More about Dynamic polarisation reveals differential steady-state stabilisation and capacitive-like behaviour in microbial fuel cells.

Comparing terracotta and earthenware for multiple functionalities in microbial fuel cells (2013)
Journal Article

The properties of earthenware and terracotta were investigated in terms of structural integrity and ion conductivity, in two microbial fuel cell (MFC) designs. Parameters such as wall thickness (4, 8, 18 mm), porosity and cathode hydration were analy... Read More about Comparing terracotta and earthenware for multiple functionalities in microbial fuel cells.

Biodegradation and proton exchange using natural rubber in microbial fuel cells (2013)
Journal Article

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) generate electricity from waste but to date the technology's development and scale-up has been held-up by the need to incorporate expensive materials. A costly but vital component is the ion exchange membrane (IEM) which c... Read More about Biodegradation and proton exchange using natural rubber in microbial fuel cells.

The power of glove: Soft microbial fuel cell for low-power electronics (2013)
Journal Article

A novel, soft microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been constructed using the finger-piece of a standard laboratory natural rubber latex glove. The natural rubber serves as structural and proton exchange material whilst untreated carbon veil is used for the... Read More about The power of glove: Soft microbial fuel cell for low-power electronics.

Waste to real energy: The first MFC powered mobile phone (2013)
Journal Article

This communication reports for the first time the charging of a commercially available mobile phone, using Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) fed with real neat urine. The membrane-less MFCs were made out of ceramic material and employed plain carbon based... Read More about Waste to real energy: The first MFC powered mobile phone.

Energy production and sanitation improvement using microbial fuel cells (2013)
Journal Article

This study builds on the previous work of urine utilisation and uses small-scale microbial fuel cells (MFCs), working both as individual units in cascade or collectively as a stack, to utilise artificial urine. Artificial urine was prepared at concen... Read More about Energy production and sanitation improvement using microbial fuel cells.

Urine: Waste or resource? The economic and social aspects (2013)
Journal Article

Sub-millilitre microbial fuel cell power for soft robots (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Conventional rigid-body robots operate using actuators which differ markedly from the compliant, muscular bodies of biological organisms that generate their energy through organic metabolism. We consider an 'artificial stomach' comprised of a single... Read More about Sub-millilitre microbial fuel cell power for soft robots.

Photosynthetic cathodes for microbial fuel cells (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

One of the major limiting factors in the practical implementation of Microbial Fuel Cells is finding efficient and sustainable catalysts for the cathode half reaction, in an attempt to avoid expensive and/or toxic catalysts. The use of phototrophic o... Read More about Photosynthetic cathodes for microbial fuel cells.

High power generation by a membraneless single chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC) using enzymatic bilirubin oxidase (BOx) air-breathing cathode (2013)
Journal Article

In this work, for the first time, we showed the successful utilization of enzymatic-based (bilirubin oxidase, BOx) air-breathing gas-diffusion (ABGD-BOx) cathode in membraneless single chamber microbial fuel cells (SCMFCs). At pH range of 7.2-7.5, th... Read More about High power generation by a membraneless single chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC) using enzymatic bilirubin oxidase (BOx) air-breathing cathode.

Oxygenic phototrophic biofilms for improved cathode performance in microbial fuel cells (2013)
Journal Article

The rate of oxygen reduction reaction in the cathodic chambers of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is a typical limiting aspect of its performance. Recently, research on biocathodes has gained more interest as it allows circumventing the utilisation of ex... Read More about Oxygenic phototrophic biofilms for improved cathode performance in microbial fuel cells.

The first self-sustainable microbial fuel cell stack (2013)
Journal Article

This study reports for the first time on the development of a self-sustainable microbial fuel cell stack capable of self-maintenance (feeding, hydration, sensing & reporting). Furthermore, the stack system is producing excess energy, which can be use... Read More about The first self-sustainable microbial fuel cell stack.

Miniature microbial fuel cells and stacks for urine utilisation (2013)
Journal Article

MFCs are becoming a stronger contender in the area of alternative energy sources and show great promise in utilising a wide variety of organic sources. This paper describes the utilisation of neat undiluted urine as the main feedstock for different t... Read More about Miniature microbial fuel cells and stacks for urine utilisation.

Effects of sulphate addition and sulphide inhibition on microbial fuel cells (2013)
Journal Article

The effects of adding sulphate in: (i) standard activated sludge microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and (ii) larger-scale leachate-treating columns - both as individual units and as a system connected in cascade - are reported. S-replete power output was ∼2... Read More about Effects of sulphate addition and sulphide inhibition on microbial fuel cells.

Bi-directional electrical characterisation of microbial fuel cell (2013)
Journal Article

The electrical performance of microbial fuel cells in steady-state is usually investigated by standard characterisation methods that reveal many important parameters e.g. maximum power. This paper introduces a novel " bi-directional" method to study... Read More about Bi-directional electrical characterisation of microbial fuel cell.

MPL based anode for improved performance in microbial fuel cells (2013)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

Copyright © 2013 Delta Energy and Environment. Two different anode materials, carbon veil and carbon cloth, were modified with a micro-porous layer for microbial fuel cells. 2.2 and 1.8 times higher power was achieved as a result of this modification... Read More about MPL based anode for improved performance in microbial fuel cells.

MFC-cascade stacks maximise COD reduction and avoid voltage reversal under adverse conditions (2013)
Journal Article

Six continuous-flow Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) configured as a vertical cascade and tested under different electrical connections are presented. When in parallel, stable operation and higher power and current densities than individual MFCs were obse... Read More about MFC-cascade stacks maximise COD reduction and avoid voltage reversal under adverse conditions.

Comparing the short and long term stability of biodegradable, ceramic and cation exchange membranes in microbial fuel cells (2013)
Journal Article

The long and short-term stability of two porous dependent ion exchange materials; starch-based compostable bags (BioBag) and ceramic, were compared to commercially available cation exchange membrane (CEM) in microbial fuel cells. Using bi-directional... Read More about Comparing the short and long term stability of biodegradable, ceramic and cation exchange membranes in microbial fuel cells.

Maximising electricity production by controlling the biofilm specific growth rate in microbial fuel cells (2012)
Journal Article

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

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

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

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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.

Investigating the effects of fluidic connection between microbial fuel cells (2011)
Journal Article

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

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

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

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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.

The overshoot phenomenon as a function of internal resistance in microbial fuel cells (2010)
Journal Article

EcoBot-III: A robot with guts (2010)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

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.

Improved energy output levels from small-scale Microbial Fuel Cells (2010)
Journal Article

This study reports on the findings from the investigation into small-scale (6.25mL) MFCs, connected together as a network of multiple units. The MFCs contained unmodified (no catalyst) carbon fibre electrodes and for initial and later experiments, a... Read More about Improved energy output levels from small-scale Microbial Fuel Cells.

Comparative analysis of different polymer materials for the construction of microbial fuel cell stacks (2010)
Journal Article

Peripherals of BES from processing current to data transmission (2009)
Book Chapter

Artificial life models in hardware (2009)
Book

Hopping, climbing and swimming robots, nano-size neural networks, motorless walkers, slime mould and chemical brains - 'Artificial Life Models in Hardware' offers unique designs and prototypes of life-like creatures in conventional hardware and hybri... Read More about Artificial life models in hardware.

Artificial symbiosis in EcoBots (2009)
Book Chapter

Truly autonomous robotic systems will be required to abstract energy from the environment in order to function. Energetic autonomy refers to the ability of an agent, to maintain itself in a viable state for long periods of time. Its behaviour must be... Read More about Artificial symbiosis in EcoBots.

Landfill leachate treatment with microbial fuel cells; scale-up through plurality (2009)
Journal Article

Three Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) were fluidically connected in series, with a single feed-line going into the 1st column through the 2nd column and finally as a single outflow coming from the 3rd column. Provision was also made for re-circulation in... Read More about Landfill leachate treatment with microbial fuel cells; scale-up through plurality.

Electricity from landfill leachate using microbial fuel cells: Comparison with a biological aerated filter (2009)
Journal Article

Four experimental columns were employed in this study to investigate their performance under wastewater treatment conditions. One column was set-up as a biological aerated filter and the remaining three were set-up as microbial fuel cells (MFCs), two... Read More about Electricity from landfill leachate using microbial fuel cells: Comparison with a biological aerated filter.

Biological computing using perfusion anodophile biofilm electrodes (PABE) (2008)
Journal Article

This paper presents a theoretical approach to biological computing, using biofilm electrodes by illustrating a simplified Pavlovian learning model. The theory behind this approach was based on empirical data produced from a prototype version of these... Read More about Biological computing using perfusion anodophile biofilm electrodes (PABE).

Microbial fuel cells based on carbon veil electrodes: Stack configuration and scalability (2008)
Journal Article

The aim of this study was to compare the performance of three different sizes of microbial fuel cell (MFC) when operated under continuous flow conditions using acetate as the fuel substrate and show how small-scale multiple units may be best configur... Read More about Microbial fuel cells based on carbon veil electrodes: Stack configuration and scalability.

Artificial gills for robots: MFC behaviour in water (2007)
Presentation / Conference Contribution

This paper reports on the first stage in developing microbial fuel cells (MFCs) which can operate underwater by utilizing dissolved oxygen. In this context, the cathodic half-cell is likened to an artificial gill. Such an underwater power generator h... Read More about Artificial gills for robots: MFC behaviour in water.

Energetically autonomous robots: Food for thought (2006)
Journal Article

This paper reports on the robot EcoBot-II, which is designed to power itself solely by converting unrefined insect biomass into useful energy using on-board microbial fuel cells with oxygen cathodes. In bench experiments different 'fuels' (sugar, fru... Read More about Energetically autonomous robots: Food for thought.

EcoBot-II: An artificial agent with a natural metabolism (2005)
Journal Article

In this paper we report the development of the robot EcoBot-II, which exhibits a primitive form of artificial symbiosis. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) were used as the onboard energy supply, which consisted of bacterial cultures from sewage sludge and... Read More about EcoBot-II: An artificial agent with a natural metabolism.

Electrifying bacteria: The power of pee
Journal Article

An introduction into the wonderful world of microbial fuel cells and pee powered toilets.