Recently, terracotta has attracted interest as low-cost and biocompatible material to build separators in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). However, the influence of a non-conductive material like terracotta on electroactive microbiological communities remains substantially unexplored. This study aims at describing the microbial pools developed from two different seed inocula (bovine and swine sewage) in terracotta-based air-breathing MFC. A statistical approach on microbiological data confirmed different community enrichment in the MFCs, depending mainly on the inoculum. Terracotta separators impeded the growth of electroactive communities in contact with cathodes (biocathodes), while a thick biofilm was observed on the surface (anolyte-side) of the terracotta separator. Terracotta-free MFCs, set as control experiments, showed a well-developed biocathode, Biocathode-MFCs resulted in 4 to 6-fold higher power densities. All biofilms were analyzed by high-throughput Illumina sequencing applied to 16S rRNA gene. The results showed more abundant (3- to 5-fold) electroactive genera (mainly Geobacter, Pseudomonas, Desulfuromonas and Clostridia MBA03) in terracotta-free biocathodes. Nevertheless, terracotta separators induced only slight changes in anodic microbial communities.
A study of microbial communities on terracotta separator and on biocathode of air breathing microbial fuel cells / L. Rago, S. Zecchin, S. Marzorati, A. Goglio, L. Cavalca, P. Cristiani, A. Schievano. - In: BIOELECTROCHEMISTRY. - ISSN 1567-5394. - 120(2018 Apr), pp. 18-26. [10.1016/j.bioelechem.2017.11.005]
A study of microbial communities on terracotta separator and on biocathode of air breathing microbial fuel cells
L. Rago
;S. Zecchin;S. Marzorati;A. Goglio;L. Cavalca;A. Schievano
2018
Abstract
Recently, terracotta has attracted interest as low-cost and biocompatible material to build separators in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). However, the influence of a non-conductive material like terracotta on electroactive microbiological communities remains substantially unexplored. This study aims at describing the microbial pools developed from two different seed inocula (bovine and swine sewage) in terracotta-based air-breathing MFC. A statistical approach on microbiological data confirmed different community enrichment in the MFCs, depending mainly on the inoculum. Terracotta separators impeded the growth of electroactive communities in contact with cathodes (biocathodes), while a thick biofilm was observed on the surface (anolyte-side) of the terracotta separator. Terracotta-free MFCs, set as control experiments, showed a well-developed biocathode, Biocathode-MFCs resulted in 4 to 6-fold higher power densities. All biofilms were analyzed by high-throughput Illumina sequencing applied to 16S rRNA gene. The results showed more abundant (3- to 5-fold) electroactive genera (mainly Geobacter, Pseudomonas, Desulfuromonas and Clostridia MBA03) in terracotta-free biocathodes. Nevertheless, terracotta separators induced only slight changes in anodic microbial communities.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
BIOELECHEM_2017_227_Revision 3_V0.pdf
Open Access dal 18/05/2019
Tipologia:
Post-print, accepted manuscript ecc. (versione accettata dall'editore)
Dimensione
1.77 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
1.77 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
A study of microbial communities on terracotta separator and on biocathode of air breathing microbial fuel cells.pdf
accesso riservato
Tipologia:
Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione
685.52 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
685.52 kB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri Richiedi una copia |
Pubblicazioni consigliate
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.