Fluidized capacitive bioanode as a novel reactor concept for the microbial fuel cell.

The use of granular electrodes in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) is attractive because granules provide a cost-effective way to create a high electrode surface area, which is essential to achieve high current and power densities. Here, we show a novel reactor design based on capacitive granules: the fluidized capacitive bioanode. Activated carbon (AC) granules are colonized by electrochemically active microorganisms, which extract electrons from acetate and store the electrons in the granule. Electricity is harvested from the AC granules in an external discharge cell. We show a proof-of-principle of the fluidized capacitive system with a total anode volume of 2 L. After a start-up period of 100 days, the current increased from 0.56 A/m2 with 100 g AC granules, to 0.99 A/m2 with 150 g AC granules, to 1.3 A/m2 with 200 g AC granules. Contact between moving AC granules and current collector was confirmed in a control experiment without biofilm. Contribution of an electro-active biofilm to the current density wi...