Microbial Fuel Cell

[Carlos Castellanos]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in constructing a microbial fuel cell (several actually) and thought I would ask the group to see if anyone has experience with them.

I've been looking at tutorials online and am probably going to build the standard, 2-chamber design MFC to get started. It will likely be quite large (so as to get enough voltage) but eventually I want to scale down and be more compact and efficient. I've been reading Bruce Logan's excellent work in this area. Apparently, there is a single chamber air cathode, PEM-less design that he demonstrates that seems to work better (i.e. generates more power) than the standard two chamber designs with a PEM. Any thought pointers, or even design specs and/or instructions you can provide on MFC chambers would be appreciated.

I am also interested in plant-based MFCs. I was thinking of using Glyceria maxima (Reed Sweetgrass) but since its an invasive species I'd rather go with something native to the Pacific Northwest. If anyone can recommend a good plant for an MFC that is easy to get in the Vancouver area, please let me know!

Best,
Carlos

[Pieter]

We are having regular meetups on building MFCs at the Open Wetlab. We already tried several designs and are now designing and building our own. We do have a 2 chamber MFC in mind, and actually looking into several options for a membrane. 

It seems like everyone is using Nafion membranes, but they turn out to be ridiculously expensive and the only supplier in Holland is Sigma Aldrich. 

Does any have suggestions for cheap proton exchange membranes?

We tried agar agar with salt, it works, but is not sustainable...

[Brian Degger]

ncbe in uk does fuel cells http://www.ncbe.reading.ac.uk/NCBE/MATERIALS/PDF/NCBEpricelist.pdf

not sure if £12 for 5cm x 5cm is expensive in your opinion. But it is a source :)

Microbial fuel cell

This cell can be used with yeast to generate a small 

electrical current. It comes with neoprene gaskets, 

electrode material, cation exchange membrane 

and an instruction booklet (but not the chemicals 

required — these are normal laboratory reagents). The 

microbial fuel cell is ideal for student investigations 

of respiration. 

Microbial fuel cell ................................................................£54.00

Replacement parts

Electrode material...................................................................£7.50

Cation exchange membrane, 50 x 50mm ................. £12.00

--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups DIYbio group. To post to this group, send email to diy...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/diybio?hl=en
Learn more at www.diybio.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DIYbio" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to diybio+un...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to diy...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/diybio.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/diybio/979734fc-32d9-42a5-8432-5b0ce43011a8%40googlegroups.com.

For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
 
 

--
----------------------------------------
Brian Degger

twitter: @drbrian

http://makerspace.org.uk

http://transitlab.org

----------------------------------------

[John Griessen]

On 06/25/2013 10:01 AM, Pieter wrote:
> Does any have suggestions for cheap proton exchange membranes?
>

Ask the suppliers of reverse osmosis systems and membranes...
http://www.culliganmatrixsolutions.com/industrial/water-treatment-products/water-filter-membranes/

http://www.astom-corp.jp/en/en-main2-neosepta.html seems involved in a range of processes...

http://www.mega.cz/heterogenous-ion-exchange-membranes-ralex.html
The RALEX membranes are heterogeneous ion-exchange membranes produced in MEGA a.s. Stráž pod Ralskem, Czech Republic, since 1985.
Cation-exchange membrane RALEX CMH transmits cations...

http://www.fujifilmmembranes.com/?gclid=CKL7j4na_7cCFSgS7AodpXMAfg
Ion exchange membranes which enable energy generation from two water streams with different salinity levels.

I'm sure they all know about DuPont Nafion® perfluorosulfonic acid membranes from the 60's and
might provide their own lower cost alternatives by now.

One hit by googling was selling N117 at $1604/sq meter or $0.16 per sq cm
and it was DuPont brand. Another in Taiwan had a photo of DuPont logo...

But this is what you were looking for:

"We supply PFSA resin and its dispersion and membrance. Good quality equiv. to Nafion. More competitive price. For more details,
please contact us." http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/334124252/PERFLUOROSULFONIC_ACID_PTFE_COPOLYMER.html

Also this one: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/320855784/Nafion_H.html
But they have a wrong photo in place of their "Nafion Perfluorosulfonic Acid Resin,Nafion-H,Rf-SO3H direct from factory with
better price.", so communication may be difficult.

[Carlos Castellanos]

I'm thinking of using Gore-Tex for the membrane.

Have you tried plant MFCs or any single chamber PEM-less designs?

-Carlos

[Pieter]

We also tried the single chamber MudWatt, it worked very good for a while.

NCBE seems to have a fair offer. 5 x 5 cm should be enough. We'll also give gore-tex a try, it seems like they do not sell it as a fabric but only in products. So I'll try this one: http://www.extremtextil.de/catalog/P-Shell-3-ply-laminate-PTFE-membrane::1315.html

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 2:00 AM, Pieter <pieterva...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We also tried the single chamber MudWatt, it worked very good for a while.
>
> NCBE seems to have a fair offer. 5 x 5 cm should be enough. We'll also give
> gore-tex a try, it seems like they do not sell it as a fabric but only in
> products. So I'll try this one:
> http://www.extremtextil.de/catalog/P-Shell-3-ply-laminate-PTFE-membrane::1315.html

Though that says 'impregnated', likely with some silicone that has
since cured and is dielectric.

--
-Nathan

[Nathan McCorkle]

This kind of virgin PTFE won't work?
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/100-virgin-pure-white-skived-and-molded-PTFE-teflon-sheet/909458127.html

--
-Nathan