Synergistic effects in a microbial fuel cell between co-cultures and a photosynthetic alga Chlorella vulgaris improve performance

Abstract

Microbial communities are catalysts that drive the operation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this study, the use of a defined co-culture of Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa towards improved power generation in MFCs is described. The co-culture has been initially evaluated for substrate consumption, biofilm formation and microbial electron transfer activity. The co-culture gave an enhanced power density of 190.44 mW m−2, while E. coli and P. aeruginosa as pure cultures generated lesser power densities of 139.24 and 158.76 mW m−2 respectively. The photosynthetic alga Chlorella vulgaris was then inoculated in the cathode chamber. Co-cultures in the presence of C. vulgaris improved the mean power density from 175 mW m−2 to 248 mW m−2, a 41.7% rise. A synergistic effect was observed when the co-cultures were coupled with C. vulgaris. Combining co-cultures with photosynthetic MFCs offers a lot of promise in studying mechanisms and expanding the nature of applications.

Keywords

• Chlorella vulgaris
• Co-culture
• Escherichia coli
• Microbial fuel cell
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Power generation