期刊
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
卷 249, 期 -, 页码 327-332出版社
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.10.096
关键词
Microbial fuel cell; Natural rubber; Power management system; Urine; Conductive latex; Energy harvesting
资金
- Leverhulme Trust [RPG-362]
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [GCE: OPP1044458]
- EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow [EP/I004653/1]
- EPSRC [EP/L002132/1, EP/I004653/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EP/I004653/1, EP/L002132/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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 anode. A soft, conductive, synthetic latex cathode is developed that coats the outside of the glove. This inexpensive, lightweight reactor can without any external power supply, start up and energise a power management system (PMS), which steps-up the MFC output (0.06-0.17 V) to practical levels for operating electronic devices (>3 V). The MFC is able to operate for up to 4 days on just 2 mL of feedstock (synthetic tryptone yeast extract) without any cathode hydration. The MFC responds immediately to changes in fuel-type when the introduction of urine accelerates the cycling times (35 vs. 50 min for charge/discharge) of the MFC and PMS. Following starvation periods of up to 60 h at 0 mV the MFC is able to cold start the PMS simply with the addition of 2 mL fresh feedstock. These findings demonstrate that cheap MFCs can be developed as sole power sources and in conjunction with advancements in ultra-low power electronics, can practically operate small electrical devices. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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