Sediment microbial fuel cells capable of powering outdoor environmental monitoring sensors

Abstract

In this study, Sediment Microbial Fuel Cells (SMFCs) prototypes have been developed to operate under open-air conditions and power sensors for environmental monitoring. Two SMFCs with a volume of 50 l each, consisting of two types of anodic materials – graphite and coke, were operated on-field for over a year. The electrical outputs have been recorded and compared with the measured environmental parameters such as temperature, light illumination, atmospheric pressure, humidity, etc. The statistical analysis of the obtained data shows that temperature changes between 0 and 14 °C do not affect the power achieved. On the contrary, the sunlight irradiation showed a second-order polynomial correlation with the current generated by the SMFCs, increasing the latter during the days. The cathode reactions significantly impacted the power density achieved by both explored SMFCs and the system's sustainability. The metallurgical coke is suggested to be used as an inexpensive and convenient anode material for SMFCs giving compatible results to the widely used graphite.