Electrolyte-membraneless microbial fuel cell, in-series stack thereof, and in-parallel combination thereof

摘要

Disclosed herein are an electrolyte-membraneless microbial fuel cell, in-series stack thereof, and in-parallel combination thereof. According to various implementation examples, problems relating to scaling up and modularization are overcome, and problems relating to using an electrolyte membrane are solved.

主权项

1. An electrolyte-membraneless microbial fuel cell, a unit of the microbial fuel cell comprising:
(a) a body having empty top, bottom and inside; (b) a cathode disposed on the top of the body; (c) an anode disposed on the bottom of the body; (d) a plate disposed on a lower surface of the anode; (e) electrochemically active microorganisms disposed on an upper surface of the anode; (f) a substrate-containing solution disposed filling the space inside the body between a lower surface of the cathode and the upper surface of the anode; (g) an inlet via which the substrate-containing solution is introduced; and (h) an outlet via which the substrate-containing solution is discharged, wherein: an upper surface of the plate is electrically connected to the lower surface of the anode; the electrochemically active microorganisms biodegrade the substrate to generate electrons and hydrogen ions, the hydrogen ions passing through the substrate-containing solution to be transferred to the lower surface of the cathode, and the electrons being transferred to the cathode through the plate; the inlet and the outlet are disposed in two different spaces when the space inside the body between the lower surface of the cathode and the upper surface of the anode is equally divided into the two different spaces horizontally; and the cathode, the anode, and the plate are sealed in the body so that the substrate-containing solution does not leak through other portions than the outlet.