Microbial fuel cell-based sensor for Enterobacter sp. KBH6958 activity monitoring during hydrogen production: The effects of pH and glucose concentration

• Main Authors: Lim, Swee Su, Chong, Poh She, Jong, Bor Chyan, Abu Bakar, Mimi Hani, Wan Daud, Wan Ramli, Md. Jahim, Jamaliah, Salehmin, Mohd Nur Ikhmal
• Format: Article
• Published: Springer 2022
• Subjects: TP Chemical technology
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/41906/

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an electricity-generating device utilising electrochemically active microorganisms as biocatalysts. Using MFC as a biosensor to monitor hydrogen fermentation in Enterobacter sp. is possible because the device depends on microbial activity for electricity output. This study aimed to prove the concept that voltage signal generated by Enterobacter sp. via an MFC can be used in the fast detection and monitoring of microbial health in terms of hydrogen production and microbial growth. The anodic chamber of a two-chamber MFC was used for cultivating culture and hydrogen production. An anode inside the chamber was used as a sensor terminal to monitor fermentative batch operation within 24 h. The open-circuit voltage (OCV) signal was proportional to the dried weight biomass and accumulated biogas volume (sigmoid curve) between the lag and early stationary phases. However, the OCV value started to decrease dramatically when the pH was significantly dropped during the stationary phase until the end of the experiments. The observation indicated that the pH had a great effect not only on biomass growth and biogas production but also on the OCV output. The results showed that the MFC-based health sensor is applicable, can be the cost-effective and facilitates the monitoring of the hydrogen fermentative process. GRAPHICS] .