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Updated: May 1, 2026

Waste Water Derived Electroactive Microbial Biofilms: Growth, Maintenance, and Basic Characterization
Published on: December 29, 2013
Effective control of bioelectricity generation from a microbial fuel cell by logical combinations of pH and
Jiahuan Tang1, Ting Liu2, Yong Yuan3
1Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China ; Guangdong Institute of Eco-Environmental and Soil Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
Abstract:
In this study, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) with switchable power release is designed, which can be logically controlled by combinations of the most physiologically important parameters such as "temperature" and "pH." Changes in voltage output in response to temperature and pH changes were significant in which voltage output decreased sharply when temperature was lowered from 30°C to 10°C or pH was decreased from 7.0 to 5.0. The switchability of the MFC comes from the microbial anode whose activity is affected by the combined medium temperature and pH. Changes in temperature and pH cause reversible activation-inactivation of the bioanode, thus affecting the activity of the entire MFC. With temperature and pH as input signals, an AND logic operation is constructed for the MFC whose power density is controlled. The developed system has the potential to meet the requirement of power supplies producing electrical power on-demand for self-powered biosensors or biomedical devices.
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