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Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Self-standing Electrochemical Set-up to Enrich Anode-respiring Bacteria On-site

Self-standing Electrochemical Set-up to Enrich Anode-respiring Bacteria On-site

Published on: July 24, 2018

Simplifying microbial electrosynthesis reactor design.

Cloelle G S Giddings¹, Kelly P Nevin², Trevor Woodward²

¹Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Massachusetts at Amherst Amherst, MA, USA.

Frontiers in Microbiology

|June 2, 2015

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Microbial electrosynthesis, an artificial photosynthesis, can be simplified. Researchers developed a membrane-less reactor using a direct current power source, maintaining high efficiency for converting carbon dioxide into valuable organic compounds.

Keywords:

CO2 sequestration Sporomusa ovata artificial photosynthesis bioelectrochemical system microbial electrosynthesis renewable energy storage

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Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery

Electrochemically and Bioelectrochemically Induced Ammonium Recovery

Published on: January 22, 2015

Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Electrochemistry
Synthetic Biology

Background:

Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) mimics photosynthesis to convert CO2 into organic chemicals.
Traditional MES reactors are complex and pose scale-up challenges.
Sporomusa ovata is a microbe capable of reducing CO2 to acetate.

Purpose of the Study:

To simplify MES reactor design by removing potentiostatic control and membranes.
To investigate the feasibility of using a direct current power source instead of potentiostatic control.
To assess the efficiency of a membrane-less MES reactor with S. ovata.

Main Methods:

Utilized Sporomusa ovata biofilms on graphite electrodes.
Compared traditional H-cell reactors with a simplified membrane-less design.
Employed a direct current power source for cathode electron delivery.
Monitored acetate production, coulombic efficiency, and energetic efficiency.

Main Results:

High rates and coulombic efficiencies were maintained in a membrane-less reactor with direct current power.
Eliminating the membrane and potentiostatic control did not hinder MES performance.
The simplified reactor design successfully produced acetate from CO2 with high efficiency.

Conclusions:

MES is feasible in simplified, membrane-less reactors powered by direct current.
This approach significantly reduces reactor complexity and potential construction costs.
The findings pave the way for more scalable and cost-effective MES applications.