Microfluidic Microbial Bio-Fuel Cells (MBFC)

Prakash Rewatkar || Dipankar Nath || Yuvraj Mao

Applications: Water Toxicity Monitoring, Energy Harvesting

a) Fabrication process flow of microfluidic paper based analytical enzymatic biofuel cell b) complete experimental setup of Y-shaped µPAD-EBFC c) shelf-staked version of four Y-shaped µPAD-EBFC

IoT Enabled Paper MFC Powered by Shewanella putrefaciens

Self-driven membraneless microfluidic paper based EBFC for glucose sensing and energy harvesting
Fabrication material
- Microchannel - Whatman #1 filter paper
- Bioelectrodes - Bucky paper
Maximum power density 100 µW/cm² (600 µA/cm² at 0.505 V)
Various beverages have been utilised as fuel - Mountain Dew, Pepsi, 7up and Fresh Watermelon Juice

E coli fed Enhanced Paper MFC

Fully integrated microfluidic membraneless enzymatic biofuel cell (µM-EBFC) fabricated using a 3D printer
Fabrication material
- Microchannel - Polylactic acid (PLA)
- Bioelectrodes - electrically conductive Graphene-PLA material
OCP of 0.425 V & maximum peak power density (PD) of 4.15 μW/cm² (current density of 13.36 µA/cm²)

Complete experimental setup images of 3DP-MM-EBFC. a) CAD design of two separate parts b) Complete joint/clipped design c) Digital image of two separate parts of 3DP-MM-EBFC d) Top view contains two inlets e) Side view of the 3DP-MM-EBFC with outlet (f) Complete experimental setup of 3DP-MM-EBFC

a) Two separate microchannel channel parts embedded with enzymes modified PGE’s b) Top view of the clipped version with two inlets c) Bottom view of the clipped version with outlet d) Complete experimental setup of PGE based 3DP- MM-EBFC

Paper MFC to Harvest Energy from Urine

Miniaturized membraneless enzymatic biofuel cell (MM-EBFC) fabricated using a 3D printer
Fabrication of such EBFC was carried out
- Microchannel-ABS filament
- Bioelectrodes-Pencil graphite lead
The PGE based 3DP-MM-EBFC showed open circuit potential (OCP) of 0.433 V and with a maximum power density of 18 µW/cm² at a current density of 60 µA/cm²

LIG based µ-fluidic EBFC

One step procedure to synthesize laser-induced graphene (LIG) by CO₂ laser.
Microchannel fabricated using PDMS soft lithography
Maximum Power Density of 2.13 µW/cm²

M-EBFC fabrication: a) Assembly steps b) Schematic of the fully assembled cell c) Image of the biofuel cell.

Related Publications

Journal Publications

7. Prakash Rewatkar, Prasanth K Enaganti, Manish Rishi, Subhas C Mukhopadhyay and Sanket Goel, Single-Step Inkjet-Printed Paper-Origami Arrayed Air-Breathing Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell and its Validation, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (accepted).

6. Jayapiriya U S and Sanket Goel, Influence of Cellulose Separators in Coin-sized 3D Printed Paper-based Microbial Fuel Cells, Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, vol. 47, #101535, 2021.

5. Prakash Rewatkar and Sanket Goel, Shewanella putrefaciens Powered Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell with Printed Circuit Board Electrodes and Soft-lithographic Microchannel, Chemosphere, vol. 286(3), # 131855, 2021.

4. Dipankar Nath, Sarala Kallepalli, Lanka Tata Rao, Satish K Dubey, Arshad Javed and Sanket Goel, Microfluidic Paper Microbial Fuel Cell Powered by Shewanella putrefaciens in IoT Cloud Framework, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 46(4), pp. 3230-3239, 2021.

3. D. Nath, P. Sai Kiran, P. Rewatkar, B. Krishnamurthy, P. Sankar Ganesh, and S. Goel, “Escherichia coli Fed Paper-Based Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell with MWCNT Composed Bucky Paper Bioelectrodes,” IEEE Trans. Nanobioscience, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 510–515, Jul. 2019, doi: 10.1109/TNB.2019.2919930.

2. C. Mankar, P. Rewatkar, M. Dhone, S. Balpande, J. Kalambe, R. Pande and S. Goel, “Paper Based Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell to Harvest Energy from Urine,” Sens. Lett., vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 69–74, Mar. 2019, doi: 10.1166/sl.2019.3998.

1. S. Goel, “From waste to watts in micro-devices: Review on development of Membraned and Membraneless Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell,” Applied Materials Today, vol. 11. Elsevier Ltd, pp. 270–279, 01-Jun-2018, doi: 10.1016/j.apmt.2018.03.005.

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