Picture this: seas filled with black sludge, air infused with deadly toxins, and drinking water so contaminated from chemicals so poisonous that you could die from ingesting it. Sounds like a setting for some dystopian novel, right? Wrong. This is the reality of our planet at this very moment. That black sludge in our oceans is oil that’s been spilled while it was trying to be extracted. Those deadly toxins in the air that we breathe come from fumes from power plants.That lethal water has been contaminated from the waste and spills from the toxic nuclear power plants that are all over the earth. All of this is the result of us needing energy. We drill into the ocean floor to get oil so we can drive our cars, we burn coal in power plants so
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There are mediator microbial fuel cells and mediator-free microbial fuel cells. In the mediator MFCs, mediators like methyl viologen, neutral red, thionine, methyl blue, humic acid, etc. facilitate the electrons transferred from the microbial cells to the electrode (Park and Zeikus 2000). Most of these mediators are very expensive and highly toxic to humans. Mediator-free microbial fuel cells, however, do not require a mediator, and therefore they are less expensive and much safer. The mediator-free microbial fuel cells transfer electrons to the electrode through electrochemically-alive bacteria. (“Mediator vs. Mediator-Less Microbial Fuel Cells” …show more content…
Wastewater is used water from things like the toilet, the sink, and the laundry. The mediator-free MFCs can also derive their energy straight from certain plants. This is most commonly known as a plant microbial fuel cell. Some examples of the plants that the microbial cells can gain energy from are cordgrass, reed sweetgrass, rice, tomatoes, algae, and lupines. There are also soil based microbial fuel cells, which adhere to the same basic microbial fuel cell principles as I have previously described, whereby soil acts as the inoculum, the nutrient-rich anodic, and the proton exchange membrane (or PEM). An inoculum is the microorganism used in the placement of something that will grow or reproduce, a nutrient-rich anodic is the positively charged electrode that attracts the negative ions in a circuit or chemical reaction which is high in nutrients, and a proton exchange membrane is a semi-permeable membrane made from an ion containing a polymer and designed to make protons while being impervious to gases. Soil is naturally teeming with a diverse variety of microbes, including the electrogenic microbes needed for microbial fuel cells to generate energy. (“Mediator vs. Mediator-Less Microbial Fuel Cells” 2014) (Park and Zeikus 2000) ("Microbial Fuel Cells: Generating Power from Waste"
There are mediator microbial fuel cells and mediator-free microbial fuel cells. In the mediator MFCs, mediators like methyl viologen, neutral red, thionine, methyl blue, humic acid, etc. facilitate the electrons transferred from the microbial cells to the electrode (Park and Zeikus 2000). Most of these mediators are very expensive and highly toxic to humans. Mediator-free microbial fuel cells, however, do not require a mediator, and therefore they are less expensive and much safer. The mediator-free microbial fuel cells transfer electrons to the electrode through electrochemically-alive bacteria. (“Mediator vs. Mediator-Less Microbial Fuel Cells” …show more content…
Wastewater is used water from things like the toilet, the sink, and the laundry. The mediator-free MFCs can also derive their energy straight from certain plants. This is most commonly known as a plant microbial fuel cell. Some examples of the plants that the microbial cells can gain energy from are cordgrass, reed sweetgrass, rice, tomatoes, algae, and lupines. There are also soil based microbial fuel cells, which adhere to the same basic microbial fuel cell principles as I have previously described, whereby soil acts as the inoculum, the nutrient-rich anodic, and the proton exchange membrane (or PEM). An inoculum is the microorganism used in the placement of something that will grow or reproduce, a nutrient-rich anodic is the positively charged electrode that attracts the negative ions in a circuit or chemical reaction which is high in nutrients, and a proton exchange membrane is a semi-permeable membrane made from an ion containing a polymer and designed to make protons while being impervious to gases. Soil is naturally teeming with a diverse variety of microbes, including the electrogenic microbes needed for microbial fuel cells to generate energy. (“Mediator vs. Mediator-Less Microbial Fuel Cells” 2014) (Park and Zeikus 2000) ("Microbial Fuel Cells: Generating Power from Waste"