Title:Bio-catalytic Devices for Energy Production
Volume: 21
Issue: 17
Author(s): Joffrey Champavert, Ummy Mardiana and Christophe Innocent*
Affiliation:
- Institut Européen des Membranes, ENSCM-UM-CNRS, (UMR 5635), Université de Montpellier, CC047, place E. Bataillon, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5,France
Keywords:
Bioelectrochemistry, enzymatic biofuel cell, enzyme immobilization, microbial fuel cell, yeast, electrochemical oxidation.
Abstract: Background: The development of fuel cells device, which used bioelements as catalyst, converts
the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through an electrochemical reaction with oxygen oxidizing
agent, and demonstrates the potential of electrochemical techniques for energy generation. The development
of sustainable energy production prompted the researcher community to propose and investigate the use of
biocatalysts.
Aim: This article review presents the development of bio catalyst in biofuel cell devices. Two kinds of biotcatalyst
are used to produce electricity: enzyme and microorganisms. Enzymatic biofuel cell and microbial
fuel cell are presented after an historical review for each device. Effects of material electrode and design of the
electrode are discussed to improve the electrical connection of biocatalyst (enzyme or microorganism) and
thus to enhance the energy production.
Conclusion: Application of biofuel cell in desalination process is shown and the results demonstrated the capacity
of coupling between biofuel cell and electrodialysis process to remove salt from sea water. This work
opens new perspectives to enhance the power production simultaneously with water treatment.