Investigating Variability in Microbial Fuel Cells
Daniel David Leicester, Sam Settle, Clare M. McCann, Elizabeth Heidrich
Abstract
The research presented, although carried out in the area of microbial fuel cells, reaches an important and broadly impacting conclusion that when using mixed inoculate in replica reactors under replicated conditions, different communities emerge capable of different levels of metabolism. To date there has been very little research focusing on this, or even reporting it, with most studies using duplicate or triplicate reactors, in which this phenomenon is not fully observed. Publishing data in which replicas do not replicate will be an important and brave first step in the research into understanding this fundamental microbial process.
Topics & Concepts
ReplicaMicrobial fuel cellMicrobial metabolismBiologyEnvironmental scienceBiochemical engineeringBacteriaChemistryEngineeringGeneticsGeographyAnodePhysical chemistryElectrodeArchaeologyMicrobial Fuel Cells and BioremediationElectrochemical sensors and biosensorsElectrochemical Analysis and Applications