WARF: P06408US
Light-Powered Microbial Fuel Cell Offering Clean, Renewable Hydrogen-Based Alternative Energy Source

INVENTORS

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Daniel Noguera, Timothy Donohue, Marc Anderson, Katherine McMahon, M. Isabel Tejedor-Anderson, Yun Cho, Rodolfo Perez

Green technology offers alternative energy sources that can aid in offsetting the fossil fuel dependency of modern society. One clean technology of particular interest is hydrogen-based fuel cells.

A fuel cell is comprised of an electrolyte sandwiched between two electrodes. It generates electricity from an electrolytic reaction that occurs between a fuel and an oxidant in the presence of an electrolyte. Many combinations of fuels and oxidants can be used, such as hydrogen and oxygen. In the case of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) or biological fuel cell, a bio-electrochemical system uses bacteria to convert chemical energy to electrical energy. The microbes convert an organic substrate, such as sugar, into carbon dioxide, protons and electrons, which are then used to generate the hydrogen for powering the fuel cell.

The transportation industry and power companies are already developing ways of implementing commercial hydrogen fuel cells and the MFC is well positioned to address the shortcomings of the current technologies, as it is a reliable method for producing enough hydrogen fuel using readily available organic materials to meet future energy demands. UW-Madison researchers have developed an MFC that exploits the photosynthesis process to provide a renewable hydrogen energy source. Photosynthetic bacteria harness solar energy to convert an organic substrate into hydrogen that then can be used to power hydrogen fuel cells.

The fuel cell is comprised of a single light-admitting reaction chamber made of a translucent material, such as glass or plastic. Within the chamber is a cathode, an anode, a growth medium and a culture of photoheterotrophic bacteria, such as Rhodobacter sphaeroides strain 2.4.1. When the bacteria are exposed to light, they generate hydrogen from the organic growth medium. The hydrogen produced at the anode then reacts with oxygen on the cathode to produce electrical energy, with water as the only byproduct. Any excess hydrogen that is not transformed in the microbial fuel cell is vented off and used as biogas. This new microbial fuel cell can be utilized to meet the growing demands of the world economy for hydrogen as an alternative clean energy source.

• Many economic incentives exist for developing and commercializing hydrogen-based energy, including hydrogen production.  
• Overall U.S. hydrogen market was estimated at $798.1 million in 2005 and is expected to rise to $1.605 billion in 2010.
• Since more than 99 percent of hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels, the current market for biomass-, solar- or nuclear-produced hydrogen is less than $1 million and expected to grow with the decreasing reliance on fossil fuels.

• Direct hydrogen production for use in hydrogen fuel cells.
• Powering automobiles, power grids, laptops and other applications in the transportation, energy and electronics industries
• Treating organic waste

• Provides highly renewable fuel source
• Converts chemical energy stored in organic materials into electrical energy
• Increases efficiency of microbial fuel cells
• Provides solar alternative to fossil fuels
• Generates hydrogen more efficiently than electricity
• Process is carbon neutral and poses no known threat from pollution or greenhouse gas.
• Photosynthetic microbes are well adapted to capture solar energy.
• May use organic sediment, waste water or agricultural waste as growth medium
• Photosynthetic organism may include Rhodospirillaceae, Acetobacteraceae, Bradyrhizobiaceae, Hyphomicrobiaceae, Rhodobiaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, Rhodocyclaceae or Comamonadaceae
• All reactions take place in a single chamber, which may be one of various shapes.
• Photosynthetic organism may be manipulated to produce more hydrogen.
• Uses renewable organic resources

For current licensing status, please contact our team at licensing@warf.org or phone 608.262.4924. (Clicking this link will open a contact form in a popup window. If you have problems viewing the form, try disabling your popup blocker software.)