Conductive Alginate–Carbon-Black Bioanode for Immediate Microbial Electrolysis Cell Operation
- 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
- 2Department of Chemical Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
- 3Research and Development Centre for Renewable Energy, New Technologies, Research Centre (NTC), University of West Bohemia, 30100 Pilsen, Czech Republic
Abstract
This study investigated alginate-immobilized planktonic electroactive bacteria directly coated onto a carbon-felt anode as an alternative bioanode configuration without prolonged biofilm development. Carbon-black (CB) nanoparticles were incorporated into the alginate matrix to enhance conductivity and facilitate extracellular electron transfer (EET). The electrochemical performance of alginate-immobilized Shewanella oneidensis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was systematically evaluated by examining the effects of bacterial density and CB-nanoparticle loading. For both bacterial systems, the optimal bacterial density was OD600 0.5. At this bacterial density, S. oneidensis and P. aeruginosa achieved current densities of 4.08 ± 0.18 and 1.93 ± 0.18 A/m2, respectively. The incorporation of CB-nanoparticles significantly enhanced electrochemical performance with an optimal loading of 3 mg. Under these conditions, the current densities increased to 5.24 ± 0.31 A/m2 for S. oneidensis and 3.34 ± 0.25 A/m2 for P. aeruginosa, accompanied by a reduction in charge transfer resistance. SEM analysis confirmed the successful incorporation of bacterial cells and CB-nanoparticles within the alginate matrix. The enhanced electrochemical performance was attributed to conductive pathways formed by CB-nanoparticles, which facilitated electron transfer between the immobilized bacterial cells and the anode. Overall, these findings demonstrated the potential of conductive alginate+carbon-black anodes to provide effective strategies for improving EET.
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BibTeX
@article{chiliveru2026conductive,
title = {{Conductive Alginate–Carbon-Black Bioanode for Immediate Microbial Electrolysis Cell Operation}},
author = {Abhishiktha Chiliveru and Vamshi Krishna Bommagani and Avinash Jukanti and Irina Amar Dubrovin and Alex Schechter and Rivka Cahan},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/polym18192428},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13666805},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Conductive Alginate–Carbon-Black Bioanode for Immediate Microbial Electrolysis Cell Operation
AU - Abhishiktha Chiliveru
AU - Vamshi Krishna Bommagani
AU - Avinash Jukanti
AU - Irina Amar Dubrovin
AU - Alex Schechter
AU - Rivka Cahan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18192428
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13666805
AB - This study investigated alginate-immobilized planktonic electroactive bacteria directly coated onto a carbon-felt anode as an alternative bioanode configuration without prolonged biofilm development. Carbon-black (CB) nanoparticles were incorporated into the alginate matrix to enhance conductivity and facilitate extracellular electron transfer (EET). The electrochemical performance of alginate-immobilized Shewanella oneidensis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was systematically evaluated by examining the effects of bacterial density and CB-nanoparticle loading. For both bacterial systems, the optimal bacterial density was OD600 0.5. At this bacterial density, S. oneidensis and P. aeruginosa achieved current densities of 4.08 ± 0.18 and 1.93 ± 0.18 A/m2, respectively. The incorporation of CB-nanoparticles significantly enhanced electrochemical performance with an optimal loading of 3 mg. Under these conditions, the current densities increased to 5.24 ± 0.31 A/m2 for S. oneidensis and 3.34 ± 0.25 A/m2 for P. aeruginosa, accompanied by a reduction in charge transfer resistance. SEM analysis confirmed the successful incorporation of bacterial cells and CB-nanoparticles within the alginate matrix. The enhanced electrochemical performance was attributed to conductive pathways formed by CB-nanoparticles, which facilitated electron transfer between the immobilized bacterial cells and the anode. Overall, these findings demonstrated the potential of conductive alginate+carbon-black anodes to provide effective strategies for improving EET.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -