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Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes

The efficient delivery of electrochemically in situ produced H(2) can be a key advantage of microbial electrosynthesis over traditional gas fermentation. However, the technical details of how to supply large amounts of electric current per volume in a biocompatible manner remain unresolved. Here, we...

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Autores principales: Kracke, Frauke, Deutzmann, Jörg S., Jayathilake, Buddhinie S., Pang, Simon H., Chandrasekaran, Swetha, Baker, Sarah E., Spormann, Alfred M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8369483/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34413839
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.696473
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author Kracke, Frauke
Deutzmann, Jörg S.
Jayathilake, Buddhinie S.
Pang, Simon H.
Chandrasekaran, Swetha
Baker, Sarah E.
Spormann, Alfred M.
author_facet Kracke, Frauke
Deutzmann, Jörg S.
Jayathilake, Buddhinie S.
Pang, Simon H.
Chandrasekaran, Swetha
Baker, Sarah E.
Spormann, Alfred M.
author_sort Kracke, Frauke
collection PubMed
description The efficient delivery of electrochemically in situ produced H(2) can be a key advantage of microbial electrosynthesis over traditional gas fermentation. However, the technical details of how to supply large amounts of electric current per volume in a biocompatible manner remain unresolved. Here, we explored for the first time the flexibility of complex 3D-printed custom electrodes to fine tune H(2) delivery during microbial electrosynthesis. Using a model system for H(2)-mediated electromethanogenesis comprised of 3D fabricated carbon aerogel cathodes plated with nickel-molybdenum and Methanococcus maripaludis, we showed that novel 3D-printed cathodes facilitated sustained and efficient electromethanogenesis from electricity and CO(2) at an unprecedented volumetric production rate of 2.2 L(CH4) /L(catholyte)/day and at a coulombic efficiency of 99%. Importantly, our experiments revealed that the efficiency of this process strongly depends on the current density. At identical total current supplied, larger surface area cathodes enabled higher methane production and minimized escape of H(2). Specifically, low current density (<1 mA/cm(2)) enabled by high surface area cathodes was found to be critical for fast start-up times of the microbial culture, stable steady state performance, and high coulombic efficiencies. Our data demonstrate that 3D-printing of electrodes presents a promising design tool to mitigate effects of bubble formation and local pH gradients within the boundary layer and, thus, resolve key critical limitations for in situ electron delivery in microbial electrosynthesis.
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spelling pubmed-83694832021-08-18 Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes Kracke, Frauke Deutzmann, Jörg S. Jayathilake, Buddhinie S. Pang, Simon H. Chandrasekaran, Swetha Baker, Sarah E. Spormann, Alfred M. Front Microbiol Microbiology The efficient delivery of electrochemically in situ produced H(2) can be a key advantage of microbial electrosynthesis over traditional gas fermentation. However, the technical details of how to supply large amounts of electric current per volume in a biocompatible manner remain unresolved. Here, we explored for the first time the flexibility of complex 3D-printed custom electrodes to fine tune H(2) delivery during microbial electrosynthesis. Using a model system for H(2)-mediated electromethanogenesis comprised of 3D fabricated carbon aerogel cathodes plated with nickel-molybdenum and Methanococcus maripaludis, we showed that novel 3D-printed cathodes facilitated sustained and efficient electromethanogenesis from electricity and CO(2) at an unprecedented volumetric production rate of 2.2 L(CH4) /L(catholyte)/day and at a coulombic efficiency of 99%. Importantly, our experiments revealed that the efficiency of this process strongly depends on the current density. At identical total current supplied, larger surface area cathodes enabled higher methane production and minimized escape of H(2). Specifically, low current density (<1 mA/cm(2)) enabled by high surface area cathodes was found to be critical for fast start-up times of the microbial culture, stable steady state performance, and high coulombic efficiencies. Our data demonstrate that 3D-printing of electrodes presents a promising design tool to mitigate effects of bubble formation and local pH gradients within the boundary layer and, thus, resolve key critical limitations for in situ electron delivery in microbial electrosynthesis. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-08-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8369483/ /pubmed/34413839 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.696473 Text en Copyright © 2021 Kracke, Deutzmann, Jayathilake, Pang, Chandrasekaran, Baker and Spormann. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
Kracke, Frauke
Deutzmann, Jörg S.
Jayathilake, Buddhinie S.
Pang, Simon H.
Chandrasekaran, Swetha
Baker, Sarah E.
Spormann, Alfred M.
Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes
title Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes
title_full Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes
title_fullStr Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes
title_full_unstemmed Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes
title_short Efficient Hydrogen Delivery for Microbial Electrosynthesis via 3D-Printed Cathodes
title_sort efficient hydrogen delivery for microbial electrosynthesis via 3d-printed cathodes
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8369483/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34413839
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2021.696473
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