Electricity Generation by Microbial Fuel Cells Fuelled with Enteromorpha Prolifera Hydrolysis

Enteromorpha prolifera bloom caused a series of environmental issues and deterioration due to its rapid growth and ability to grow in fresh or seawater. This study explores the utilization of Enteromorpha prolifera collected from southern portions of the Yellow Sea as a resource for electricity generation by air cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The power density reached 1027 mW/m 2 with an initial hydrolysate concentration of 1,000 mg chemical oxygen demand (COD)/liter, while coulombic efficiencies and COD removal reached 69.1% and 76.1% respectively. For comparison, three monosaccharides (rhamnose, xylose and glucose) were also tested as the fuels in the anode solution, their power density, coulombic efficiencies and COD removal are almost at the same level. These results indicated that Enteromorpha prolifera might be suitable resources for electricity generation using the MFC technology.