廢水可能看上去不像可充電電池的能量來源，但是Yi Cui及其同事制造出了一種混合電池,，在這種電池中,，微生物把廢水中的有機(jī)物質(zhì)轉(zhuǎn)化成電力。這種電通過一個外部電路可供使用,，然后回到了這個電池內(nèi)部的一個固態(tài)電極,。當(dāng)這個電極失效之后，可以把它取出并通過接觸氧而恢復(fù),。重新裝上這個電極就能恢復(fù)供能,。這組作者報(bào)告說，這種電池通過阻止這些微生物暴露在氧中從而實(shí)現(xiàn)了高效能量捕獲,，而它的單室設(shè)計(jì)和沒有離子交換膜提升了效率,。這組作者報(bào)告說凈效率大約是30%,，相當(dāng)于商品化太陽能電池,。在理論上，生活廢水中的有機(jī)物可以被氧化從而產(chǎn)生處理廢水所需的能量的3倍；目前,，發(fā)達(dá)國家使用它們的電力的3%用于這類水處理。盡管這組作者警告說在這種裝置變得適合大規(guī)模電力生產(chǎn)之前需要找到低成本的材料,，這組作者說這些發(fā)現(xiàn)表明了微生物電池的概念可以有效地把廢水轉(zhuǎn)化成可用能量,。（生物谷 Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦的英文摘要
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1307327110
Microbial battery for efficient energy recovery
Xing Xiea,b, Meng Yea, Po-Chun Hsub, Nian Liuc, Craig S. Criddlea,1, and Yi Cuib,d,1
By harnessing the oxidative power of microorganisms, energy can be recovered from reservoirs of less-concentrated organic matter, such as marine sediment, wastewater, and waste biomass. Left unmanaged, these reservoirs can become eutrophic dead zones and sites of greenhouse gas generation. Here, we introduce a unique means of energy recovery from these reservoirs—a microbial battery (MB) consisting of an anode colonized by microorganisms and a reoxidizable solid-state cathode. The MB has a single-chamber configuration and does not contain ion-exchange membranes. Bench-scale MB prototypes were constructed from commercially available materials using glucose or domestic wastewater as electron donor and silver oxide as a coupled solid-state oxidant electrode. The MB achieved an efficiency of electrical energy conversion of 49% based on the combustion enthalpy of the organic matter consumed or 44% based on the organic matter added. Electrochemical reoxidation of the solid-state electrode decreased net efficiency to about 30%. This net efficiency of energy recovery (unoptimized) is comparable to methane fermentation with combined heat and power.
