BIO FUEL CELL

Fish gills for low-cost electro-catalysts – BIO FUEL CELL

Part of: GS-III- S&T (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Scientists at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Mohali, have recently come up with an efficient, low-cost electro-catalyst from fish gills that can help develop environmentally friendly energy conversion devices. This bio-inspired carbon nanostructure can help overcome the bottleneck in the realization of several renewable energy conversion and storage technologies such as fuel cell, biofuel cell, and metal−air battery. It could be utilized as next-generation nonprecious carbon-based electrocatalyst for energy conversion and storage applications.

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bio-electrochemical systemthat drives an electric current by using bacteria and a high-energy oxidant such as O₂, mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature. MFCs can be grouped into two general categories: mediated and unmediated. The first MFCs, demonstrated in the early 20^th century, used a mediator: a chemical that transfers electrons from the bacteria in the cell to the anode. Unmediated MFCs emerged in the 1970s; in this type of MFC the bacteria typically have electrochemically active redox proteins such as cytochrome on their outer membrane that can transfer electrons directly to the anode. In the 21^st century MFCs have started to find commercial use in wastewater treatment.

A biofuel cell uses living organisms to produce electricity. It may refer to:

Microbial fuel cell, a bio-electrochemical system that drives a current by using bacteria and mimicking bacterial interactions found in nature
Enzymatic biofuel cell, a type of fuel cell that uses enzymes rather than precious metals as a catalyst to oxidize its fuel

Source: AIR

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