Decolorization of Methyl Orange using a Double-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell with the Use of Soil Microorganisms

Abstract

In this study, the decolorization of methyl orange was carried out in a double chamber microbial fuel cell. Microbial fuel cells (MFC's) have been widely studied using various materials and operating conditions, these bioelectrochemical devices that use exoelectrogenic bacteria as biocatalysts have shown great potential to oxidize a variety of substrates while simultaneously generating electricity. Soil microorganisms consisting of lactic acid bacteria, Saccharomyces, Rhizobium, Rhodopseudomonas, Rhodobacter, Actinomycetes, and fungi were obtained from a concentrated soil microbial inoculant. Comparatively, the results of the experiments showed that using titanium mesh, the open circuit voltage and the power density of the MFC in close-circuit condition were 1.005 V and 1.223 Wm-2 while using carbon fiber brushes, values were 0.992 V and 0.338 Wm-2. On the other hand, results also revealed that the system with carbon fiber brush electrodes is more effective in decolorizing methyl orange at a maximum of 78 percent removal efficiency. In 10 hours of continuous operation, the concentration of methyl orange reduced from 0.10-0.022 mM.