The microbial electrochemical Peltier heat: An energetic burden and engineering chance for primary microbial electrochemical technologies

Abstract

Bioelectrocalorimetry allows assessing the heat (enthalpy) balance and revealing the microbial electrochemical Peltier heat of biofilm electrodes. This effect accounts for a heat formation of 27 ± 6 kJ mol-1 of electrons transferred and represents a significant energy loss for primary microbial electrochemical technologies.