Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360

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Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

The effect of different light intensities and light/dark regimes on the T

performance of photosynthetic microalgae microbial fuel cell
⁎
Elahe Bazdara, Ramin Roshandela, , Soheila Yaghmaeib, Mohammad Mahdi Mardanpourc
a
Department of Energy Engineering, Sharif Energy Research Institute, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
b
Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif Chemical and Petroleum Research Institute, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
c
Technology and Innovation Group, Faculty of Technology, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), Tehran, Iran

G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study develops a photosynthetic microalgae microbial fuel cell (PMMFC) engaged Chlorella vulgaris mi-
Photosynthesis microalgae microbial fuel cell croalgae to investigate effect of light intensities and illumination regimes on simultaneous production of bioe-
Chlorella vulgaris lectricity, biomass and wastewater treatment. The performance of the system under different light intensity
Light intensity (3500, 5000, 7000 and 10,000 lx) and light/dark regimes (24/00, 12/12, 16/8 h) was investigated. The op-
Light/dark regime
timum light intensity and light/dark regimes for achieving maximum yield of PMMFC were obtained. The
Polarization
maximum power density of 126 mW m−3, the coulombic efficiency of 78% and COD removal of 5.47% were
achieved. The maximum biomass concentration of 4 g l−1 (or biomass yield of 0.44 g l−1 day−1) was obtained in
continuous light intensity of 10,000 lx. The comparison of the PMMFC performance with air–cathode and
abiotic-cathode MFCs shows that the maximum power density of air-cathode MFC was only 13% higher than
PMMFC.

1. Introduction
Photosynthetic microalgae microbial fuel cell (PMMFC) is an at-
tractive technology in academic research (Baicha et al., 2016; He et al.,
2017; Luo et al., 2017; Saba et al., 2017; Saratale et al., 2017) that
using microalgae with the aim of supplying substrates in the anodic
compartment (Dong et al., 2017; Salar-García et al., 2016; Walter et al.,
2015; Xu et al., 2015), oxygen production in cathodic compartment
(Colombo et al., 2017; Gajda et al., 2015; Rago et al., 2017), waste-
water treatment (Commault et al., 2017; Yang et al., 2018), biofuels
production (Khandelwal et al., 2018; Ma et al., 2017; Uggetti &
Puigagut, 2016) and carbon dioxide capturing (Hu et al., 2015; Ma

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: roshandel@sharif.edu (R. Roshandel).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.04.026
Received 1 February 2018; Received in revised form 5 April 2018; Accepted 6 April 2018
Available online 10 April 2018
0960-8524/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
E. Bazdar et al.
et al., 2015).
The influence of light availability on the PMMFC performance is
introduced as a substantial factor that may affect the microalgae growth
as well as the amount of the released oxygen through metabolic path-
ways and photosynthesis of the microalgae (Luo et al., 2017; Saba et al.,
2017; Saratale et al., 2017).
The effect of light intensity (Gouveia et al., 2014; He et al., 2014;
Juang et al., 2012; Wu et al., 2014), wave length (Lan et al., 2013), and
illumination period (del Campo et al., 2015; Lobato et al., 2013; Wu
et al., 2013; Xiao et al., 2012) on photo microbial fuel cells (MFCs)
characteristics such as produced power, wastewater treatment effi-
ciency and biomass production were investigated in previous studies
(Naraghi et al., 2015).
Wu et al. (2014) studied photo-MFCs performance inoculated with
Desmodesmus sp. A8 algae via produced power under different light
intensities. They concluded that an increase in the light intensity could
enhance electricity production due to the rising of dissolved oxygen
production. However, the effect of light intensities on the biomass
production and wastewater treatment was not considered.
Gouveia et al. (2014) investigated the effect of two different light
intensities on the bioelectricity generation and biomass production in
the PMMFC simultaneously using Chlorella vulgaris as biocatalyst in
the cathodic compartment. They observed that an increase in light in-
tensity from 26 to 96 μe m−2 s−1, leads to significant enhancement
(about 6-fold) in power generation. They suggested that there is an
optimal light intensity which may be related to microbial and opera-
tional conditions. Nevertheless, they did not determine optimal amount
of light intensity.
In contrast to this finding, Juang et al. (2012) reported that the
PMMFC produced higher power density at lower light intensities. Their
results indicated that a MFC in presence of light of 6 and 12 W showed
higher potential, power density, coulombic efficiency compared to MFC
in presence of light with higher power of 18 and 26 W. The effect of
light intensity on biomass production for more clarification was not
investigated.
The effect of light/dark cycle on cell performance is another sub-
stantial point that could not be negligible in assessment of PMMFC
performance. Wu et al. (2013) developed a PMMFC and investigated
two kinds of cathode electrodes including carbon paper coated with
platinum and carbon felt without platinum coating. A photo tubular
reactor as the cathode compartment which uses Chlorella vulgaris as an
oxygenator, illuminated continuously and under 16/8 h light/dark
cycle at defined light intensity. Although, the produced power density
under continuous illumination was 12.7% more than the produced
power density under intermittent cycle, but intermittent illumination
had positive effect on microalgae healthiness. As the dark period is
necessary to maintain the health of the population of photosynthetic
microorganisms, a decrease in duration of the light/dark cycle reduces
the production of electricity and biomass. Therefore, the performance
of the PMMFC under 16/8 h light/dark cycle was reported as optimal
condition. It should be noted that in addition to assessment of PMMFC
performance involves consideration of wastewater treatment and bio-
mass production, the investigation of these operational parameters are
critical that should be considered in future works.
Del Campo et al. (2015) studied the photosynthetic MFC perfor-
mance under same time of light/dark cycle (i.e. 12/12 h) during
10 months. In spite of the effluent characteristic such as chemical
oxygen demand (COD) at the anodic compartment was constant, but
during the light phase, the electricity generation was higher than dark
phase. This was attributed to photosynthesis of microalgae and oxygen
production that facilitated cathodic half reaction. It should be noted
that the effect of the intermittent illumination on biomass production
and determination optimum light/dark regime were not considered in
their experiments.
With regard to the importance of oxygen concentration in cathodic
compartment and its critical role in cell performance, Kakarla et al.
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Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360
(2015) studied the MFC that oxygen required for cathode reduction
reaction provided from atmospheric and alga breath from alga bior-
eactor (ABR). The investigation of the effect of different DO con-
centration on potential, power density and internal resistance of MFCs
showed that the MFC with oxygen concentration of 39.2% produced
from ABR generated approximately 30% higher power density than
MFC engaged with atmospheric.
The review of previous studies that focus on assessment of PMMFC
performance, suggest that there is an optimal light intensity and light/
dark regime. These depend on the configuration of PMMFC elements,
the operational parameters and biological conditions of microalgae
species. To the best of author's knowledge, there is no complete study
on that involves light intensities and light/dark regimes on PMMFC
performance, simultaneously.
The main objective of this study is to present a suitable and com-
plete illumination pattern in terms of electricity generation, wastewater
treatment and biomass production simultaneously. The optimum light
intensity and light/dark regimes for achieving maximum yield of
PMMFC were investigated. An integrated energy system based on MFC
and microalgae bioreactor is designed and as well as assessment of
microalgae growth to improve the system efficiency, the effect of illu-
mination on dissolve oxygen concentration in cathode compartment,
electricity production, wastewater treatment and biomass production in
the PMMFC utilizing Chlorella vulgaris microalgae were studied. In ad-
dition, three different MFC including air–cathode MFC, abiotic–cathode
MFC and PMMFC developed to investigate the electrochemical and
biological characteristics of all cells under different DO concentrations.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. PMMFC construction
A two-compartment MFC was designed and constructed with plexi
glass and the cylindrical anodic and cathodic compartments were fab-
ricated with dimensions of internal diameter of 7.1 cm; exterior dia-
meter of 9 cm and height of 4 cm. The stainless steel mesh as anode
electrode (with mesh size of 400, length of 70 cm, width of 3.5 cm, and
apparent surface area 245 cm2) is formed in spirally pattern in the
anode compartment and connected to the external resistor using copper
wire. Also the stainless steel mesh cathode electrode (with mesh size
400, diameter of 7 cm, width of 3.5 cm and apparent surface area
38.46 cm2) is formed in circularly and located next to the membrane
and connected to the external resistor with copper wire.
The anode and the cathode of the PMMFC were made of stainless
steel mesh (SSM). The lower cost and higher mechanical strength
compared with conventional material such as carbon cloth and graphite
sheet, substantially decreased the overall construction cost and
strengthen ease of application for fabrication of the PMMFC.
Nafion 212 with a working area of 38.46 cm2 was used as the
PMMFC membrane. For membrane activation, nafion was pretreated by
submerging it into solutions of H2O2 3% (v/v), and washing with dis-
tilled water. Then, the pretreated membrane was protonated with
H2SO4 0.5 M and distilled water for 1 h at 80 °C (Ghasemi et al., 2013).
Finally, activated membrane was inserted between the anode and
cathode compartments.
The structure of abiotic–cathode MFC was the same as the PMMFC
structure, but the cathodic compartment of abiotic–cathode MFC con-
tained distillated water and phosphate buffer (4.58 g l−1 Na2HPO4,
2.45 g l−1 NaH2PO4·H2O, 0.31 g l−1 NH4Cl, 0.13 g l−1 KCl). It should be
noted that all parts of the air–cathode MFC was fabricated with the
same procedure of the PMMFC and the abiotic–cathode MFC but there
was no cathodic compartment for the air–cathode MFC.
2.2. PMMFC microbial culture
The municipal wastewater as PMMFC substrate was obtained from
E. Bazdar et al.
Fig. 1. (a) Schematic of the designed experimental setup and different structures of MFCs including (b) air–cathode MFC, (c) PMMFC, and (d) abiotic–cathode MFC.
the initial sedimentation pond of the southern wastewater treatment
plant in Tehran, with following characteristics: COD of 500 mg l−1, pH
of 7.4 and conductivity of 15.3 ms cm−1. The PMMFC was operated
under batch mode PMMFC and inoculated with facultative anaerobic
sludge that acquired from the last sedimentation tank of the wastewater
treatment unit. The adaptation of the electrogenesis bacteria was car-
ried out using a 2:3 mixture of activated sludge as inoculums to was-
tewater as medium.
Chlorella vulgaris species was purchased from local microalgae of the
Persian Gulf and cultivated in a modified BG11 medium with compo-
sition of 750 mg l−1 NaNO3 18 mg l−1 CaCl2·2H2O, 37.5 mg l−1
MgSO4·7H2O, 2 mg l−1 FeCl3·6H2O, 2.8 mg l−1 Na2·EDTA, 1.43 mg l−1
H3BO3, 0.11 mg l−1 ZnSO4·7H2O, 0.905 mg l−1 MnCl2·H2O,
0.196 mg l−1 (NH 4)6 Mo7 O24 . 4H2 O,0.04 mg l−1 CuSO4·5H2O,
0.0252 mg l−1 Co(NO3)2·6H2O, and 0.02 mg l−1 K2HPO4. Before in-
oculation, the Chlorella vulgaris was pre-cultured in a bubble column
glass reactor (with volume of 3 lit) under continuous illumination
fluorescent lamps of 18 W and at temperature of 26 °C. By applying a
light intensity of 7000 lx and agitated by aeration using a compressed,
the optical density (OD680nm) of the microalgae culture reached 2
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Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360
(equivalent to 1.9 g l−1 dry weight biomass). Then at the beginning of
experiments same concentration of Chlorella vulgaris (OD680nm = 0.8)
was inoculated to cathode compartment of PMMFC to supply oxygen. It
should be noted that the assessment of microalgae performance at out
of PMMFC was done using a bioreactor as a parallel setup which was
inoculated and operated in the same control conditions.
2.3. Operational condition of PMMFC
The cathodic compartment of PMMFC played the role of photo-
bioreactor (PBR) for growth of Chlorella vulgaris microalgae. For each
experiment, the anode compartment was fed with 100 ml of fresh
wastewater and inoculated with 50 ml of activated sludge while the
cathode compartment was filled by 140 ml of Chlorella vulgaris with
BG11 culture medium at initial OD680nm of 0.8. It is need to period of
12 days for growth of Chlorella vulgaris and approaching stationary
phase in the cathode compartment as well as in the bioreactor. All of
experiments are carried out at the same operational conditions and
ambient temperature of 25 ± 2 °C. The pH of the microalgae culture
medium was also measured daily and it was controlled to 7–8. Aeration
E. Bazdar et al.
of the cathode compartment and bioreactor to supply inorganic carbon
source for microalgae growth was done using aeration pump.
Illumination was supplied by a 15 W bubble fluorescent lamp (Philips)
with a white light and a timer is used to adjust light/dark periods. The
total biomass concentration, dissolve oxygen of cathode compartment
and COD removal of influent/effluent were measured. It should be
noted that the amount of COD was measured at maximum power
densities using the closed refluxing method (He et al., 2014).
2.4. Process monitoring
The effect of different light intensities of 3500, 5000, 7000 and
10000 lx on performance of the PMMFC was investigated by varying
the distance between 15 W fluorescent lamp and cathodic compartment
during continuous illumination. Afterwards, by selecting the optimal
light intensity, the light/dark regimes of 16/8 and 12/12 h were ap-
plied and the variations of PMMFC characteristics were compared with
the continuous light regime. It should be noted that during all experi-
ments, the anodic compartment was coated with an aluminum foil to
prevent the growth of photosynthetic microorganism and oxygen pro-
duction that might have limited the power generation.
The intensity of light was measured by the LUX-meter (testo435
manufactured by the testo Corp, Germany, with an accuracy of ±
0.06 lx). The concentration of Chlorella vulgaris suspension based on OD
at 680 nm was measured using a Lambda 25 UV/VS spectrophotometer
(manufactured by Perkin Elmer Company, with an accuracy of ± 0.01
nm). Temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen (DO) of catholyte were
measured by triple sensors of YK-2001 DO (manufactured by Taiwan
Lutron Company with accuracy of ± 0.8 °C, ± 0.02 (for pH) and ±
0.1 mg l−1 (for DO)).
The cell potential was recorded at 30 min intervals using a digital
multi-meter (Fluke, 289/FVF made by the American Fluke Company
with an accuracy of ± 0.025 mV (DC Voltage)). The variable external
resistance (with the range of 10 Ω to 5000 kΩ) was used to polarize
PMMFC and calculated current and power at each resistance were
normalized with the anolyte volume. Internal resistance was calculated
using the slop of polarization curve (Juang et al., 2012; Lefebvre et al.,
2011). It should be noted that assessment of the PMMFC performance
was done based on the galvanostatic method (Damaskin, 1967).
Therefore, the overall cell potential was monitored to investigate the
effect of all overpotentials of the cell performance. To assess the
PMMFC performance based on the potentiostatic method, the mea-
surement of anode potential under the control conditions in view point
of investigation of microalgae performance can be the subject of future
works.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic of the designed experimental setup (i.e.
Fig. 1a) and different structures of MFC including air–cathode MFC
(Fig. 1b), PMMFC (Fig. 1c), and abiotic–cathode MFC (Fig. 1d).
The coulombic efficiency (CE) was calculated using Eq. (1):
t
MS × ∫0 b Idt
CE =
F ×bes × vAn × ΔCOD (1)
−1
where, Ms (g gmol ) = 32 is the molecular weight of oxygen; I
(mA) denotes the current passing through the system; F represents the
Faraday’s constant (96500 C mole−1); bes = 4 is the number of electrons
interchanged per mole of oxygen; VAn (ml) = 158 is the working vo-
lume of anode compartment; and ΔCOD (mg l−1) denotes the variation
of organic content in a closed cycle over operating period (Juang et al.,
2012).
For calculation of produced biomass, the suspension of Chlorella
vulgaris (in specific OD) was centrifuged at 4000 rpm and for 20 min
using RST24 centrifuge machine. The precipitated part was dried inside
oven at 80 °C for 2 h and finally after weighting, dry weight of produced
biomass was reported. The cell counting was done by optical micro-
scope under magnification of 100. The amounts of dry weight (W/g
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Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360
l−1) and the number of microalgae cells (N/cells ml−1) during growth
period based on OD680 nm was estimated as follow:
W = 0.9604OD + 0.0243 (2)
N = 1.7878OD−0.0894 (3)
The specific microalgae growth rate (day−1) is calculated by Eq. (4):
μ=
ln ( )
W2
W2
t2−t1 (4)
where μ represents the growth rate; t denotes time duration (day); and
W is the dry weight of biomass (g l−1).
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Effect of light intensity on electrochemical characteristics of PMMFC
PMMFC operation was initiated under open circuit potential (OCP)
conditions. The inoculation of the PMMFC was done under open circuit
potential (i.e. infinite resistance). At the highest external resistance, the
formation of effective biofilm with uniform morphology which ex-
pedites electron production and transfer has been demonstrated in
previously published results (Mardanpour et al., 2012; Zhang et al.,
2011).
Fig. 2a shows OCP evolution of PMMFC in various light intensities.
The results show that after approximately 58 h, the OCPs of PMMFC in
presence of light with intensities of 3500, 5000, 7000 and 10000 lx
increased gradually from the initial values to sustained values of 509,
544, 524, 465 ± 4 mV, respectively. Approaching the sustained po-
tential may be contributed to this point that the concentration of
exoelectrogenic microorganisms has reached an acceptable level and
microbial enrichment was successfully done (Naraghi et al., 2015). The
effect of external resistance on the biofilm formation and bioelectricity
production during the inoculation period were assessed by Zhang et al.
(2011). It was stated that in a lower external resistance, more accu-
mulated active biofilm was formed but the biofilm established at higher
external resistance appeared uniform compared with the lower external
resistance. Therefore, the PMMFC operation was initiated under OCP
conditions and the cell potential was monitored. According to Nernst’s
equation, any variation in the activation of species in the redox reaction
would change the OCP. So, to assess the microbial enrichment, by
changing the substrate and suspended bacteria concentrations to excess
level, approaching the sustained OCP was chosen as the characteristic
of the appropriate concentration of exoelectrogenic microorganisms.
Besides, after OCP monitoring, by applying the external resistance
to the circuit of the PMMFC and feeding substrate and bacteria con-
sortium at excess concentrations, the substantial variation in the trend
of current evolution was not observed.
Therefore, the sustained OCP could infer as a characteristic of the
microbial enrichment (Mardanpour et al., 2012; Mardanpour &
Yaghmaei, 2016; Naraghi et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2011). The results
clearly indicate an increase in OCP with enhancement of light intensity.
The highest and lowest values of the OCP obtained at a light intensity of
5000 and 10000 lx, respectively. This implied the presence of optimum
value for concentration of dissolved oxygen in the cathodic compart-
ment (Juang et al., 2012). An increase in dissolved oxygen concentra-
tion as a result of light intensity enhancement from 3500 to 5000 lx,
leads to increase in the cathode potential that consequently increases
OCP. By rising the light intensity from 5000 to 10000 lx and as a result
increasing the concentration of oxygen, the mass transfer of proton
through system membrane limits and diffusion of oxygen from cathode
to anode increases that eventually increases the anode potential and
reduces the OCP (Kakarla et al., 2015).
It should be noted that the monitoring of sustained current density
evolution to show approaching the sustainability performance of the
system was done after microbial cultivation and recording of OCP
E. Bazdar et al.
Fig. 2. Effect of different light intensities on (a) open circuit potential (OCP), (b) current density evolution at external resistance of 850 Ω, (c) polarization & power
density, and (d) the dissolved oxygen concentration in cathodic compartment at external resistance of 1000 Ω. The error bars show the variation of parameters among
triplicate experiments.
under excess concentration of the organic substrate. As shown in
Fig. 2b, the highest value of produced current density at external re-
sistance of 850 Ω in presents of the cell overpotentials was achieved
(Mardanpour et al., 2012).
The polarization and power density curves of PMMFC under dif-
ferent light intensities were shown in Fig. 2c. As can be seen, at light
intensities of 5000 lx and 10000 lx, the highest and lowest values of
power densities were obtained, respectively. Similar to analysis of OCP
curves, the effect of light intensity on the photosynthesis process and
subsequently microalgae growth and oxygen production in cathodic
compartment, were significant. Since, the growth of microalgae occurs
under autotrophic conditions, the light intensity plays a critical role.
By increasing light intensity from 3500 to 5000 lx, the maximum of
produced power density increases and reaches 126 mW m−3 as max-
imum obtained power density of system. Further increase in light in-
tensity leads to a decrease in power density. As shown in Fig. 2d, an
increase in the light intensity from 3500 lx to 10000 lx, increased the
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Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360
amount of dissolved oxygen inside the cathodic compartment from 7.8
to 9.5 mg l−1. As can be seen, at a light intensity of 10000 lx, the power
density is 59 mW m−3, which is 53.4% less than the power density at
5000 lx. It might be explained that higher light intensity leads to a light
saturation phenomenon, or photo-inhibition, which damages the cell
growth of microalgae (Cheirsilp & Torpee, 2012; He et al., 2014). An-
other problem that associated with produced current reduction is ac-
cumulation of the dissolved oxygen that enhances of oxygen bubble
pressure in cathodic compartment (Chai & Zhao, 2012; He et al., 2014).
This may contribute to back diffusion of oxygen to anodic compartment
that consequently decreases power generation.
The variation of produced current density and concentration of
dissolved oxygen in a cathodic compartment under the light intensities
of 3500 lx up to 10000 lx were shown in Fig. 2d. Effect of light intensity
on the growth of the microalgae can be divided into four phases in-
cluding lag, light limitation, light saturation, and light inhibition
phases. Therefore, the influent of light intensity on the PMMFC
E. Bazdar et al.
performance may also be categorized as four phases: (1) lag phase in
which enhancement of light intensity does not change produced cur-
rent; (2) light limitation phase, when the enhancement of light intensity
increases produced current; (3) light saturation phase, in which en-
hancement of light intensity does not change produced current; (4) fi-
nally, light inhibition phase, in which increasing light intensity de-
crease produced current (Wu et al., 2014). As shown in Fig. 2d, the light
limitation phase, light saturation phase and light inhibition phase oc-
curred when the light intensity raised from 3500 to 5000 lx, from 5000
to 7000 lx (due to a slope) and from 7000 lx to 10000, respectively.
The light intensity between 5000 and 6500 lx can be ascribed as
optimum range for Chlorella vulgaris photosynthesis and maximum
power generation in the PMMFC. The similar conclusion has been re-
ported in study of He et al. (He et al., 2014).
Although, the effect of light intensity on microalgae growth depends
culture conditions and genetic makeup (Wu et al., 2014), but generally,
the appropriate light intensity promotes the photosynthetic activity, as
well as the production of available oxygen for cathodic reaction of the
PMMFC (He et al., 2014; Juang et al., 2012). Therefore, the power
density does not always increase with increasing light intensity. Since
the oxygen concentration in the cathode compartment has an optimal
amount (as shown in Fig. 2d was about 8.4 mg l−1 at light intensity of
5000 lx), enhancement of oxygen concentration from defined dosage
reduces the power generation. This is substantial subject in high-scale
applications and cost engineering considerations to choose an optimal
light intensity (Gouveia et al., 2014).
3.2. Effect of light intensity on COD removal, coulombic efficiency and
biomass production
Fig. 3a shows the COD removal and coulombic efficiency of PMMFC
in different light intensities. Although the maximum variation of COD
removal efficiency was about 1.3% but the variation of coulombic ef-
ficiency was about 30% that indicates the significant role of light illu-
mination in current production. Maximum coulombic efficiencies of
78% and 48% were obtained at light intensities of 5000 and 10000 lx,
respectively. As coulombic efficiency is a function of current generation
and COD removal, it variation substantially affects by rate of electron
production than anolyte organic content.
The COD removal strongly depends on the bacterial activity and
organic content of the MFC. The activity of the PMMFC biocatalysts in
presence of high organic content involves longer operating time of the
system. In the other hand, the activity of the MFC bacteria through the
biodegradation sequence of complex organic substrates affects the COD
removal (Singhvi & Chhabra, 2013). The similar results and conclusion
have been reported in the study of Min & Logan (2004) for investigation
the biodegradation of different substrates in the MFC. They reported
only 8% COD removal and coulombic efficiency of 65% for acetate, 3%
COD removal and coulombic efficiency of 28% for butyrate and 10%
COD removal and coulombic efficiency of 50% for domestic wastewater
with butyrate under the same conditions. The low COD removal in
contrast to the relative high coulombic efficiency was attributed to the
activity of exoelectrogenic bacteria.
The variation of current density attributed to intensification of mi-
croalgae growth, the variation of oxygen concentration (as electron
acceptor) and back diffusion of oxygen to anolyte compartment. As
mentioned, an increase in light intensity leads to enhancement of
oxygen-related photosynthetic efficiency, which consequently de-
creases cathodic resistance (Wu et al., 2014). In the other hand, aug-
mentation of dissolved oxygen concentration inside the cathodic com-
partment leads to penetration of oxygen from the membrane into the
anodic compartment that decreases produced current (He et al., 2014).
The enhancement of internal resistance of cell which increased from
661 Ω in a light intensity of 5000 lx, to 1142 Ω at the light intensity of
10000 lx, indicating oxygen accumulation as electron transfer barriers
was another reason of the decrease in power generation (He et al.,
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Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360
2014). In addition, the reduction of OCP in high light intensities
(544 mV at light intensity of 5000 lx and 465 mV at light intensity of
10000 lx) endorses this subject.
Fig. 3b shows the growth curves of Chlorella vulgaris microalgae in a
cathodic compartment of PMMFC under various light intensities. As it is
known, with increasing the light intensity, amount of the microalgae
cells enhanced, but its life time (due to increasing growth rate) de-
creased and the microalgae reach its stationary phase in shorter time.
As can been observed, for light intensity of 3500, 5000 and 10000 lx,
the microalgae growth approached the stationary phase on the 12th,
11th, and 9th day of growth during system operation, respectively. This
indicates an increase in light intensity, decreased the growth rate of the
microalgae and the ceased phase of microalgae growth (i.e. stationary
phase) was achieved in the lower operating time. This may be due to
damage to the microalgae cells under high light intensity, which disrupt
the intracellular performance and decreases its growth rate than before.
Several studies have also shown that as a result of augmented
oxygen concentrations in the cathodic compartment, the potential of
hydrogen peroxide formation increased. Therefore, the risk of cell da-
mage may be increased by oxidation of the protein that the microalgae
performance is limited and prohibited (Cai et al., 2013; Wang et al.,
2013).
Fig. 3c shows the growth rate of the Chlorella vulgaris in the cathodic
compartment of the PMMFC and in the PBR without cathode electrode.
As can be seen, with increasing light intensity, the microalgae growth
rate increases in both systems, but inclines of growth rate curve were
decreased in higher light intensities. Besides, the produced biomass in
the cathodic compartment of PMMFC is lower than amount of it in the
PBR. This may be attributed to the microalgae biomass loss due to stick
on different parts of the cathodic compartment of the PMMFC enclosure
(including the cathode electrode, proton exchange membrane, and the
membrane protector) and/or environmental factors such as pH of
cathodic compartment of the PMMFC and temperature variation. The
maximum concentration of biomass in the cathodic compartment of
PMMFC about 4.0 g l−1 was obtained in light intensity of 10000 lx
(Fig. 3d). The difference between the growth rates and biomass con-
centration in the cathodic compartment of PMMFC and PBR compen-
sated at high light intensities. This suggests that by increasing the light
intensity, PMMFC can act as a biological reactor for growth of micro-
algae.
3.3. Effect of light/dark regime on electrochemical characteristics of
PMMFC
The effect of light/dark cycles was done to evaluate the influential
of intermittent illumination on the PMMFC performance. The different
light/dark regimes of 12/12, 16/8, and 24/00 h were applied at op-
timal light intensity of 5000 lx. Fig. 4a shows the current density evo-
lution at external resistance of 850 Ω under different light/dark re-
gimes. Power density and polarization curves under different light/dark
regimes are shown in Fig. 4b. With respect to Fig. 4a and b, the results
showed that an increase in illumination period had a positive effect on
the power generation. During the light phase, microalgae carry out the
photosynthesis that consequently capture carbon dioxide and release
oxygen for progression of the cathode reaction. Maximum power den-
sities of 126, 112 and 72 mW m−3 were obtained in 24/00, 16/8, 12/
12 h of light/dark regimes, respectively. Under continuous illumina-
tion, the maximum power density was 12.7% and 74.8% higher than
produced power densities in the intermittent illumination of 16/8 and
12/12 h, respectively. These results are in agreement with study of Wu
et al. (2014) investigated photo MFC performance under 12/12 h light/
dark cycle. In should be noted that in their work, the produced power
densities under illumination was more than 5.6 fold in the absence of
light, while the enhancement of power density of the PMMFC was about
1.68 fold. These results seem logical because the carbon dioxide gas for
Chlorella vulgaris growth in cathode compartment of the PMMFC was
E. Bazdar et al.
Fig. 3. Effect of different light intensity on (a) COD removal/coulombic efficiency, (b) optical density, (c) growth Rate of microalgae, and (d) biomass concentration
of microalgae under continuous light regime. The error bars show the variation of data among triplicate experiments.
supplied through aeration. Such an optical function is also observed for
a MFC with Cyanobacterial microalgae (Pisciotta et al., 2010; Zou et al.,
2009) and eukaryotic algae (Xiao et al., 2012). However, the MFC in-
oculated with Spirulina platensis, produced more bioelectricity in
darkness than that in the light (Fu et al., 2009).
With regards to this point that microalgae do not implement pho-
tosynthesis and oxygen production in the dark and even it consumes
oxygen, this is favorite phenomena for anolyte of photo MFC that
placed in the dark and produced electrons are not lost. These different
results about of the effect of light on the PMMFC can be attributed to
the fact that microalgae can play a different role in oxidation-reduction
reactions in anode and cathode of the PMMFC.
The variation of dissolved oxygen at the cathode compartment of
the PMMFC during the light and dark phase is shown in Fig. 4c. For
light/dark cycle of 24/0, 16/8 and 12/12 h the dissolved oxygen con-
centration in light phase were 8.4, 8.1 and 7.9 mg l−1, respectively. As
microalgae during the dark phase carried out respiration and oxygen
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Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360
consumption the concentration of dissolved oxygen for 8/16 and 12/12
hr light/dark regimes decreased to 7.5 and 7.1 mg l−1, respectively.
The variation of oxygen concentration may be due to the abnormal
metabolism of microalgae cells when the dark phase abruptly replaces
with light phase. As the microalgae cells need to turn their metabolic
pathway to adapt to the continuous illumination, so a temporary dis-
ruption in photosynthesis and respiration of microalgae occurs, which
result in the variation of the oxygen concentration in the cathodic
compartment (Wu et al., 2013). After adaptation, the stable trend of the
concentration oxygen in a certain range was observed.
3.4. Effect of light/dark regimes on COD removal, coulombic efficiency and
biomass production
Table 1 shows the different characteristics of the bioelectrochemical
performance of the PMMFC versus various light regimes. Under light/
dark cycle of 24/00, 16/8 and 12/12 light regimes, the COD removals
E. Bazdar et al. Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360

Fig. 4. Effect of different light regime on (a) current density evolution at external resistance of 850 Ω, (b) polarization and power density curves, and (c) dissolved
oxygen concentration in cathodic compartment of the PMMFC at light intensity of 5000 lx. The error bars show the variation of experimental data among repeated
experiments.

were measured 5.47%, 4.98%, and 4.09%, respectively. As can be seen,
there is no significant difference in the variation of COD removals of the
anodic compartment.
The internal resistance of the PMMFC slightly increased from 661 Ω,
in the continuous regime, to 732 and 1066 Ω, for the light/dark cycles
of 16/8 and 12/12 h, respectively. During continuous illumination, the
internal resistance is greater than the internal resistance of the two
light/dark regimes. Besides, the maximum coulombic efficiency for the
PMMFC of 78% was obtained in the continuous regimes and it was
reduced to 57% for light/dark cycle of 12/12 h. These may be con-
tributed to sudden shocks to the system and augmented concentration
of produced oxygen due to changing illumination conditions.
As the microalgae growth rate in the continuous illumination is
higher than two other light/dark regimes, the maximum concentration
of biomass (about 3.6 g l−1) was obtained in the continuous illumina-
tion. It should be noted that the effect of light period on biomass growth
in cathodic compartment of the PMMFC and the PBR was similar to the
results obtained from investigation of light intensity. With increasing
light period, more biomass was obtained in both systems, but in the
PBR, the variation of biomass concentration versus light period is
negligible compared to the cathodic compartment of the PMMFC.
It should be noted that investigation of PMMFC performance under

Table 1
The particular characteristics of the PMMFC at different light/dark regimes.
Light/Dark Open Circuit Maximum Internal Coulombic COD Biomass production in Biomass DO in cathodic
Cycle (h) Potential Power Density Resistance Efficiency removal Cathodic Compartment of production in the Compartment in light
(mV) (mW m−3) (Ω) (%) (%) the PMMFC PBR (mg l−1)
(g l−1) (g l−1)

Continuous 544 126 661 78 5.47 3.6 4.0 8.4

16/8 534 112 732 72 4.98 3.2 3.9 8.1
12/12 498 72 1066 57 4.09 2.7 3.7 7.9

357
E. Bazdar et al.
Fig. 5. (a) Open circuit potential (OCP), (b) current density evolutions at external resistance of 850 Ω and (c) power density curves of different MFC structures. The
error bars show the variation of parameters among triplicate experiments.
different wavelengths of light, substrate concentrations, and scale up of
the systems are another area for future research.
3.5. The comparison of PMMFC characteristics with abiotic-cathode MFC
and air–cathode MFC
Fig. 5a shows the OCP of different MFC structures. As can be seen in
Fig. 5a, the maximum OCP of 453 ± 4 mV was obtained for air–-
cathode MFC after 85 h of cell operation. As the mechanical aeration
and photosynthesis process play critical role in effective availability of
oxygen and facilitate mass transfer through induced forced convection
on cathode surface, the OCP of abiotic–cathode MFC and PMMFC,
544 ± 4 and 535 ± 4 mV, respectively. These results are in agreement
with Kakarla et al. conclusions (Kakarla et al., 2015).
With regard to assessment of different structure overpotentials, the
current density evolutions at external resistance of 850 Ω, and the
power density curves of MFC in the three structures was obtained and
shown in Fig. 5b and c, respectively. The main features among the MFCs
curves are related to descending trend indicate the substantial
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Bioresource Technology 261 (2018) 350–360
difference in concentration overpotentials.
As can be seen in Fig. 5b, the produced current density at external
resistance of 850 Ω for air – cathode MFC which was 16% and 41%
higher than PMMFC and abiotic–cathode MFC, respectively. In the
other hand, the maximum power density of 140 mW m−3 was obtained
for air–cathode MFC which was 10% and 65% higher than PMMFC and
abiotic–cathode MFC, respectively (Fig. 5c). The higher power and
current densities of air–cathode MFC may attribute to lower cathodic
overpotential in which may related to the effective removal of produced
water from half cathodic reaction. In addition, induced forced con-
vection of oxygen in abiotic–cathode MFC and PMMFC can leads to
augmented pressure of oxygen in cathodic compartment and back dif-
fusion in anolyte to reduce power generation. As mentioned, the oxygen
penetration into the anolyte raises the potential of the anode and/or
prevents the passing of the proton from membrane and ultimately in-
creases the internal resistance. Despite the lower power generation of
PMMFC, the production of biomass in catholyte of cell, as feature for
biofuel generation as well as the ability of wastewater treatment in view
point of nitrogen and phosphorus removal can be contributed as a
E. Bazdar et al.
Table 2
The particular characteristics of the air – cathode MFC, PMMFC and abio-
tic–cathode MFC.
Air–cathode MFC PMMFC Abiotic–cathode MFC
OCP (mV) 453 ± 4 544 ± 4 535 ± 4
Power Density (mW m−3) 140 126 84
Internal Resistance (Ω) 515 662 878
Dissolved Oxygen 20.8% 8.4 8
(mg l−1)
Coulombic Efficiency (%) 81 78 66
COD Removal (%) 5.94 5.47 4.44
significant advantage compared with air–cathode MFC (Colombo et al.,
2017; Rago et al., 2017).
The bioelectrochemical characteristics of PMMFC compared with
air–cathode MFC and abiotic–cathode MFC are summarized in Table 2.
As shown, in spite of low COD removal, the high values of coulombic
efficiencies for different structures is the noticeable characteristic that
can attribute to effective performance of cells to exploit substantial
bioenergy from complex wastewater even in low organic content. The
air–cathode MFC has lower internal resistance (about 515 Ω) compared
with other structures. This may be due to the lack of catholyte and the
lack of formation of sediment on the cathode side (Kakarla et al., 2015).
4. Conclusion
The effects of light intensities and illumination regimes on PMMFC
performance were investigated. The light intensity between 5000 and
6500 lx can be ascribed as optimum range for Chlorella vulgaris photo-
synthesis and maximum power generation in the PMMFC by changing
the amount of dissolved oxygen in the cathode. It demonstrated that
light/dark regimes can be useful for the stable performance of the
PMMFC by increasing the microalgae's lifetime. Despite the lower
power generation of PMMFC compared with air–cathode MFC, the
production of biomass in catholyte of cell, as feature for biofuel gen-
eration can be contributed as a significant advantage.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Sharif Energy Research Institute
(SERI) and The Biochemical and Bioenvironmental Engineering Center
(BBRC) of Sharif University of Technology, Iran for their support
through this project and for permission to use their facilities.
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