Escherichia Coli Fed Paper-Based Microfluidic Microbial Fuel Cell With MWCNT Composed Bucky Paper Bioelectrodes

This paper demonstrates a simple-in-structure, cost-effective, and environment-friendly Microfluidic Paper-based Analytical Device for Microbial Biofuel Cell (μPAD-MBFC). It consists of a microchannel with biofuel cell (Escherichia.Coli ) and an oxidant (aerated tap water) flowing co-parallelly over Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube (MWCNT)-based Bucky Paper (BP) electrodes using a self-capillary and co-laminar flow mechanism. The electrochemical studies, such as open circuit potential (OCP) and polarization were evaluated using a potentiostat. Various volumetric bacterial studies were also carried out to find out the best suitable optimal bacterial volume. Subsequently, the morphological and detailed element composition study of electrode surface was performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. This well-designed portable μPAD-MBFC yields a maximum power density of 4 μW/cm2 (20μA/cm2) at 0.405 V over 200 μl of culture and leveraging to its long-lasting potential to operate miniaturized microelectronics sensors and portable devices.