Development of a Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC) for biohydrogen (bio-H2) production from glycerol oxidation

• Grant number: 19/24916-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: January 01, 2021
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Sanitary Engineering - Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment
• Principal Investigator: Adalgisa Rodrigues de Andrade
• Grantee: Alex Soares Castro
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/50945-4 - INCT 2014: National Institute for Alternative Technologies of Detection, Toxicological Evaluation and Removal of Micropollutants and Radioactivies, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/08692-0 - Development of cathodes with non-precious catalysts and optimization process for H‚ capture in microbial electrolysis cells, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The present doctoral project proposes the construction of a Microbial Electrolysis Cell (MEC), a device capable of generating H2 and other chemical byproducts from the oxidation of an organic material, performed with a microbial biofilm supported on a current collector. The formed microbial cell is capable of producing hydrogen in the biocathode, in addition to other high added value intermediate byproducts in the biode. The proposal of a MEC for electrosynthesis of bio-H2 and value-added compounds from glycerol has a multidisciplinary character involving concepts of electrochemistry, microbiology and biochemistry. Thus, in the MEC that will be built using a microbial bioanode formed from a mixed bacterial culture, the compounds formed from glycerol oxidation will be evaluated, analyzing and controlling experimental parameters such as pH, temperature and applied current intensity. These parameters will allow from the bacterial community present in the bio anode to maximize the generation of bio-H2 and electrosynthesized high added value intermediate products from glycerol. These will be identified and quantified using Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) or Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS),as the analysis technique, and classified using chemometrics tools. Finally, it is expected that MEC used in bio-H2 generation and other possible value-added by-products from glycerol will optimize biomanufacturing processes and several areas that the project encompasses, as this study is promising in Brazil. (AU)