Project could lead to more efficient hydrogen fuel cells

Ultimately it could lead to things such as hydrogen fuel cells that are more efficient, easier to make and not reliant on expensive platinum catalysts.

BFCs use enzymes to catalyse the separation of electrons from a parent molecule to then transport it round an electrolyte barrier, while MFCs use whole living bacteria to do this task. Although the basic technology has been around for decades, it has yet to find commercial success.

Dr Lars Jeuken and colleagues from Leeds University believe part of the problem is related to the electrodes, which are generally the conventional metallic or graphite type.

‘At the moment it’s a bit of black-box approach: you take the bacteria or enzymes, you incubate with the solid electrode surface and hope for the best,’ Jeuken told The Engineer. ‘We’re really trying to understand what happens at this interface and trying to optimise it to improve electron conductivity.’

The group has been awarded a £1.42m grant from the European Research Council to create better electrode interfaces and will also contribute to a new Interdisciplinary Centre for Microbial Fuel Cells (ICMFC) with Sheffield and York universities.