Unravelling biocomplexity of electroactive biofilms for producing hydrogen from biomass

Lewis, Alex J.; Campa, Maria F.; Hazen, Terry C.; Borole, Abhijeet P.

doi:10.1111/1751-7915.12756

Title: Unravelling biocomplexity of electroactive biofilms for producing hydrogen from biomass

Journal Article · Tue Jul 11 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Microbial Biotechnology (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.12756· OSTI ID:1369105

Lewis, Alex J. ^[1]; Campa, Maria F. ^[2]; Hazen, Terry C. ^[2];

^[2]

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA, Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge TN 37831-6226 USA, Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Education, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA, Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge TN 37831-6226 USA, Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Education, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA, Institute for Secure and Sustainable Environments, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville TN 37996 USA

Leveraging nature's biocomplexity for solving human problems requires better understanding of the syntrophic relationships in engineered microbiomes developed in bioreactor systems. Understanding the interactions between microbial players within the community will be key to enhancing conversion and production rates from biomass streams. Here we investigate a bioelectrochemical system employing an enriched microbial consortium for conversion of a switchgrass-derived bio-oil aqueous phase (BOAP) into hydrogen via microbial electrolysis (MEC). MECs offer the potential to produce hydrogen in an integrated fashion in biorefinery platforms and as a means of energy storage through decentralized production to supply hydrogen to fuelling stations, as the world strives to move towards cleaner fuels and electricity-mediated transportation. A unique approach combining differential substrate and redox conditions revealed efficient but rate-limiting fermentation of the compounds within BOAP by the anode microbial community through a division of labour strategy combined with multiple levels of syntrophy. Despite the fermentation limitation, the adapted abilities of the microbial community resulted in a high hydrogen productivity of 9.35 L per L-day. Using pure acetic acid as the substrate instead of the biomass-derived stream resulted in a three-fold improvement in productivity. This high rate of exoelectrogenesis signifies the potential commercial feasibility of MEC technology for integration in biorefineries.

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Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO); USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1369105

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1369106; OSTI ID: 1408603; OSTI ID: 1479376

Journal Information:: Microbial Biotechnology (Online), Journal Name: Microbial Biotechnology (Online); ISSN 1751-7915

Publisher:: WileyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

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Cited by: 21 works

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