Plant microbial fuel cell

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025079492-A1
Application number	US-202318490745-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 19, 2023
Priority date	Sep 1, 2023
Publication date	Mar 6, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A plant microbial fuel cell includes a planting container, a plant, a cathode and an anode. The planting container has a culture medium therein, and a microbial population is in the culture medium. The plant is grown in the culture medium in the planting container. The cathode is disposed on a surface of the culture medium, and the anode is arranged in the culture medium close to roots of the plant. The anode includes a porous carbon material prepared from coffee grounds, and thus the overall cost of the plant microbial fuel cell may be greatly reduced, and the porous carbon material is easy to process and has high biocompatibility.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A plant microbial fuel cell, comprising:
a planting container, having a culture medium therein, wherein a microbial population is in the culture medium; a plant, grown in the culture medium of the planting container; a cathode, disposed on a surface of the culture medium; and an anode, disposed in the culture medium close to roots of the plant, wherein the anode comprises a porous carbon material prepared from coffee grounds.

2 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the cathode comprises carbon cloth, graphite felt, carbon felt, graphite paper, carbon paper, graphite brush, carbon brush, stainless steel mesh or nickel foam.

3 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the anode further comprises a conductive plate, and the porous carbon material is coated on a surface of the conductive plate.

4 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 3 , wherein the conductive plate comprises carbon cloth, graphite felt, carbon felt, graphite paper, carbon paper, graphite brush, carbon brush, stainless steel mesh or nickel foam.

5 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the porous carbon material is prepared with an activation weight ratio of the coffee grounds to an activator being 1:1 to 1:5.

6 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 5 , wherein the activator comprises NaOH, Na 2 CO 3 , KOH or K 2 CO 3 .

7 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the culture medium comprises water, soil, or water and soil.

8 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 1 , wherein the plant comprises foliage plants.

9 . A plant microbial fuel cell, comprising:
a planting container, having a culture medium therein, wherein a microbial population is in the culture medium; a plant, grown in the culture medium of the planting container; a cathode, disposed on a surface of the culture medium; and an anode, disposed in the culture medium close to roots of the plant, wherein the cathode and the anode comprise a porous carbon material prepared from coffee grounds.

10 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 9 , wherein the anode further comprises a conductive plate, and the porous carbon material is coated on a surface of the conductive plate.

11 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 10 , wherein the conductive plate comprises carbon cloth, graphite felt, carbon felt, graphite paper, carbon paper, graphite brush, carbon brush, stainless steel mesh or nickel foam.

12 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 9 , wherein the cathode further comprises a conductive plate, and the porous carbon material is coated on a surface of the conductive plate.

13 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 12 , wherein the conductive plate comprises carbon cloth, graphite felt, carbon felt, graphite paper, carbon paper, graphite brush, carbon brush, stainless steel mesh or nickel foam.

14 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 9 , wherein the porous carbon material is prepared with an activation weight ratio of the coffee grounds and an activator being 1:1 to 1:5.

15 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 14 , wherein the activator comprises NaOH, Na 2 CO 3 , KOH or K 2 CO 3 .

16 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 9 , wherein the culture medium comprises water, soil, or water and soil.

17 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 9 , wherein the plant comprises foliage plants.

18 . The plant microbial fuel cell according to claim 9 , wherein the microbial population comprises Escherichia coli, Shewanella putrefaciens , a diverse microbial system in a wastewater sludge or a plant growth environment.

Assignees

• Univ Nat Tsing Hua

Inventors

• Lin Yao-Yu
• Li Hsin-Tien
• Su Heng-An
• Liu Tzu-Yin
• Chen Han-Yi

Classifications

• H01M8/16 Primary

  Biochemical fuel cells, i.e. cells in which microorganisms function as catalysts · CPC title

• H01M4/8605 Primary

  Porous electrodes · CPC title

• Y02E60/50

  Fuel cells · CPC title