The Effect of Plant Spacing on the Voltage Performance of a Shared-Anolyte Plant Microbial Fuel Cell Utilizing Ipomoea aquatica
Hezekiah Antonano1, Vinze Dexler Maniba1, Tiffany Rose Montinola,1 and Erika Eunice Salvador1
1Philippine Science High Schol Western Viasayas Campus – Metropolis Ave, Barangay Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City, 5000 Iloilo
Abstract
Plant Microbial Fuel Cells (P-MFCs) are bio-electrical chemical devices that utilize bacteria in plant rhizodeposits to generate electricity. In order to determine the effect of plant spacing on the voltage output of P-MFCs, shared-anolyte P-MFC system utilizing I. aquatica were designed and constructed. A single shared-anolyte P-MFC contains three P-MFCs connected in series, with all three plants in the same soil. They were three shared-anolyte P-MFC setups, with each setup having a triplicate. The plant spacing of the setups were 5, 7, and 9 cm respectively. According to the results, shared-anolyte P-MFCs with shorter plant spacing produced a greater voltage output. This shows that P-MFCs can be a potential candidate for future power generation, because shorter plant spacing is needed, which means that the space they will take up will be lesser as well. The actual voltage output of the shared-anolyte P-MFCs is only 20.8%, 19.6%, and 20.9% for the 5, 7, and 9 cm plant spacing setups respectively.