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Revision as of 21:57, 29 October 2008

Running an MFC Experiment

This page is intended as a comprehensive guide to completing a microbial fuel cell setup and running an experiment from start to finish.

Creating a Testing Environment

Begin 1-2 weeks prior to experiment

Constructing Fuel Cell Components

Materials (per fuel cell)

4" Polycarbonate Square Tube, 2" Outer Diameter
6" x 6" Polycarbonate Sheet, 1/4" Thick
4 Steel Fully Threaded Stud, 1/4"-20 Thread, 6" Length
8 Zinc Alloy Wing Flange Nut, 1/4"-20 Screw Size, 1" Wing Spread
1" x 1" Nafion® membrane, 0.180mm thick
1" x 1" Carbon felt, 0.25" thick
1" x 1" E-TEK ELAT™ GDE (platinum on carbon)
1' Titanium Grade 2 Wire .046" Diameter
Teflon Tape, 1/4" Width
5" x 2.5" Silicone Sheet
Silicone Glue
Spiral Point Tap 1/4"-28
8 Plastic Luer Lock Coupling Nylon, Female to Male Thread, 1/4"-28

Procedure

Mill Polycarbonate
- Cut polycarbonate sheet into 4 equal 3" x 3" pieces
- Drill four 3/8" holes through each piece, 1 per corner, indented 5mm from both sides

- Cut polycarbonate tube into two equal 2" halves
- Drill four 1/4" holes through each half in configuration shown

- Tap each hole with 1/4" -28 spiral tap

Glue Chambers (repeat for each half)
- Center tube on endplate by marking plate with 'X' from corner to corner
- Squirt 2mm thick line of silicone on edge of tube (edge furthest from holes)
- Press tube firmly against marked location on endplate
- Quickly spread excess silicone along edge
- Let stand 24h to harden

Construct Gaskets
- Cut silicone sheet into two equal 2.25" x 2.25" pieces
- Cut out centered inner squares in each piece, 1.75" x 1.75"
- Using inner squares, cut two 'O' rings, inner diameter 1/4", outer diameter 1/2"

Construct Electrodes

600px

Seal Injection Ports

Setup of Digital Multimeter

Controlling the DMM with LabView™

Experiment Preparation

Begin 1 day prior to experiment

Assembling Chambers

Solutions Prep

Chamber media

5.844 g/L 100mM NaCl
15.1185 g/L 50mM PIPES (hydrogen)

7.0 pH

Phosphate buffer

2.918 g/L Monosodium phosphate, monohydrate
4.095 g/L Disodium phosphate, anhydrous
5.844 g/L 100mM NaCl

7.0 pH

Gas Tubing Assembly

Growing Strains

Runtime

Begin 2 hours prior to experiment

@@ Line 76: / Line 76: @@
 * 1' Titanium Grade 2 Wire .046" Diameter
 * Teflon Tape, 1/4" Width
-* 6" x 3" Silicone Sheet
+* 5" x 2.5" Silicone Sheet
 * Silicone Glue
 * Spiral Point Tap 1/4"-28
@@ Line 96: / Line 96: @@
 #* Squirt 2mm thick line of silicone on edge of tube (edge furthest from holes)
 #* Press tube firmly against marked location on endplate
-#* Quickly use plastic spatula to spread excess silicone along edge
+#* Quickly spread excess silicone along edge
 #* Let stand 24h to harden
 [[Image:glued_half.jpg | 600px]]
+# Construct Gaskets
+#* Cut silicone sheet into two equal 2.25" x 2.25" pieces
+#* Cut out centered inner squares in each piece, 1.75" x 1.75"
+#* Using inner squares, cut two 'O' rings, inner diameter 1/4", outer diameter 1/2"
+[[Image:gaskets.jpg | 600px]]
+# Construct Electrodes
+#*
+#*
+[[Image:electrodes.jpg | 600px]]
+# Seal Injection Ports
+#*
+#*
+[[Image:fin_chamber.jpg | 600px]]

Team:Harvard/Hardware/MFCProcedure