Finding a Bacteria for my Microbial Fuel Cell

[brindhaaa]

Hi,

I just finished a review of my sections for my paper. Although the format is not correct yet, I was wondering, if you had the time, to read my paper. I have not yet compiled the sections into one large paper, as I am planning on doing that tomorrow once I meet with my teacher. The captions for all the figures still need to be revised as well. If you plan on taking a look at them, I have attached a few files below

Also, please please do not hold back on any feedback. I am aiming to impress the judges to the best of my ability, so I am ready to take any feedback regarding my paper.

P.S. Ignore the works cited page at the end of the introduction section. I still have not attached my complete source of references, so those links are not all I will be using.


Thank you,
Brindha

Intro Section.pdf

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Intro Section.pdf

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[brindhaaa]

All the files could not fit in that post, so here are the remaining ones:

data Section.pdf

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Discussion Section.pdf

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[koneill18]

Hi Brindha,

I finished my first read through of your documents, and I think they’re very impressive! I just have a few points of clarification to tell you about.

The first point I want to emphasize is the difference between nitrogen and nitrate. When composters talk about the C:N ratio, the N refers to nitrogen, not nitrate. Nitrate is a specific form of nitrogen that has the chemical formula NO3. The sources of nitrogen that people add to their compost piles have all different forms of nitrogen in them. For example, coffee extract has the chemical formula C25 H28 N6 O7. This chemical has a lot of nitrogen in it that the bacteria can use as a nutrient, but it’s not specifically in the form of nitrate. For this reason, I think you should change the word “nitrate” to “nitrogen” all throughout your report. For example, instead of saying, “Coffee grounds serve as an excellent source of nitrate,” you would say, “Coffee grounds serve as an excellent source of nitrogen.” Nitrogen is a more general term that will cover all the types of nitrogen-containing compounds that might be in your compost.

Also, since we decided that oxygen is the terminal electron acceptor since there is no nitrate in the cathode, I think you should delete the parts of the report that talk about using nitrate as the terminal electron acceptor in this experiment. The main benefit of having nitrogen in the anode is that it’s acting as a nutrient for the bacteria by contributing to the building of bacterial proteins and nucleic acids, which helps the bacteria grow and produce more energy. That’s a great rationale for using coffee grounds in this experiment, so I think it’s better to focus on that benefit and delete the parts about nitrate as a terminal electron acceptor. I think that will help avoid confusion.

Those are just my thoughts, but how you choose to present your project is totally up to you! I think your data is very interesting and this was a pretty advanced project for your grade level, so people will be impressed!

[brindhaaa]

Hi,

Thank you so much for the feedback.

I think it does make more sense if I emphasize the fact that nitrate serves as a nutrient. On the side, I think I might add just a sentence on its additional ability to act as a terminal electron acceptor, but not make it the main explanation.

And I think I understand the nitrate vs. nitrogen a bit better now. So in denitrification, nitrate acts and the final electron acceptor. But coffee grounds have a high nitrogen composition. Nitrogen is essential for the construction of amino acids, which build proteins, which produce the bacteria. Therefore, by including coffee grounds in this study, bacteria are able to reproduce quicker, thus, increasing anaerobic respiration levels and ultimately leading to more proton and electron transfer.

I think the main part I was worried about was having the Intro making sense to someone who is new to the concept of an MFC, but I think adding these will avoid further confusion.

Thank you,
Brindha

[koneill18]

I think it does make more sense if I emphasize the fact that nitrate serves as a nutrient. On the side, I think I might add just a sentence on its additional ability to act as a terminal electron acceptor, but not make it the main explanation.

That sounds like a great plan to me!

And I think I understand the nitrate vs. nitrogen a bit better now. So in denitrification, nitrate acts and the final electron acceptor. But coffee grounds have a high nitrogen composition. Nitrogen is essential for the construction of amino acids, which build proteins, which produce the bacteria. Therefore, by including coffee grounds in this study, bacteria are able to reproduce quicker, thus, increasing anaerobic respiration levels and ultimately leading to more proton and electron transfer.

Yes, that's exactly it! You've got it now! The bacteria feed on the coffee grounds and release electrons and protons as they break it down. Then, the nitrogen and carbon nutrients that they took from the coffee grounds allow them to grow and reproduce and perform more anaerobic respiration, which allows them to produce even more electrons and protons. I think you've done a great job of explaining how an MFC works in a way that people new to the concept will understand.

Every good scientific report is written like a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. That makes it much easier for readers to follow the research and see how everything is connected- especially if it's full of complex ideas and terminology. Overall, your data and report tell a really compelling story! You start out by talking about how nitrogen is an essential nutrient for bacteria and hypothesizing that adding nitrogen to the fuel cell should increase microbial growth and metabolism, thus increasing anaerobic respiration and electron and proton production. You confirm this is true using the 5% coffee grounds MFC, but then there's a plot twist! The 10% coffee grounds MFC does worse than the control, revealing that you can have too much of a good thing. The moral of the story is that you have to find the exact right nitrogen concentration to optimize energy production by the fuel cell. That information could be really helpful for other researchers who are trying to use compost in their MFCs. Congratulations on a job well done!

If you make more edits to your report and want me to look it over one more time before you turn it in, I'd be happy to do so!

[brindhaaa]

Hi again!!

The Science Fair was just yesterday and I think I did great! I ended up placing 2nd in my category, so I am very happy! I know I could not have done this without your help and guidance (of 65 entire posts!!), so thank you so much. I really enjoyed working with you this year, and I hope we can work together soon!

Thank you for everything!

Brindha

[koneill18]

Hi Brindha!

WOW that's fantastic!! Congratulations!! All of your hard work and dedication paid off! You should be very proud of yourself!

I had a great time working with you and getting to see your progress throughout the whole process. You have a talent for scientific research. I can't wait to see what you're going to do next!

Katelyn

[brindhaaa]

Hi again!

Not sure if you remember, but this is Brindha ! We worked together last year on my project on adding nitrate to MFCs, and I had an amazing experience with it!

This year for my project I have decided to work with MFCs again since I have a good understanding of how they work, the procedures, and their feasibility. Moreover, i loved working with them last year. However, I am aiming for my project this year to be more complex to make it to a higher level of the science fair. So far, I have an idea to add an enzyme to catalyze the anaerobic respiration process happening in the MFC mud.

I researched a bit, and I found that pyruvate decarboxylase and lactate dehydrogenase are two important enzymes in the process. I am still a little all over the place, but I would love to hear your thoughts on if I should add more of either of these enzymes to the MFCs. Thank you so much again for all your help!

Brindha