Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Sorry me again, one last thing. i think what im missing is the "external circut" i dont know what this is. is it just where you conect the anode and cathode or what? thank you.sorry im such a neusance.

Justin-Sickly

Hi,

Have examined the ScienceBuddies project writeup on microbial fuel cells?

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p026.shtml

This is good resource to answer many of your questions. I particularly recommend exploring the bibliography section, especially the excellent website cited by B. Logan, one of the very active research groups in this field. The bibliography link in the writeup is obsolete, but here are the current links:

http://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/enve/logan/default.htm

http://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/enve/logan/b ... e_cell.htm

http://books.google.com/books?id=cXnc2w ... q=&f=false

To answer your question about the light bulb, look at figure 3 in this paper from the above site

http://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/enve/logan/p ... al-AMB.pdf

Typical voltages appear to be a few hundred millivolts and up to a few hundred milliamps, so you will need a very low power bulb to see it light. You will probably have more luck using digital volt meter to see the power output. Notice also that it may take some time for the fuel cell to start to work well.

This is a very exciting field. Enjoy your project!

Best regards,

Barrett Tomlinson

By the way, it pays to keep all your questions on one project in the ame thread so experts reviewing your post get a more complete picture of your project.