Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper focuses on applications and electrical valorisation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), a promising energy harvesting technique, suitable as clean power source to supply low power devices in wireless sensor networks (WSN) for environmental and agricultural monitoring. Additionally, MFC may be used directly as a biosensor to analyse parameters like pH and temperature or arranged in the form of a cluster of devices to be use as a small power plant. We perform a series of test for the electrical valorisation of reactors as well as biosensor issues.

In the last years, technological advances have allowed to reduce the energy demands to power electronic devices, like a node of wireless sensor network (WSN). Low-power electronic devices allow now the design of electronic systems characterized by very low energy consumption. It consents the use of power sources based on energy harvesting techniques that involve clean renewable sources. An energy harvesting technology such as a microbial fuel cell (MFC) can produce suitable power for normal operation of a wireless sensor network. Also, MFC can be used as biosensor or as bio-decontaminator.