News Release 05-064
Waste Not, Want Not
Bacteria-driven cell produces hydrogen for fuel while cleaning wastewater
Hong Liu (left) and Bruce Logan examine the microbial reactor system.
April 25, 2005
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
By harnessing the efforts of billions of bacteria, researchers have engineered a bio-filtration system that produces hydrogen gas while cleaning wastewater – gas that could potentially fuel other machines. Up to 100 percent more efficient at producing hydrogen than similar bio-filtration systems, the new device has the added benefit of being able to digest human or animal waste, plant material or just about any organic matter.
Hong Liu and Bruce Logan of Penn State University and Stephen Grot of Ion Power, Inc. of New Castle, Del. announced their findings online April 22, 2005, in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
A Penn State University press release is available at: http://www.psu.edu/ur/2005/hydrogensource.html. A follow-up release about a scaling-up of the microbial fuel cell technology is at: http://live.psu.edu/index.php?sec=vs_highlight&story=23030&highlight=1
Bruce Logan, Hong Liu and Stephen Grot recently won a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award for their work on microbe-driven fuel cells.
This research was supported by NSF Award #0401885:
Improving Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0401885
Additional Award information
The recent innovation builds upon an NSF Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER). For 15 years, NSF has made a small number of SGER grants--each for 1 to 2 years duration and for amounts up to $200,000--that address especially novel, or urgent, research ideas. Logan credits his SGER award with providing a critical spark that helped drive his microbial fuel-cell research.
The SGER research generated an earlier NSF press release, and an animation of the bio-filtration device. Both can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100337
NSF Award #0331824:
SGER: Determination of the Potential for Direct Generation of Electricity from Wastewater Using a Microbial Fuel Cell
http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0331824
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A related microbial fuel cell was developed last year at Pennsylvania State University.
Credit and Larger Version
Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF, (703) 292-7730, email: jchamot@nsf.gov
Andrea Messer, Pennsylvania State University, (814) 865-9481, email: aem1@psu.edu
Program Contacts
Thomas D. Waite, NSF, (703) 292-7499, email: twaite@nsf.gov
Principal Investigators
Bruce Logan, Pennsylvania State University, (814) 863-7908, email: blogan@psu.edu
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