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Sustained power output from an algal biophotovoltaic (BPV) platform using selected marine and freshwater microalgae

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Abstract

The global community has begun tackling the grave repercussions of excessive use of fossil fuels by strategizing co-usage of renewable and non-renewable energy sources as major energy providers. Recently, biomass feedstocks including microalgae are gaining recognition as crucial energy providers to cope with the demands of the fast expanding economic and social sectors. Algae, known as one of the most photosynthetically efficient organisms, are amenable to growth on a variety of substrates, and are tolerant towards extreme conditions. The integration of microalgae into photovoltaic platforms is an innovative energy provisioning technique for low-power appliances and circuits. Our algal biophotovoltaic (BPV) platforms have undergone multiple refinements, advancing from an ITO-based anode with biofilm grown on its surface prototype to the current integrated, multi-functional device that produces bioelectricity, bioremediates wastewater and assimilates carbon dioxide (CO2). This study explores the ability of our algal BPV platforms in sustaining power output as well as their performance after nutrient replenishment. Our BPV prototype devices generated up to 32.83 μW m−2 from the freshwater cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus UMACC 105 and 0.11 μW m−2 from the marine alga Chlorella vulgaris UMACC 258. Power output was maintained by both freshwater and marine microalgal strains for 50 days, thus demonstrating their high potential as long-term low power generators throughout an extended duration in a minimal stress environment.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wished to thank the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia under the Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) Programme [IOES-2014F]; UM Innovate Fund [PPSI-2020-HICOE-03] and UM Research University Fund [RU009I-2020 & RU009J-2020] for the funding provided.

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia under the Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE) Programme [IOES-2014F]; UM Innovate Fund [PPSI-2020-HICOE-03] and Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) [FP098-2022].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences (IOES), University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Cheng-Han Thong, Fong-Lee Ng & Siew-Moi Phang

  2. Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Cheng-Han Thong

  3. Low Dimensional Materials Research Centre (LDMRC), Department of Physics, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Vengadesh Periasamy

  4. Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Wan Jeffrey Basirun

  5. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Wan Jeffrey Basirun

  6. Department of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 625021, Tamil Nadu, India

    G. Gnana Kumar

  7. Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Siew-Moi Phang

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  1. Cheng-Han Thong
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  2. Fong-Lee Ng
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Contributions

Cheng-Han Thong: Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – Original draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Visualization, Validation. Fong-Lee Ng: Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing, Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision. Vengadesh Periasamy: Validation, Writing – Review & Editing, Supervision, Wan Jeffrey Basirun: Writing – Review & Editing. G. Gnana kumar: Writing – Review & Editing. Siew-Moi Phang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing, Funding acquisition, Supervision.

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Correspondence to Fong-Lee Ng or Siew-Moi Phang.

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The authors declare that the corresponding author, Siew-Moi Phang is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Phycology.

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Thong, CH., Ng, FL., Periasamy, V. et al. Sustained power output from an algal biophotovoltaic (BPV) platform using selected marine and freshwater microalgae. J Appl Phycol 35, 131–143 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-022-02879-9

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