화학공학소재연구정보센터
Bioresource Technology, Vol.222, 226-231, 2016
Electricity generation from macroalgae Enteromorpha prolifera hydrolysates using an alkaline fuel cell
The goal of this work was to develop a method for the direct power generation using macroalgae Enteromorpha prolifera. The process conditions for the saccharification of macroalgae were optimized and a type of alkaline fuel cell contained no precious metal catalysts was developed. Under optimum conditions (170 degrees C and 2% hydrochloric acid for 45 min), dilute acid hydrolysis of the homogenized plants yielded 272.25 g reducing sugar/kg dry algal biomass. The maximum power density reached 3.81 W/m(2) under the condition of 3 M KOH and 18.15 g/L reducing sugar in hydrolysate, higher than any other reported algae-fed fuel cells. This study represents the first report on direct electricity generation from macroalgae using alkaline fuel cells, suggesting that there is great potential for the production of renewable energy using marine biomass. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.