School Of Environment And Earth Sciences

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    Anode modification: An approach to improve power generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs)
    (Elsevier, 2023-01-27T00:00:00) Rani, Gini; Jaswal, Vijay; Yogalakshmi, K.N.
    Global energy demand is continuously increasing and has become a matter of concern. At present, 86% of the energy demand are accomplished by fossil fuels, but these deliver harmful effects on the environment by releasing CO2 in the atmosphere. Contrary, though nonrenewable resources such as solar, wind, and bioenergy possess minimal carbon footprints, they suffer from limitations of higher installation cost, low efficiency, and complex operation system. Since the past two decades, a relatively new sustainable technology, the microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have emerged with potential to convert the bond energy of molecules present in organic/inorganic waste into electric energy with the help of microbes. The electricity produced through the release of electrons during microbial degradation of organic waste can be used to offset the running cost of wastewater treatment plants. The performance of the MFCs is influenced by a number of cofactors, viz. type of reactor, nature of feed, microbial consortia, electrode material, and mode of operation. Anode plays a significant role in the power enhancement. Across the globe, various research groups are working to enhance the efficiency and power output of anode through its modification using conductive polymers (polypyrrole and polyaniline), metal oxides, nanomaterials, and many others. MFC operated with the electrochemically reduced graphene oxide modified anode evidenced a power density enhanced by 17.5 times as compared to carbon cloth. In the past 5 years, power density ranging from 6.12 to 6119mWm?2 was observed with various modified anode. The chapter will throw light on anode materials popularly used in MFC, method/techniques used for its modification to enhance energy output and limitations that restrict its wide-scale application. � 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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    Laccase immobilized magnetic iron nanoparticles: Fabrication and its performance evaluation in chlorpyrifos degradation
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Das, A.; Singh, J.; Yogalakshmi, K.N.
    Chlorpyrifos degradation was studied using laccase immobilized on magnetic iron nanoparticles (CENPs). The magnetic iron nanoparticles (MNPs) prepared by co-precipitation method were characterized using Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy- Energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The size of the nanoparticles ranged between 10 and 15 nm. The MNPs were coated with chitosan, surface modified with carbodiimide (EDAC) immobilized with laccase enzymes. The chlorpyrifos degradation studies were performed in batch studies under constant shaking for a period of 12 h. Results of the study showed that laccase immobilized on magnetic iron nanoparticles were effective in degrading more than 99% chlorpyrifos in 12 h at pH 7 and 60 ?C. In the overall degradation percentage, MNPs contributed to 32.3% of chlorpyrifos removal while ENPs resulted in 58.8% chlorpyrifos degradation. Immobilization of enzyme decreased the overall activity of the free enzyme. The CENPs showed 95% activity after five repeated washing and hence possess good reusability potential. ? 2017 Elsevier Ltd