Glass Microbial Fuel Cells

We are happy to introduce our line of Microbial Fuel Cells, or MFC's as the preferred TLA. These cell configurations are the distillation of many dozens of designs we have produced for research around the globe, and we believe our cells cover a lot of the basic needs for this area of investigation. They are inexpensive, striaght-forward, flexible, as well as modifiable. You can see many of the precursor cells in the echem gallery.

These cells are constructed on standard borosilicate media bottles, and fitted with the robust GL14 glass threaded ports. Typically, we stock these as blanks in 100ml and 250ml volumes with three different options for porting: hose barbs, Teflon faced silicone septa for piercing for sampling, and sealing rings to hold electodes.

Microbial fuel cells are essentially modified H-cells, to be used with various membranes. Our cells utilize glass flanges tooled to mimic the stainless steel KF series of flanges, and have corresponding seals and wraparound knuckle clamps. These flanges are called-out by their I.D. and the most common sizes are 25mm, 40mm, and 50 mm. The ports use sealing rings to hold electrodes, hose barbs for liquid flow, or Teflon-face septa for needle sampling.

40mm and 25mm flanges sealed on 100ml bottles

We sell these cells as a set, consisting of two cell halves, and describe them by;

1. Volume of media bottle 
2. flange opening or I.D.
3. and number and orientation of GL14 threaded ports.

Thus, 100ml volume per side;                         250ml per side;
            MFC 100.25.1                                            MFC 250.40.1
            MFC 100.25.2                                            MFC 250.40.2
            MFC 100.25.3                                            MFC 250.40.3

We will still need to ask you about the number and kind of fittings you'll need. The cells are prepared and stocked as "blanks", which is a bottle with a flange sealed on, with the ports to be added later. Once we understand your requirements, we can provide a quote.

We would like our cells to cover all the bases, but alas, we live in a complicated world. The thickness of your intended membrane has an effect on the clamping of the flanges; a membrane thicker than .010" will require some accommodations in order for the clamp to hold correctly. Please let us know if that might be the case.

Also, experience has shown that if you are using a fibrous membrane, you can anticipate a small amount of seepage along the fibre and out the perimeter. This can be ameliorated by cutting your membrane to fit within the sealing (black) oring. The inner Teflon ring will seal the membrane to create the barrier between cell sides. Membranes such as Nafion® pose no difficulty sealing.

 

Of course, we are happy to discuss other configurations, volumes, modifications, etc. In the meantime, these cells offer an economical and quick way to get to work.