Important Facts For Prelims
Microbial Fuel Cells
- 16 Oct 2019
- 1 min read
Recently, at a London Zoo, a fern started taking its own selfies. The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) scientists had laid the groundwork with the aim of using plants to power camera traps and sensors in the wild.
- This was achieved by installing the microbial fuel cells in Pete (a maidenhair fern).
Microbial fuel cells
- A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that converts chemical energy to electrical energy by the action of microorganisms.
- It is a bio-electrochemical system that uses bacteria as the catalyst to oxidize organic and inorganic matter, and consequently, generate electric current out of it.
- It has applications in various fields such as power generation systems, bio-recovery, waste-water treatment, etc.
- Plants naturally deposit biomatter as they grow which in turn feeds the natural bacteria present in the soil. This creates energy that can be harnessed by fuel cells and used to power a wide range of vital conservation tools remotely including sensors, monitoring platforms, and camera traps.
