Supplementary material from "Electrical output of bryophyte microbial fuel cell systems is sufficient to power a radio or an environmental sensor"

Plant microbial fuel cells are a recently developed technology that exploits photosynthesis in vascular plants by harnessing solar energy and generating electrical power. In this study, the model moss species <i>Physcomitrella patens</i>, and other environmental samples of mosses, have been used to develop a non-vascular bryophyte microbial fuel cell (bryoMFC). A novel three-dimensional anodic matrix was successfully created and characterized and was further tested in a bryoMFC to determine the capacity of mosses to generate electrical power. The importance of anodophilic microorganisms in the bryoMFC was also determined. It was found that the non-sterile bryoMFCs operated with <i>P. patens</i> delivered over an order of magnitude higher peak power output (2.6 ± 0.6 µW m^-2) than bryoMFCs kept in near-sterile conditions (0.2 ± 0.1 µW m^-2). These results confirm the importance of the microbial populations for delivering electrons to the anode in a bryoMFC. When the bryoMFCs were operated with environmental samples of moss (non-sterile) the peak power output reached 6.7 ± 0.6 mW m^-2. The bryoMFCs operated with environmental samples of moss were able to power a commercial radio receiver or an environmental sensor (LCD desktop weather station).

植物微生物燃料电池（Plant microbial fuel cells）是一项近年兴起的技术，通过利用维管植物的光合作用捕获太阳能并产生电能。本研究以模式苔藓物种小立碗藓（Physcomitrella patens）及其他野外采集的苔藓样本为材料，构建了无维管苔藓微生物燃料电池（bryoMFC）。研究团队成功制备并表征了一种新型三维阳极基质，并将其应用于该装置中以评估苔藓的产电能力，同时明确了嗜阳极微生物（anodophilic microorganisms）在苔藓微生物燃料电池中的关键作用。研究发现，搭载小立碗藓的非无菌苔藓微生物燃料电池的峰值功率输出（2.6 ± 0.6 微瓦·平方米⁻²）比近无菌条件下运行的同类装置高出一个数量级以上（0.2 ± 0.1 微瓦·平方米⁻²）。上述结果证实了微生物群落向苔藓微生物燃料电池阳极传递电子的重要性。当使用野外采集的苔藓样本（非无菌）运行该装置时，其峰值功率输出可达6.7 ± 0.6 毫瓦·平方米⁻²。搭载野外苔藓样本的苔藓微生物燃料电池可驱动商用收音机或环境传感器（LCD桌面气象站）正常运行。