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 Physcomitrella patens, 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 P. patens 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）是一类新兴技术，通过利用维管植物的光合作用获取太阳能并产生电能。本研究以模式苔藓物种小立碗藓（Physcomitrella patens）及多种苔藓环境样本为实验材料，构建了无维管苔藓基微生物燃料电池（bryoMFC）。研究人员成功制备并表征了一种新型三维阳极基质，将其应用于bryoMFC中以评估苔藓的产电能力，同时探究了嗜阳极微生物在bryoMFC中的作用重要性。研究发现，搭载小立碗藓的非无菌bryoMFC的峰值功率输出可达(2.6±0.6) μW·m⁻²，较近无菌条件下运行的bryoMFC（0.2±0.1 μW·m⁻²）高出一个数量级以上。上述结果证实了微生物菌群在bryoMFC中向阳极传递电子的关键作用。当使用苔藓环境样本构建非无菌bryoMFC时，其峰值功率输出可达(6.7±0.6) mW·m⁻²，且该类电池可驱动商用无线电接收机或LCD桌面气象站正常运行。