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Representative MFC — matched on the paper’s system type only, not its reactor or geometry.

Extraction

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What they did

System
MFC

What worked

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Abstract

Access to safe drinking water is a human right, crucial to combat inequalities, reduce poverty and allow sustainable development. In many areas of the world, however, this right is not guaranteed, in part because of the lack of easily deployable diagnostic tools. Low-cost and simple methods to test water supplies onsite can protect vulnerable communities from the impact of contaminants in drinking water. Ideally such devices would also be easy to dispose of so as to leave no trace, or have a detrimental effect on the environment. To this aim, we here report the first paper microbial fuel cell (pMFC) fabricated by screen-printing biodegradable carbon-based electrodes onto a single sheet of paper, and demonstrate its use as a shock sensor for bioactive compounds (e.g. formaldehyde) in water. We also show a simple route to enhance the sensor performance by folding back-to-back two pMFCs electrically connected in parallel. This promising proof of concept work can lead to a revolutionizing way of testing water at point of use, which is not only green, easy-to-operate and rapid, but is also affordable to all.

Keywords

Dispose patternMicrobial fuel cellBiochemical engineeringEnvironmental scienceComputer scienceNanotechnologyWaste managementChemistryMaterials scienceEngineeringElectrode

Identifiers

DOI
10.1016/j.bios.2017.11.018
Journal
Biosensors and Bioelectronics
Year
2017