Complementing next generation microfluidic bioelectrochemical systems with electrochemical theory and simulations

生物电化学系统（BES）将电活性细菌的电极粘附生物膜（EABs）中的氧化还原化学转化与代谢循环耦合在一起。应用包括将有机废物分子分解成小分子，同时产生能量或减少电合成所需的能量。因此，BES是可持续经济的下一代清洁技术。这次合作将复制最近电催化理论与实验相结合的成功，以获得更深入的见解和涉及BES的新应用。基于微流体的BES具有简化某些过程，提高吞吐量和改进优点数字的潜力。拉瓦尔大学的green小组已经成为微流体BES的领先开发者，并将其用于研究，为EABs的基本方面提供了详细的了解。这项国际合作旨在产生新的工具和知识，旨在改善微流体BES。这需要宾夕法尼亚州立大学霍尔教授小组的帮助，以适应先前开发的基于严格电化学理论的模型，以适当地描述微流体生物电化学流动细胞。这将导致新的计算机模拟方法，霍尔小组将领导将计算流体动力学模拟与质量传输和电化学功能相结合，这将加速新设备的开发，并使我们的努力与该领域的最佳实践保持一致。此次合作的广泛成果将有助于加拿大清洁技术系统的发展，其最终目标是基于流动的微生物燃料电池，这种燃料电池可以降低城市废水处理的成本和能源需求，目前城市废水处理消耗大量能源，并产生相应的二氧化碳排放量。消除这些成本和排放对于在未来几十年实现碳中和至关重要，而衍生产品将促进加拿大经济。此次合作由两名具有互补技能的领域专家参与，并以扎实的培训计划为基础，重点关注公平、多样性和包容性。

Bio-electrochemical systems (BES) couple redox chemical transformations to metabolic cycles in electrode-adhered biofilms (EABs) of electroactive bacteria. Applications include breakdown of organic waste molecules into small molecules, while producing energy or reducing energy required for electrosynthesis. Thus, BES are next-generation cleantech for a sustainable economy. This collaboration will replicate recent successes in combining theory and experiment in electrocatalysis1 for deeper insights and new applications involving BES. Microfluidic based BES hold the potential to streamline certain processes, enhance throughput, and improve figures of merit. The Greener group at U. Laval has become a leading developer of microfluidic BES and have used them for studies that have provided detailed understanding into fundamental aspects of EABs. This international collaboration seeks to generate new tools and knowledge aimed towards improving microfluidic BES. This requires help from Professor Hall's group at Penn State to adapt previously developed models based in rigorous electrochemistry theory to properly describe microfluidic bio-electrochemical flow cells. This will lead to new computer simulation methods that the Hall group will lead to merge computational fluidic dynamics simulations with mass-transport and electrochemical functionality that will accelerate development of new devices and to align our efforts with best practices in the field.The wider outcome of this collaboration will contribute to Canadian cleantech system development with the ultimate target being flow-based microbial fuel cells that can reduce costs and energy required for municipal waste-water treatment, which currently consume huge amounts of energy and produce proportional CO2 outputs. Eliminating these costs and emissions will be critical for achieving carbon neutrality in the coming decades and spin-off products will boost the Canadian economy. The collaboration features two experts in the field with complementary skills and is underpinned by a solid training plan with a heavy focus on equity, diversity and inclusion.