RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

One of the main purposes of the microbial electrochemical technology is to produce electrical energy driven by the microbial oxidation reaction. This is the basic concept of the microbial fuel cell (MFC). Its primary usage is to treat wastewater and reduce organic contaminations while recovering the energy through microbial activities. Our research involves the studies of the electrochemically active microbes, electron transfer mechanisms, operating conditions, etc. They all lead to one purpose; to improve the energy recovery efficiency.

It is undeniable that hydrogen is considered as one of the possible pathways to low carbon energy future. Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) is studied and used to produce hydrogen in our laboratory. The MEC is meant to reduce the operational cost in producing hydrogen compared to conventional water electrolysis. Electrical energy recovered from microbial oxidation activities at anode is channelled to cathode for hydrogen evolution. Both biotic and abiotic cathodes are studied in this system.

As CO₂ emission is getting concerned and awareness around the world, Malaysia is also made her effort to investigate the issue via scientific perspectives. Microbial electrosynthesis cell (MSC) is a promising technology that can provide an alternative solution to the CO₂ issue. CO₂ is utilised as the primary feedstock to produce useful products such as formate, acetate, butyrate, etc. It is also cheaper and self-sustain as microbes are used as biocatalysts. It could be one of the innovative ways to close the carbon cycle in our world!

The ability of the microbial electrochemical technology to treat and polish wastewater is one of the added-value advantages to the system. The cutting-edge technology could be used to recover the energy contained in the wastewater and minimise the total energy required to run the operation. In our laboratory, we work side-by-side with local industries and communities to tackle their wastewater problem and to improve the quality of the final discharges. These wastewaters can be from the domestic or industrial sectors such as palm oil mill effluent.

In general, microbial electrochemical cells consist of three basic components: operating chamber, electrode, and separator. Our recent studies involve the development of ceramic-based separators to improve cell efficiency and reduce material cost. The cell performance is highly depended on the properties of the separator such as pore size, ionic strength, selectivity, and permeability. It is important to design the separator based on those properties. Besides, we also working on other materials such as SPEEK, PES, PVDF, PANI, etc.

Desalination is a process that takes away mineral components from saline water. Microbial desalination cell is the state-of-art device and a power-saving device that capable of purifying the water from its saline contents. The device uses the bio-energy recovered from wastewater treatment to drive the water desalination process. In the lab, we are focusing on the pre-treatment process using the device to increase the efficiency of a water purification system. It is done by combining the technology with a microbial fuel cell to boost the entire treatment performance.