Double the performance of microbial fuel cell

Can you imagine this happening to a 25-year-old boy? Liang Yuxiang, a graduate student from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Zhejiang Industrial and Commercial University, skillfully improved the output performance of microbial fuel cells with the help of sunlight, and developed photoelectric microbial fuel cells with high output power and good stability in this field internationally. His achievements have been published in 9 academic papers in international high-quality journals, and 6 national invention patents have been authorized, It has made a breakthrough contribution to the engineering application of this technology.

Quantitative change leads to qualitative change

This young man, who was born in Xinchang, Zhejiang Province in 1992, wears glasses and is cheerful and easy-going. Although he has published 9 academic papers in high-quality journals around the world, he always gives the impression of being polite, polite and modest.

In 2010, Liang Yuxiang entered Zhejiang University to study environmental engineering as an undergraduate, and in 2014, he was admitted to our university as a graduate student, majoring in environmental science and engineering. After seven years in school, he remembered that there was an elevator culture map in the Yifu Building of the Environmental College - the difference between the 365power of 0.99 and the 365power of 1.01. "It tells me that people who work a little harder than you every day will actually leave you far behind, and we will always reap several times the results of others if we do more than others every day."

Microbial fuel cell, or MFC for short, is a technology that can simultaneously degrade pollutants and generate electricity, which was developed and promoted by Bruce Rogen and Bruce Littman of the United States. Traditional batteries generally use highly toxic heavy metals such as nickel and chromium as redox agents, which are difficult to treat after use and will produce serious secondary pollutants. However, the existing fuel cells basically need to consume hydrogen and oxygen, and the cost is extremely high. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a kind of non-toxic and harmless, which uses harmless electroactive microorganisms as catalyst and organic substances in wastewater as oxidant. It can also achieve pollution reduction capacity at the same time. Although MFC has many advantages over traditional batteries, its relatively poor output performance still limits its practical application.

Can we improve the performance of microbial fuel cells? This became a problem that Liang Yuxiang thought about day and night. His research group, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Solid Waste Treatment and Recycling, has many years of research experience in the direction of electrochemistry and bioelectrochemical degradation. Under the guidance of his tutors Shen Dongsheng and Feng Huajun, Liang Yuxiang plunged into the laboratory.

"The process of doing scientific research is like 'pregnancy'"

Some people say that science itself is a great beauty with infinite charm. This charm makes people love science and establish the ideal and belief of devoting themselves to science; It also makes people willing to abandon comfort and concentrate on the work in the laboratory. In Liang Yuxiang's eyes, every step in the research process can bring him a full sense of achievement.

Under the careful guidance of his tutors Feng Huajun and Shen Dongsheng, Liang Yuxiang carried out a lot of experimental research, from the discovery of new phenomena to rigorous analysis to practical application, such a cycle has continued. He believes that many students are the same as themselves. "Maybe you can't remember how many documents you have consulted, how many experiments you have repeated, and how many papers you have revised. But you must remember that when the previous article was received, the previous patent was authorized, and the previous project was accepted, many seniors doing scientific research called this process' pregnancy ', and pregnancy in October is only for its birth, pain and happiness.".

After an attempt that is difficult to calculate, Liang Yuxiang finally found that by building a photocatalyst material on the anode, MFC can use solar energy to accelerate the degradation rate of microorganisms, and improve the performance of MFC by enhancing the efficiency of electron generation and transfer.

"Opportunities are reserved for those who are prepared"

On March 23, Liang Yuxiang delivered a speech as the representative of graduates at the 2017 graduate graduation ceremony of Zhejiang University of Commerce. President Chen Shoucan specially mentioned in his speech that Liang Yuxiang successfully developed the photomicrobe fuel cell, which solved the two major problems of energy shortage and environmental pollution at the same time. He published 9 papers on relevant achievements in international high-quality journals in the field of environment, electrochemistry and energy, with a total impact factor of 45, and was recognized by many international peers. The teachers and students on the scene applauded warmly.

According to Zheng Sufa, secretary of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Zheshang University has integrated scientific and rigorous education into the whole process of cultivating students to stimulate their ability of "mass entrepreneurship and innovation". Among the 100 science and technology teams in China, the few environmental teams come from the "Xiaoping Innovation Team" of the college. From the beginning of the freshman year, 53 professional teachers each brought at least one innovation project, and there were 10 satellite teams just around the "Xiaoping Innovation Team". For students with ideas and abilities like Liang Yuxiang, the school has not only set up student research projects, but also provided a large number of scientific research funds. In addition, all kinds of scholarships of the University also take various innovation and entrepreneurship achievements as evaluation criteria to encourage students to innovate and start their own businesses.

"First of all, you must do more, faster and more efficiently than others, so that you can have enough high-quality papers earlier, so that you can win all kinds of awards and scholarships, and then others can give excellent evaluations. Therefore, it can be concluded that all success must be significantly positively related to early actions, and opportunities are only reserved for those who are prepared." Liang Yuxiang said so.