• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.382-386
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• 2011

Microbial fuel cells (MFC), devices that use bacteria as a catalyst to generate electricity, can utilize a variety of organic wastes as electron donors. The current generated may differ depending on the organic matter concentrations used, when other conditions, such as oxidant supply, proton transfer, internal resistance and so on, are not limiting factors. In these studies, a single-cathode type MFC (SCMFC) and dual-cathode type MFC (DCMFC) were used to ascertain the current's improvement through an increase in the contact area between the anode and the cathode compartments, because the cathode reaction is one of the most serious limiting factors in an MFC. Also an MFC was conducted to explore whether an improvement in electricity generation resulted from oxidizing the carbon sources and nitrates. About 250 mg $L^{-1}$ sodium acetate was fed to an anode compartment with a flow rate of 0.326 mL $min^{-1}$ by continuous mode. The current generated from the DCMFC was higher than the value produced from MFC with a single cathode. COD removal of dual-cathode MFC was also higher than that of single-cathode MFC. The nitrate didn't affect current generation at 2 mM, but when 4 and 8 mM nitrate was supplied, the current in the single-cathode and dual-cathode MFC was decreased by 98% from $5.97{\pm}0.13$ to $0.23{\pm}0.03$ mA and $8.40{\pm}0.23$ to $0.20{\pm}0.01$ mA, respectively. These results demonstrate that increasing of contact area of the anode and cathode can raise current generation by an improvement in the cathode reaction.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.217-226
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• 2015

To investigate the distributions of BVOCs (Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds) from mountain near mega city and their role in forest atmospheric, BVOCs and their oxidized species were measured at a 41 m tower in Mt. Taehwa during May, June and August 2013. A proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) was used to quantify isoprene and monoterpenes. In conjunction with BVOCs, $O_3$, meteorological parameters, PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) and LAI (Leaf Area Index) were measured. The average concentrations of isoprene and monoterpenes were 0.71 ppbv and 0.17 ppbv, respectively. BVOCs showed higher concentrations in the early summer (June) compared to the late summer (August). Isoprene started increasing at 2 PM and reached the maximum concentration around 5 PM. In contrast, monoterpenes concentrations began to increase 4 PM and stayed high at night. The $O_3$ maximum was generally found at 3 PM and remained high until 5 PM or later, which was concurrent with the enhancement of $O_3$. The concentrations of BVOCs were higher below canopy (18 m) than above canopy, which indicated these species were produced by trees. At night, monoterpenes concentrations were negatively correlated with these of $O_3$ below canopy. Using MEGAN (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature), the emissions of isoprene and monoterpenes were estimated at 1.1 ton/year and 0.9 ton/year, respectively at Mt. Taehwa.