Copyright © 2014 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Article Advanced Science, Engineering and Medicine Vol. 6, 1–5, 2014 www.aspbs.com/asem Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) in the Presence of Activated Carbon Ahmed Aidan 1 , Ghaleb A. Husseini 1 * , Huseyin Yemendzhiev 2 , Valentin Nenov 2 , Ami Rasheed 1 , Hiba Chekkath 1 , and Yousef Al-Assaf 3 1 Department of Chemical Engineering, American University of Sharjah, University City, PO Box 26666, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates 2 Department of Water Treatment, Burgas University, Burgas, Bulgaria 3 Rochester Institute of Technology-Dubai, United Arab Emirates This report studies the performance of a Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) in the presence of activated carbon in both the cathode and anode chambers. The large surface area of the activated carbon provides surface for bacterial growth, thereby leading to the formation of a stronger microbial culture through the formation of a biofilm. An MDC of 60 ml total capacity is used to achieve 60 percent desalination within 20 hours. In addition, a maximum mean voltage of 105 mV and a power density of 1.546 mW/m 2 are obtained when a 3.2-k resistor was used. The results of our experiments suggest that the addition of activated carbon to the anodic and cathodic chambers improves MDC performance. This technology has the potential to be used to integrate a waste water treatment plant and a desalination facility. Keywords: Microbial Desalination Cell, Activated Carbon, Cellulose Acetate Membrane, Waste Water Treatment. 1. INTRODUCTION Energy sources are required for a variety of daily needs including transportation, residential, industrial and com- mercial purposes. Its needs extend from powering our homes to the treatment of waste water. For instance, the activated sludge process, which is the most widely used process for the treatment of domestic sewage, requires approximately 0.349 kWh/m 3 of electrical energy. Carbon based non-renewable energy sources are a major cause of air pollution. 1 Therefore, it became a necessity to develop other renewable sources of energy that are more eco- friendly, cost-effective, and efficient. In the modern world, the treatment of domestic and industrial waste water is also an issue of great concern as it could contaminate water bodies and spread diseases. This is a result of the high concentrations of organic and inorganic substances con- tained in waste water which may include both soluble and insoluble pollutants. 2 According to Shizas, approximately 9.3 times as much energy, as that currently used to treat waste water by aeration processes, is contained in domes- tic waste water itself. 3 * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. A promising technology would be to harvest the energy utilizing micro-organisms capable of generating power and simultaneously treating domestic waste water using microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology. Consequently, the development of MFC technology will serve as a more eco-friendly alternative to the existing carbon-based energy sources in addition to aiding in desalination processes. 4 1.1. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) MFC is a developing technology that uses biocatalysts to convert the energy stored in organic and inorganic sub- strates to electrical energy. Enzymes or even whole cells can serve as the biocatalyst for the cathodic and anodic reactions. The electrons produced during the respiratory cycle travel through a sequence of respiratory enzymes in the cell, thereby producing energy in the form of ATP. In MFC’s, the terminal electron acceptor is not the microorganism (anode), but the oxygen or nitrate in the cathodic chamber. 5 This process of transferring electrons is known as the extracellular electron transfer; it plays a major role in yielding the energy within the microbes in the MFC. 6 Adv. Sci. Eng. Med. 2014, Vol. 6, No. xx 2164-6627/2014/6/001/005 doi:10.1166/asem.2014.1619 1