Technical Communication Bioconversion of the cellulose containing waste into electricity through the intermediate hydrogen production O.G. Voronin a, *, A.I. Shestakov b , E.R. Sadraddinova b , S.M. Abramov b , A.I. Netrusov b , N.A. Zorin c , A.A. Karyakin a a Faculty of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lenin Hills, 1, 3, Moscow 119991, Russia b Faculty of Biology, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Lenin Hills, 1, 12, Moscow 119234, Russia c Institute of Basic Biological Problems RAS, Institutskaya Street, 2, Pushchino, Moscow Region 142290, Russia article info Article history: Received 31 October 2011 Received in revised form 21 March 2012 Accepted 8 April 2012 Available online 17 May 2012 Keywords: Hydrogenase Biohydrogen Enzyme electrodes Biofuel cell abstract The bioreactor cell combined a hydrogenase-based fuel electrodes and a microbial biore- actor was developed. It was shown that the enzyme electrodes are able to convert hydrogen produced by bacteria into electricity without any additional purification steps. Paper wastes were used as a carbon source. Maximum power output achieved was of 200 mW/cm 2 . Fuel cell remains at least 70% of the initial power during 72 h. The level of generated power is significantly higher than the reported for microbial fuel cells. The results demonstrate the possibility to generate power at a high rate with a variety of organic compounds used. Copyright ª 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Development of cost-effective and safe for the environment waste recycling methods is very important task for modern science. Developed countries produce about 1.5e2.0 kg of waste per inhabitant every day [1]. 55e60% of these wastes contain paper, food and other organic compounds that can be used as substrates for hydrogen-producing bacteria. Some communities of anaerobic bacteria are rather tolerant to both energy source compounds and cultivation conditions. Thus, the hydrogen produced by them should be rather cheap. However, there are several problems regarding limiting use of the biohydrogen. The first one is the presence of carbon monoxide and sulfide as impurities [2,3]. The second one is self-inhibition of the biohydrogen production. Thus, it is important to remove H 2 from the bioreactor continuously. Among various technologies for removing hydrogen from fermentation media are bubbling with inert gas and vacuum pumping. However, the latter does not provide continuous hydrogen elimination from the medium without affecting the fermentation process and require high extra energy. Gas separation membranes have high price and fragility, require precise control of the pressure and cannot provide sterility [4]. It should be noted that the problems with both storage and transportation of hydrogen still do not have cost-effective solutions as well. That’s why the conversion of hydrogen * Corresponding author. Tel./fax: þ7 495 939 46 05. E-mail address: ol.voronin@gmail.com (O.G. Voronin). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he international journal of hydrogen energy 37 (2012) 10585 e10589 0360-3199/$ e see front matter Copyright ª 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.04.044