Saccharification of agar for electricity production in microbial fuel cells

Agar is a common biopolymer produced from red seaweeds, which is found in abundance worldwide. Since easily fermentative sugars, such as galactose and glucose, can be extracted from agar using a simple acid saccharification method that included an autoclaving step, this was used as a feedstock for electricity production from microbial fuel cells (MFC). The effects of autoclaving conditions on agar saccharification were examined in terms of sugar yield. As the HCl concentration, autoclaving temperature and time were increased, more galactose and glucose were formed from the agar. The resulting hydrolysate was then used as the carbon source for electricity production in a two-compartment MFC reactor. Finally, the potential of using the agar as a renewable source for electricity production in MFCs was examined.