Bioelectrochemical systems BESs production

Pant, D., Singh, A., Van Bogaert, G., Gallego, YA., Diels, L, and Vanbroekhoven, K. (2011) An introduction to the life cyde assessment (LCA) of bioelectrochemical systems (BES) for sustainable energy and product generation relevance and key... 

Electrode materials and scalable reactors - in different bioelectrochemical systems expensive electrode materials such as carbon nanotubes or precious metal electrodes are used. These materials are unconsolidated for large-scale MES. In terms of maximizing productivity and minimizing costs, cheap and reusable three-dimensional electrodes are needed. In a technical electrochemical reactor, the use of an expensive separator such as a membrane should be avoided. During the lab stage, the scalability of the reactor concept should receive attention as important parameter. 

Enzyme-linked electrochemical techniques can be carried out in two basic ways. The first approach is to use a hydrodynamic technique, such as flow injection analysis (FIAEC) or liquid chromatography (LCEC), with the enzyme reaction being either off-line or on-line in a reactor prior to the amperometric detector. In the second approach, the enzyme is immobilized at the electrode. Hydrodynamic techniques provide a convenient and efficient method for transporting and mixing the substrate and enzyme, subsequent transport of the substrate to the electrode, and rapid sample turnaround. The kinetics of the enzyme system can also be readily studied using hydrodynamic techniques. Immobilizing the enzyme at the electrode provides a simple system that is amenable to in vivo analysis. Alternatively, the transport of enzyme product from the enzyme active site to the electrode surface is greatly enhanced when the enzyme is very near the electrode. Enzyme electrodes are an extremely important area of bioelectrochemical analysis, and many reviews are available in the literature. ... 

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