Micro-Sized Microbial Fuel Cell

A microbial fuel cell comprising:

• an anode portion comprising an anode, the anode configured to support an electrically conductive biofilm matrix;
• a cathode portion comprising a cathode;
• and
• a cation exchange membrane positioned between the anode and the cathode,
• wherein the anode portion and the cation exchange membrane define an anode chamber having a volume of between about 1 μL and about 100 μL and configured to receive an anolyte, the cathode portion and the cation exchange membrane define a cathode chamber having a volume of between about 1 μL and about 100 μL and configured to receive a catholyte, and the microbial fuel cell is configured to achieve a power density of 4.7 μW/cm2 or greater.

A microbial fuel cell fabricated by a process comprising:

• forming an anode portion comprising an anode, the anode configured to support a biofilm matrix;
• forming a cathode portion comprising a cathode;
• positioning a cation exchange membrane between the anode portion and the cathode portion to form an anode chamber and a cathode chamber, each chamber having a volume of between about 1 μL and about 100 μL wherein the anode chamber is configured to receive an anolyte and the cathode chamber is configured to receive a catholyte;
• and
• forming an electrically conductive pathway between the anode and the cathode;
• wherein the anode portion is formed by a process comprising:
• depositing a precious metal on a surface of a substrate to form the anode,
• depositing a polymerizable material on the anode and the surface of the substrate;
• and
• curing a selected portion of the polymerizable material to form a gasket on the anode and the surface of the substrate, and
• wherein the microbial fuel cell is configured to achieve a Coulombic efficiency of at least 30%.