Functional prototype

This year we decided to build a soil-based microbial fuel cell(sMFC) wireless sensor that can generate electricity whenever the genetically engineered Shewanella JG700. These are the components to build a sMFC wireless sensor

Components

Graphite fiber electraode

For our device to detect salicylic acid, we need to inoculate Shewanella on the anode. In our work, we ordered cathode and anode from Keego Technologies LLC, Stanford, USA. Soil was patted down in MFC up to 1 cm to make a smooth surface and anode was placed on the top of the soil, finally soil sample was added. The cathode was placed on the top of the soil. The garphite fiber electro allows the bacteria to make more contact with the electrode so that the bacteria can transfer much more electrons to the electrode than graphite electrode. We use titanium wire instead of copper wire since titanium wire since the corrosion resistance of tatinium wire is better than copper in soil and will do less harm to the envirenment.