Reducing Plastic Waste and Generating Bioelectricity Simultaneously through Fuel Cells Using the Fungus Pleurotus ostreatus

Rojas-Flores Segundo (), Magaly De La Cruz-Noriega, Cabanillas-Chirinos Luis, Nélida Milly Otiniano, Nancy Soto-Deza and Nicole Terrones-Rodríguez
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Rojas-Flores Segundo: Institutos y Centros de Investigación de la Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Trujillo 13001, Peru
Magaly De La Cruz-Noriega: Institutos y Centros de Investigación de la Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Trujillo 13001, Peru
Cabanillas-Chirinos Luis: Investigación Formativa e Integridad Científica, Universidad César Vallejo, Trujillo 13001, Peru
Nélida Milly Otiniano: Institutos y Centros de Investigación de la Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Trujillo 13001, Peru
Nancy Soto-Deza: Institutos y Centros de Investigación de la Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Trujillo 13001, Peru
Nicole Terrones-Rodríguez: Institutos y Centros de Investigación de la Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Universidad Cesar Vallejo, Trujillo 13001, Peru

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 18, 1-12

Abstract: Plastic waste, a persistent and escalating issue, and the high costs of installing electric power, particularly in remote areas, have become pressing concerns for governments. This research proposes a novel method for generating electric power from sugarcane bagasse waste and reducing plastic waste. The key to this method is the use of the fungus Pleurotus ostreatus in microbial fuel cells. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) demonstrated their effectiveness by generating peaks of electric current (4.325 ± 0.261 mA) and voltage (0.427 ± 0.031 V) on day twenty-six, with a pH of 5.539 ± 0.278. The peak electrical conductivity of the substrate was 130.574 ± 4.981 mS/cm. The MFCs were able to reduce the chemical oxygen demand by 83%, showing a maximum power density of 86.316 ± 4.724 mW/cm 2 and an internal resistance of 37.384 ± 62.522 Ω. The infrared spectra of the plastic samples showed a decrease in the peaks 2850–2920, 1470, and 720 cm −1 , which are more characteristic of plastic, demonstrating the action of the Pleurotus ostreatus fungus on the plastic samples. Also, the micrographs taken by SEM showed the reduction in the thickness of the plastic film by 54.06 µm and the formation of microstructures on the surface, such as pores and raised layers of the sample used.

Keywords: plastic waste; bioelectricity; fungus; sugarcane bagasse; Pleurotus ostreatus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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