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Central Electrochemical Research institute (CECRI) established in the year 1953, is one of the biggest research institutes devoted for research and development in electrochemical science and technology and it is situated at the southern part of India. (http://www.cecri.res.in/). R&D activities covering all aspects of electrochemical science and technology like Corrosion Science and Engineering, Electrochemical Materials Science, Functional Materials and Nanoscale Electrochemistry, Electrochemical Power Sources, Electrochemical Pollution Control, Electrochemicals, Electrodics and Electrocatalysis, Electrometallurgy, Industrial Metal Finishing, and Computer Networking and Instrumentation are being pursued in the institute. The Electrodics and Electrocatalysis department of CECRI is engaged in research areas like modified electrodes for electrocatalysis and sensing applications, preparation of catalytic nanomaterials, Biofuel cells, Biosensors and modeling and simulation of electrochemical processes.

Sheela Berchmans et al. from the Electrodics and Electocatalysis group of CECRI are engaged in research activities related to microbial fuel cells like development of laboratory prototype of MFCs, development of bioreactors for simultaneous current generation and waste water treatment, preparation of catalytic nanomaterials, modified electrodes for anodes and cathodes of MFCs, screening microorganisms for direct electron transfer etc. This research project is funded by Ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE), India.

Dr Byung Hong Kim (previous PI at The Bioelectrochemistry Laboratory, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) and his colleagues have initiated mediator-less microbial fuel cell operation and its environmental applications such as wastewater treatment and BOD sensing systems. Dr In Seop Chang was a core research member at KIST and moved to GIST in 2005. Since Dr Kim has been retired at KIST, the EBL at GIST is a one of research groups in which MFC works are most active in Korea.

We have been interested in the electron metabolism of anaerobic bacteria ranging from anaerobic fermentation to produce hydrogen and ABE to anaerobic respiration by sulfidogens, homoacetogens and metal reducers. Currently, studies are being made to characterize the microbes in the electrochemically active microbial consortium in MFC, and the electron transfer system from the microbial cell to the electrode for the development of an MFC as wastewater treatment process. The long-term goals of the laboratory are the elucidation of electrochemical processes in microbial ecology and application of redox proteins in information processing device as well as alternative energy production from waste biomass.

The MFC group in Harbin Institue of Technology is directed by Prof. Nan-Qi Ren, who is now vice president of Harbin Institute of Technology. There are several young professional researchers in this team conducting MFC research in several aspects including feasibility of power production from various organic substrates, the improvements of MFC design configuration and optimization of operational conditions for sustainable and scalable power output during wastewater treatment. This team is trying to solve problems related to scaling up a MFC system such as buffering capacity and conductivity of wastewater.

The State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment (SKLUWRE) is located in Harbin Institute of Technology. The MFC group is led by Prof. Yujie Feng, the Vice Director of the State Key Laboratory. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation, the MFC group here is mainly focused on electricity generation from various waste biomass (e.g. organic wastewater, corn stover etc.), MFC architectures for wastes treatment, electrode material, electrogenic bacteria isolation and investigation on electricity generation mechanisms. The group has various collaborations and communications with Prof Bruce Logan in Penn State University.

Besides MFC, the research interests of Prof. Yujie Feng also include:

• Sustainable bioenergy production (bio-ethanol)
• Environmental electrochemistry
• Environmental functional materials
• Wastewater treatment technology and security evaluation.

There are totally 25 members in the group and 6 of them are working on MFC area, including Xin Wang, He Lee, Yaolan Liu, Heming Wang, Qiao Yang and Elle Wang.

The main focus of BEEC is to develop sustainable technologies for environment remediation. Renewable energy in the form of bioelectricity and biohydrogen (H2) from bioremediation process is one of the thrust areas of research presently being pursued. Presently bioelectricity generation from various industrial wastewaters using microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is being pursued. The concentration is towards development of a technology to integrate with the existing treatment plant to produce sustainable energy apart from wastewater treatment. Selectively enriched mixed cultures for hydrogen production (acidogenic), acidophilic microenvironment and plain graphite electrodes were evaluated in dual and single chambered fuel cells for substrate degradation potential along with bioelectricity production using chemical wastewater as substrate. Process optimization with respect to electrode materials, membrane material, fuel cell configuration, anodic microenvironment, operation conditions, biofilm coverage on anode, etc. was being studied with various types of wastewater. Biohydrogen production along with wastewater treatment through acidogenic fermentation using various industrial wastewaters (chemical, dairy and distillery) as substrate was studied in various reactor configurations. Reactor configuration (suspended/biofilm), mode of reactor operation (continuous/batch), inoculum preparation strategy, operating microenvironment, startup procedure, addition of co-substrate and nutrients, integration with photo-biological hydrogen production/methanogenic process, application of bioaugmentation and self-immobilization [on mesoporous material (SBA15)/activated carbon] strategies, etc. were studied for effective hydrogen production. Presently, work is being pursued on evaluation of biohydrogen production potential utilizing vegetable and agro-wastes as substrate. Apart from this, basic and applied research on soil bioremediation, advanced biological wastewater treatment, enzyme production and its application to bioremediation, value added products from wastes and bioagumentation strategy to enhance process efficiency also being pursued.

The home page: http://www.iictindia.org/

The Environmental Engineering Laboratory is attached to the Civil Engineering Department of the institute. Full time five faculty members and two technical staff are associated with the laboratory. At present in this laboratory six research scholars are registered for their doctoral research, and eleven post graduate students are pursuing their research work. This laboratory is actively involved in undertaking research projects in the leading edge area to provide solutions for environmental problems.

At present the research work is mainly concentrated on the following subjects:

• Treatment and reuse of wastewater
• Anaerobic wastewater treatment
• Bioenergy during wastewater treatment
• Removal of arsenic from drinking water
• Water quality factors influencing microbial growth, disinfection response and health assessment
• Application of mono- and bimetallic nanoparticles for the degradation of organic pollutants

More details of ongoing projects and faculty are available on department link: http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/departments/home.php?deptcode=CE