Biofilms in Bioelectrochemical Systems: From Laboratory Practice to Data Interpretation

This book serves as a manual of research techniques for electrochemically active biofilm research. Using examples from real biofilm research to illustrate the techniques used for electrochemically active biofilms, this book is of most use to researchers and educators studying microbial fuel cell and bioelectrochemical systems. The book emphasizes the theoretical principles of bioelectrochemistry, experimental procedures and tools useful in quantifying electron transfer processes in biofilms, and mathematical modeling of electron transfer in biofilms. It is divided into three sections:

• Biofilms: Microbiology and microbioelectrochemistry - Focuses on the microbiologic aspect of electrochemically active biofilms and details the key points of biofilm preparation and electrochemical measurement
• Electrochemical techniques to study electron transfer processes - Focuses on electrochemical characterization and data interpretation, highlighting key factors in the experimental procedures that affect reproducibility
• Applications - Focuses on applications of electrochemically active biofilms and development of custom tools to study electrochemically active biofilms. Chapters detail how to build the reactors for applications and measure parameters

Haluk Beyenal, PhD, is Full Professor at the Gene and Linda Voil and School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Washington State University. He worked as a post-doctoral researcher and then Assistant Research Professor in biofilm structure and function and bioelectrochemistry research groups in the Center for Biofilm Engineering.  He has authored over 105 scientific publications and a book on biofilms with Professor Zbigniew Lewandowski entitled "Fundamentals of Biofilm Research".  In 2007 and 2010, he received 3M non-tenured faculty award and National Science Foundation CAREER award to study electrochemically active biofilms, respectively.

Jerome T. Babauta, PhD,an expert in biofilm electrochemistry and the integration of tools to study biofilms with electrochemical methods. He has combined tools such as microsensors, quartz crystal microbalances, and rotating electrodes with traditional electrochemical methods to develop new ways to study electrochemically active biofilms.Currently, his primary interest is to understand the fundamentals of biofilm impedance for electrochemically active biofilms operating in a wide range of research topics including bioelectrochemical systems, metal corrosion, and biofilm control