Areas of Specialization

• Sustainable bioenergy production
• Environmental biotechnology
• Waste and wastewater treatment
• Microbial fuel cell technology
• Biohydrogen production

Current Research

• Electricity generation using Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC):  Using MFC to directly convert organic matter to electricity represents a completely new method of renewable energy recovery. Our studies focus on optimizing MFC to improve the power generation from various waste biomass.

• Hydrogen production using BioElectrochemically Assisted Microbial Reactors (BEAMR): Excluding oxidants from MFC system, hydrogen can be produced at cathode by adding an electrochemical potential to the system. This overcomes the fermentation barrier since any biodegradable organic matter can theoretically be used and completely degraded in this process. We are currently conducting research on the system characterization and optimization to increase the hydrogen production rate and total energy recovery.

Recent Publications

 

• Liu, H., Cheng; S., Huang, L., Logan, B.E. Scale-up of Membrane-free Single-Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells. ( 2008), Journal of Power sources. In press

• Catal, T., Li, K., Bermek, H., Liu, H. Electricity Production from Twelve Monosaccharides Using Microbial Cells. (2008) Journal of Power Sources, 175, 196-200

• Fan, Y, Hu, H., Liu H., Sustainable Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells Using Bicarbonate Buffer and Proton Transfer Mechanisms. (2007) Environmental Science & Technology, 41(23)8154-8158

• Fan, Y., Hu, H., Liu, H., Enhanced Coulombic Efficiency and Power Density of Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells with an Improved Cell Configuration. (2007) Journal of Power Sources, 171 (2)348-354

• Cheng, S., Liu, H., Logan, B.E., Increased Power Generation in a Continuous flow MFC with Advective Flow Through the Porous Anode and Reduced Electrode Spacing. (2006) Environmental Science and Technology, 40 (7)2426-2432

• Cheng, S. Liu, H., Logan, B.E. Power Densities Using Different Cathode Catalysts (Pt and CoTMPP) and Polymer Binders (Nafion and PTFE) in Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells. (2006) Environmental Science and Technology 40 (1)364-369

• Liu H., Grot S. and Logan B.E. 2005 Electrochemically Assisted Microbial Production of Hydrogen from a Fermentation End Product.  Environ. Sci Technol. 39:4317-4320.

• Liu, H., Cheng, S. and Logan, B.E.2005 Power Generation in Fed-batch Microbial Fuel Cells as Functions of Ionic Strength, Temperature and Reactor Configuration. Environ. Sci. Technol. 39:5488-5493

• Liu, H., Cheng, S. and Logan, B.E. 2005 Production of Electricity from Acetate or Butyrate Using a Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell. Environ. Sci. Technol., 39:658-662.

• Liu, H., Ramnarayanan, R. and Logan B.E. 2004. Production of Electricity during Wastewater Treatment Using a Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell. Environ. Sci. Technol., 38:2281-2285.

• Liu, H. and Logan, B.E.. 2004. Electricity Generation Using an Air-Cathode Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell in the Presence and Absence of a Proton Exchange Membrane. Environ. Sci. Technol., 38:4040-4046.

• Fang, H.H.P., Liu, H. and Zhang, T. 2005. Phototrophic hydrogen production from acetate and butyrate in wastewater. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy., 30(7):785-793

• Fang, H.H.P., Liu, H. and Zhang, T. 2004. Bio-Hydrogen Production from Wastewater. Water Sci. Technol. 4(1):77-86.

• Liu, H., Zhang, T. and Fang, H.H.P.. 2003. Thermophilic Hydrogen Production from a Cellulose-containing Wastewater. Biotechnol. Lett., 25:365-369.

• Fang, H.H.P., Liu, H. and Zhang, T.. 2002. Characterization of a Hydrogen-Producing Granular sludge. Biotech. Bioeng., 78(1):44-52.

• Liu, H. and Fang, H.H.P.. 2002. Characterization of Electrostatic Binding Sites of Extracellular Polymers by Linear Programming Analysis of Titration Data. Biotech. Bioeng., 80(7):806-811.

• Liu, H. and Fang, H.H.P.. 2002. Extraction of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS) of Sludges. J. Biotechnol.,  95(3):249-256