Enhancing xylose and glucose utilization as well as solvent production using a simplified three-electrode potentiostat system during Clostridium fermentation.

A simple potentiostat was constructed as a strategy to enhance solvent production in a mediatorless and oxygen-exposed fermentation inoculated with the aerotolerant strain Clostridium sp. C10. Elevated n-butanol and acetone titers were recorded in all fermentations with either glucose or xylose in the presence of electrodes poised at + 500 mV (+ 814 mV vs SHE) relative to cells plus substrate only controls. Respective butanol titers and volumetric butanol productivities in studies performed with 30 g/L glucose or 30 g/L xylose were 1.67 and 2.27 times and 1.90 and 6.13 times greater in the presence of electrodes compared to controls. Glucose and xylose utilization in the presence of electrodes was 61 and 125% greater than no-electrode controls, respectively. Increasing substrate concentrations to 60 g/L decreased the butanol yields relative to the studies performed at 30 g/L. These data suggest that it may be more efficient to alter reactor reduction potential than increase substrate concentration for solvent output during industrial fermentations, which favors higher yield with few additional inputs.