{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T02:28:32Z","timestamp":1789007312834,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,10]],"date-time":"2023-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1691625600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>A microbial fuel cell (MFC) biosensor with an anode as a sensing element is often unreliable at low or significantly fluctuating organic matter concentrations. To remove this limitation, this work demonstrates capillary action-aided carbon source delivery to an anode-sensing MFC biosensor for use in carbon-depleted environments, e.g., potable water. First, different carbon source delivery configurations using several thread types, silk, nylon, cotton, and polyester, are evaluated. Silk thread was determined to be the most suitable material for passive delivery of a 40 g L\u22121 acetate solution. This carbon source delivery system was then incorporated into the design of an MFC biosensor for real-time detection of toxicity spikes in tap water, providing an organic matter concentration of 56 \u00b1 15 mg L\u22121. The biosensor was subsequently able to detect spikes of toxicants such as chlorine, formaldehyde, mercury, and cyanobacterial microcystins. The 16S sequencing results demonstrated the proliferation of Desulfatirhabdium (10.7% of the total population), Pelobacter (10.3%), and Geobacter (10.2%) genera. Overall, this work shows that the proposed approach can be used to achieve real-time toxicant detection by MFC biosensors in carbon-depleted environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s23167065","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,10]],"date-time":"2023-08-10T10:52:40Z","timestamp":1691664760000},"page":"7065","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Microbial Fuel Cell Biosensor with Capillary Carbon Source Delivery for Real-Time Toxicity Detection"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6375-4051","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ademola","family":"Adekunle","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave, Montreal, QC H4P 2R2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stefano","family":"Bambace","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering, McGill University, 3480 Rue University #350, Montreal, QC H3A 0E9, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fabrice","family":"Tanguay-Rioux","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave, Montreal, QC H4P 2R2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Boris","family":"Tartakovsky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Research Council of Canada, 6100 Royalmount Ave, Montreal, QC H4P 2R2, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16307","DOI":"10.1039\/D1RA01138C","article-title":"Microbial fuel cells for in-field water quality monitoring","volume":"11","author":"Olias","year":"2021","journal-title":"RSC Adv."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"851","DOI":"10.1007\/s10646-021-02409-2","article-title":"On-line monitoring of water quality with a floating microbial fuel cell biosensor: Field test results","volume":"30","author":"Adekunle","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ecotoxicology"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.1007\/s10661-019-7850-0","article-title":"Online monitoring of heavy metal\u2013related toxicity using flow-through and floating microbial fuel cell biosensors","volume":"192","author":"Adekunle","year":"2019","journal-title":"Environ. 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