The main focus of the Logan lab is the
development of new microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) for achieving an energy sustainable water
infrastructure. Logan and his collaborators have: invented a method for
sustainable hydrogen production using
microbial electrolysis cells (MECs), a method for water
desalination that does not require electrical energy from the grid or high
pressures called
microbial desalination cells, reactors to harness salinity gradient
energy in micorobial reverse electrodialysis cells (MRCs), and improved direct bioelectricity generation
by several orders of magnitude in
microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Other research has included the discovery
of how large
aggregates form in the ocean, called
marine snow, that can help to sequester carbon to deep sediments; and
molecular and nanoscale techniques to study particle dynamics and
microbial adhesion in engineered and natural systems; microbial adhesion and
transport.
Logan is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of
the International Water Association and the Water Environment Foundation. He
is an investigator with KAUST (Saudi Arabia) and the Franqui International
Chair at Ghent University (2013, Belgium); and a visiting professor at
Newcastle University (UK), Tsinghua University, Harbin Institute of
Technology, and Dalian University of Technology (China).
Link to his
full CV.
Renewable
and clean forms of energy are one of society's greatest needs. Even
more urgently, 2 billion people still lack adequate
sanitation and the economic means to afford it. The Logan lab
is working to address both of these human needs.
Energy costs are an important factor in wastewater treatment. In the
USA, for example, 5% of electricity we produce is used for the water
and wastewater infrastructure (all aspects, including pumping,
treatment, etc.), with 3% used for wastewater treatment alone. 
Producing hydrogen gas is possible at very high yields by
electrohydrogenesis, in a reactors that have various names including: a "bioelectrochemically assisted microbial reactor" or BEAMR; and microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) . These names are based on the idea is that fuel cells produce electricity, and electrolysis cells produce hydrogen.
Recently we have developed microbial reverse electrodialysis
cells (MRCs) that can make H
appe Professor:
