Jocelyn Mathew
8th Grade, Fairmont Private School – Anaheim Hills Campus
Yorba Linda, CA
When Jocelyn visited New Orleans last summer with her family, they ended up spending time in Cancer Alley, an 85-mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge filled with around 200 petrochemical plants. “I heard from local activists and their heartbreaking stories about the impact of industrial pollution,” Jocelyn says. “This experience has determined me to work towards a future where everyone has access to clean water.” When she got home, she decided to work on new ways to purify wastewater and decided to improve Double Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells (DCMFCs), where microbes break down waste products and produce electricity and clean water in the process.
Optimizing Microbiologically Contaminated Wastewater Treatment Using Microbial Fuel Cells
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Project Background
In DCMFCs, bacteria in the anaerobic, oxygen-free anode section of the cell break down wastewater products and produce hydrogen ions. Those ions go to the cathode section, where they can combine with oxygen to produce clean water. “The anode is crucial as it produces bacteria and forms the biofilm, a structured community of cells,” Jocelyn explains. She tested different anode materials to determine which produced the most constant voltage over time. She built two DCMFCs out of large containers and compared anodes made of aluminum, zinc, iron and nickel over 120 hours each.
She expected aluminum to perform best, but to her surprise, zinc performed most consistently. Jocelyn expected that acidic wastewater might have caused her aluminum anodes to degrade and hopes to improve the aluminum anode to make “more efficient and sustainable practices in managing wastewater.”
Beyond the Project
Jocelyn has always loved science, but social anxiety held her back from getting too involved. She decided to face her fears and is now captain of her debate team and proud of her public speaking skills. She’s even used it to benefit others. “I based my Girl Scouts Silver Award project on Social Anxiety Disorder, educating over 100 students, teachers and parents,” she says. Jocelyn would like to become an environmental engineer “to find sustainable solutions for issues like water pollution.”
