scholarly journals INFLUENCE OF CARBON BASED ELECTRODES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE MICROBIAL FUEL CELL

Author(s):  
Omkar S Powar ◽  
Lakshminarayana Bhatta ◽  
Raghavendra Prasad ◽  
Krishna Venkatesh ◽  
A.V. Raghu

In this study electricity generation was evaluated in a two chambered microbial fuel cell. Performance of microbial fuel cells using two bacteria, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus coagulans and using three different electrodes namely graphite blocks, carbon cloth and graphite sheet was studied. The device was operated under anaerobic condition in the anode chamber and parameters were recorded for a period of 48 hours. The performance of MFC was analyzed by the measurement of open circuit voltage, polarization curves, impedance curves and cyclic voltammetry. Among different combinations of electrode tested, carbon cloth electrode produced high power density (80 mW/m2). Graphite block gave much high power compared to sheet. Finally, performance was compared with Shewanellaputrefaciens. The current study explores the applicability of carbon electrode for MFC applications.

Author(s):  
Jie Yang ◽  
Sasan Ghobadian ◽  
Reza Montazami ◽  
Nastaran Hashemi

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is a promising area in the field of renewable energy because of their capability to use the energy contained in wastewater, which has been previously an untapped source of power. Microscale MFCs are desirable for their small footprints, relatively high power density, fast start-up, and environmentally-friendly process. Microbial fuel cells employ microorganisms as the biocatalysts instead of metal catalysts, which are widely applied in conventional fuel cells. MFCs are capable of generating electricity as long as nutrition is provided. Miniature MFCs have faster power generation recovery than macroscale MFCs. Additionally, since power generation density is affected by the surface-to-volume ratio, miniature MFCs can facilitate higher power density. We have designed and fabricated a microscale microbial fuel cell with a volume of 4 μL in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) chamber. The anode and cathode chambers were separated by a proton exchange membrane. Carbon cloth was used for both the anode and the cathode. Shewanella Oneidensis MR-1 was chosen to be the electrogenic bacteria and was inoculated into the anode chamber. We employed Ferricyanide as the catholyte and introduced it into the cathode chamber with a constant flow rate of approximately 50 μL/hr. We used trypticase soy broth as the bacterial nutrition and added it into the anode chamber approximately every 15 hours once current dropped to base current. Using our miniature MFC, we were able to generate a maximum current of 4.62 μA.


2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 1900-1910 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Thepsuparungsikul ◽  
T. C. Ng ◽  
O. Lefebvre ◽  
H. Y. Ng

The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an innovative technology for producing electricity directly from biodegradable organic matter using bacteria. Among all the influenceable factors, anode materials play a crucial role in electricity generation. Recently, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have exhibited promising properties as electrode material due to their unique structural, and physical and chemical properties. In this study, the impacts of CNT types in CNT-based anodes were investigated to determine their effect on both efficiency of wastewater treatment and power generation. The CNTs, namely single-walled CNT with carboxyl group (SWCNT), multi-walled CNT with carboxyl group (MWCNT-COOH) and multi-walled CNT with hydroxyl group (MWCNT-OH) were used to fabricate CNT-based anodes by a filtration method. Overall, MWCNTs provided better results than SWCNTs, especially in the presence of the -OH groups. The highest power and treatment efficiencies in MFC were achieved with an anode made of MWCNT-OH filtered on Poreflon membrane; the open circuit voltage attained was 0.75 V and the maximum power density averaged 167 mW/m2, which was 130% higher than that obtained with plain carbon cloth. In addition, MWCNT-OH is more cost-effective, further suggesting its potential to replace plain carbon cloth generally used for the MFC anode.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 981-986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed E. Osman ◽  
Om-Kolthoum H. Khattab ◽  
Abo Elnasr A.A. ◽  
Abdel Basset S.

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) has great potential for azo dyes decolorization and electricity generation by using filamentous fungi as biocatalysts. In this study, Aspergillus niger and Trichoderma harzianum were inoculated in anode chamber of double-chamber MFC to decolorize azo dye acid black 172 with Potassium Ferricyanide in the cathode chamber. During MFC operations, Acid black 172 oxidized and produced a maximum open-circuit voltage of 890 mV, and maximum current density of 163 mA/m2 with an external resistance of 1000Ω. Also, variable parameters such as dye concentration, Co-substrate and dye as a sole carbon source were studied to improve microbial fuel cell performance.


RSC Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (73) ◽  
pp. 68827-68834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Praveena Gangadharan ◽  
Indumathi M. Nambi ◽  
Jaganathan Senthilnathan ◽  
Pavithra V. M.

In the present study, a low molecular heterocyclic aminopyrazine (Apy)–reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) hybrid coated carbon cloth (r-GO–Apy–CC) was employed as an active and stable bio-electro catalyst in a microbial fuel cell (MFC).


2011 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
pp. 1752-1757 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Belleville ◽  
P. J. Strong ◽  
P. H. Dare ◽  
D. J. Gapes

We describe the operation of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system operating on a synthetic wastewater (acetic acid), under conditions of increasing nitrogen limitation. Two MFCs were operated under feed conditions which spanned a range of TKN/COD values of 1.6–28 mg/g. Stable operation was observed in all cases, even when no ammoniacal nitrogen was added to the cell. Improved electrochemical performance (measured as power density, W/m2) was observed as nitrogen limitation was imposed on the cells. Even with no ammonium addition, continuous function of the cell was maintained, at levels consistent with operation at balanced nutrient supplementation. The work has implicated biological nitrogen fixation as a potential source of nitrogen within the MFC. Whilst this hypothesis has yet to be confirmed, the work highlights the opportunity for continuous operation of microbial fuel cells utilising wastewaters with extremely low nitrogen levels, present in pulp and paper, pharmaceutical and petrochemical industries. Further, the described increases in some of the electrochemical indices (e.g. power density) under application of nitrogen limitation may provide a new approach to increasing fuel cell performance. Finally, the lack of any need to add supplemental nitrogen to a MFC-based wastewater treatment technology holds potential for significant financial and environmental savings.


TECHNOLOGY ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 04 (02) ◽  
pp. 98-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niloofar Hashemi ◽  
Joshua M. Lackore ◽  
Farrokh Sharifi ◽  
Payton J. Goodrich ◽  
Megan L. Winchell ◽  
...  

Microbial fuel cells have gained popularity as a viable, environmentally friendly alternative for the production of energy. However, the challenges in miniaturizing the system for application in smaller devices as well as the short duration of operation have limited the application of these devices. Here, the capillary motion was employed to design a self-pumped paper-based microbial fuel cell operating under continuous flow condition. A proof-of-concept experiment ran approximately 5 days with no outside power or human interference required for the duration of operation. Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 was used to create a maximum current of 52.25 µA in a 52.5 µL paper-based microfluidic device. SEM images of the anode following the experiment showed biofilm formation on the carbon cloth electrode. The results showed a power density of approximately 25 W/m3 and proved unique capabilities of the paper-based microbial fuel cells to produce energy for an extended period of time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 6538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enas Taha Sayed ◽  
Hussain Alawadhi ◽  
Khaled Elsaid ◽  
A. G. Olabi ◽  
Maryam Adel Almakrani ◽  
...  

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an emerging method for extracting energy from wastewater. The power generated from such systems is low due to the sluggish electron transfer from the inside of the biocatalyst to the anode surface. One strategy for enhancing the electron transfer rate is anode modification. In this study, iron nanostructure was synthesized on a carbon cloth (CC) via a simple electroplating technique, and later investigated as a bio-anode in an MFC operated with real wastewater. The performance of an MFC with a nano-layer of iron was compared to that using bare CC. The results demonstrated that the open-circuit voltage increased from 600 mV in the case of bare CC to 800 mV in the case of the iron modified CC, showing a 33% increase in OCV. This increase in OCV can be credited to the decrease in the anode potential from 0.16 V vs. Ag/AgCl in the case of bare CC, to −0.01 V vs. Ag/AgCl in the case of the modified CC. The power output in the case of the modified electrode was 80 mW/m2—two times that of the MFC using the bare CC. Furthermore, the steady-state current in the case of the iron modified carbon cloth was two times that of the bare CC electrode. The improved performance was correlated to the enhanced electron transfer between the microorganisms and the iron-plated surface, along with the increase of the anode surface- as confirmed from the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and the surface morphology, respectively.


RSC Advances ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (33) ◽  
pp. 27993-27998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengmeng Liu ◽  
Minghua Zhou ◽  
Liang Ma ◽  
Huijia Yang ◽  
Yingying Zhao

The HN-C exhibited a high power density (1034 mW m−2), which was much higher than the macroporous carbon anode MFC (811 mW m−2) and mesoporous carbon anode MFC (678 mW m−2) and was 2.2-folds that of carbon cloth anode MFC (467 mW m−2).


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 5458
Author(s):  
Sameer Al-Asheh ◽  
Yousef Al-Assaf ◽  
Ahmed Aidan

A Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is a process in which a microorganism respires and captures the electrons that normally passes through the electron transport system of the organism and produces electricity. This work intends to present the different operating parameters affecting the efficiency of a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) process. To study the performance of the process, various materials for the cathode and anode rods with similar size and chape including, copper, aluminum, carbon cloth, steel and brass were considered to determine the combination that leads to the best results. Moreover, different oxidizing agents such as Copper Sulphate and Potassium Hexacyanoferrate were considered. Furthermore, the effects of shapes, sizes and distance between electrodes on the current and voltage were investigated. The power outputs between electrochemical and microbial cells were recorded. In addition, the power, whether expressed as voltage or current, was measured at different conditions and different cell combinations. The power is directly related to the area, volume of the bacterial solution and supplying air and stirring.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document