Enhancement in Cathodic Redox Reactions of Single-Chambered Microbial Fuel Cells with Castor Oil-Emitted Powder as Cathode Material

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) would be a standalone solution for clean, sustainable energy and rural electrification. It can be used in addition to wastewater treatment for bioelectricity generation. Materials chosen for the membrane and electrodes are of low cost with suitable conducting ions and electrical properties. The prime objective of the present work is to enhance redox reactions by using novel and low-cost cathode catalysts synthesized from waste castor oil. Synthesized graphene has been used as an anode, castor oil-emitted carbon powder serves as a cathode, and clay material acts as a membrane. Three single-chambered MFC modules developed were used in the current study, and continuous readings were recorded. The maximum voltage achieved was 0.36 V for a 100 mL mixture of domestic wastewater and cow dung for an anodic chamber of 200 mL. The maximum power density obtained was 7280 mW/m2. In addition, a performance test was evaluated for another MFC with inoculums slurry, and a maximum voltage of 0.78 V and power density of 34.4093 mW/m2 with an anodic chamber of 50 mL was reported. The present study’s findings show that such cathode catalysts can be a suitable option for practical applications of microbial fuel cells.

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Natural Wolframite Used as Cathode Photocatalyst for Improving the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app8122504 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (12) ◽

pp. 2504

Author(s):

Junxian Shi ◽

Anhuai Lu ◽

Haibin Chu ◽

Hongyu Wu ◽

Hongrui Ding

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Power Density ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Environmental Remediation ◽

Low Cost ◽

Reduction Process ◽

Maximum Power ◽

Maximum Power Density ◽

Graphite Cathode ◽

Vis Spectroscopy

Developing simple and cheap electrocatalysts or photocatalysts for cathodes to increase the oxygen reduction process is a key factor for better utilization of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Here, we report the investigation of natural wolframite employed as a low-cost cathode photocatalyst to improve the performance of MFCs. The semiconducting wolframite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. The band gap and photo respond activities were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), respectively. Compared with the normal graphite cathode, when MFCs were equipped with a wolframite-coated cathode, the maximum power density was increased from 41.47 mW·m−2 to 95.51 mW·m−2. Notably, the maximum power density further improved to 135.57 mW·m−2 under light irradiation, which was 2.4 times higher than with a graphite cathode. Our research demonstrated that natural wolframite, a low-cost and abundant natural semiconducting mineral, showed promise as an effective photocathode catalyst which has great potential applications related to utilizing natural minerals in MFCs and for environmental remediation by MFCs in the future.

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Influencia de la disminución de Iodo para la obtención de voltaje a partir de Celdas de Combustible Microbianas de bajo costo

Revista ECIPeru ◽

10.33017/reveciperu2018.0014/ ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 90-96

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Low Cost ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Operating Conditions ◽

Cesar Vallejo ◽

Anodic Chamber ◽

Residual Sludge ◽

Exchange Membrane

Influencia de la disminución de Iodo para la obtención de voltaje a partir de Celdas de Combustible Microbianas de bajo costo 1Segundo J. Rojas Flores, 2Luis M. Angelats Silva, 1Magaly De La Cruz Noriega, 1Mayli Jazmín León Castañeda, 1Royer Gonzales Rubio, 1Lucero Joo Jim, 1Magda R. Rodriguez Yupanqui. 1 Universidad Privada Cesar Vallejo, Av. Larco 1771, Víctor Larco Herrera, Trujillo, Perú 2 Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Laboratorio de Investigación Multidisciplinaria, Av. América Sur 3145, Trujillo, Perú Recibido el 8 de noviembre del 2018. Revisado el 8 de diciembre del 2018. Aceptado el 10 de diciembre del 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33017/RevECIPeru2018.0014/ Resumen Recientemente, se ha puesto gran atención a las celdas de combustible microbianas (CCM) debido a sus condiciones de operación moderadas y al uso de una variedad de sustratos biodegradables como combustible. Las celdas de combustible microbianas comunes consisten en una cámara anódica y una cámara catódica separadas por una membrana de intercambio protónico. Los microorganismos catabolizan activamente el sustrato generando bioelectricidad. Estas celdas se pueden utilizar como un generador de energía para biosensores, dando con esto una gran ventaja para aplicación en estos tipos de dispositivos. En este trabajo se presenta cedas de combustible microbianas, diseñadas a bajo costo, en las cuales se ha variado la concentración de lodo, el cual fue obtenido de las lagunas de oxidación de Covicorti, Trujillo- La Libertad. Los valores del voltaje promedio fueron reduciendo a medida que disminuye la concentración del lodo, desde valores cercanos a 507.8 a 244.1 mV. La conductividad en la cámara anódica estuvo alrededor de 14,5 a 7,75 µS/cm con un pH alrededor de 8,0. Mientras que en la carama catódica se encontró un pH alrededor de 7,5 y una turbidez entre 250 a 450 UNT; los valores de la intensidad de corriente y densidad de potencia también disminuyen con la disminución de lodo residual. Con este trabajó se trata de dar una nueva forma de fabricación de CCM de manera innovadora y económica. Descriptores: Celdas de combustible microbianas, microorganismos, ánodo, cátodo y voltaje. Abstract Recently, great attention has been given to microbial fuel cells (CCM) due to their moderate operating conditions and the use of a variety of biodegradable substrates as fuel. The common microbial fuel cells consist of an anodic chamber and a cathode chamber separated by a proton exchange membrane. The microorganisms actively catabolize the substrate generating bioelectricity. These cells can be used as an energy generator for biosensors, giving this a great advantage for application in these types of devices. This paper presents microbial fuel lines, designed at low cost, in which the concentration of sludge has been varied, which was obtained from the oxidation lagoons of Covicorti, Trujillo-La Libertad. The values of the average voltage were reduced as the concentration of the mud decreases, from values close to 507.8 to 244.1 mV. The conductivity in the anodic chamber was around 14.5 to 7.75 μS / cm with a pH around 8.0. While in the cathodic carame a pH around 7.5 and a turbidity between 250 to 450 NTU was found, the values of current intensity and power density also decrease with the reduction of residual sludge. With this work, it is about giving a new way of manufacturing CCM in an innovative and economical way. Keywords: Microbial fuel cells, microorganisms, anode, cathode and voltage.

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Sewage sludge-derived carbon-doped manganese as efficient cathode catalysts in microbial fuel cells

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2019.344 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 80 (8) ◽

pp. 1399-1406 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jingjing Huang ◽

Huajun Feng ◽

Yufeng Jia ◽

Dongsheng Shen ◽

Yingfeng Xu

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Sewage Sludge ◽

Power Density ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Scale Up ◽

Catalytic Performance ◽

Reduction Reaction ◽

Air Cathode ◽

Cathode Catalysts ◽

Co Doping

Abstract Searching for efficient and inexpensive catalysts to replace precious metal-based catalyst in air-cathode microbial fuel cells is crucial for the practical application and commercialization in wastewater treatment and energy generation. Here, through a simple pyrolysis process, sewage sludge could be converted into carbon material with hierarchically porous structure, which demonstrates oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic performance. Subsequently, co-doping Mn and N species on the carbonized sewage sludge matrix could further improve the ORR catalytic performance, which even demonstrates comparable performance to the commercial expensive Pt/C catalyst in air-cathode microbial fuels cells (MFC). The highest maximum power density of MFC with Mn-N/SC air-cathode is as high as 1,120 mW m−2, which is similar to the power density of the air-cathode MFC equipped commercialized Pt/C catalyst (1,240 mW m−2). Considering the simple operation, significant cost-saving and easy scale-up of the proposed ‘trash-to-treasure’ method, it is promising to convert harmful sewage sludge into efficient non-platinum cathode catalysts in microbial fuel cells.

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Metal organic frameworks as emergent oxygen-reducing cathode catalysts for microbial fuel cells: a review

International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology ◽

10.1007/s13762-021-03499-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

M. Priyadarshini ◽

A. Ahmad ◽

S. Das ◽

M. M. Ghangrekar

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Metal Organic Frameworks ◽

Cathode Catalysts ◽

Metal Organic

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Enhanced Power Extraction with Sediment Microbial Fuel Cells by Anode Alternation

Fuels ◽

10.3390/fuels2020010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 168-178

Author(s):

Marzia Quaglio ◽

Daniyal Ahmed ◽

Giulia Massaglia ◽

Adriano Sacco ◽

Valentina Margaria ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Harvesting ◽

Power Density ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Average Power ◽

Power Extraction ◽

Harvesting Technique ◽

Harvesting Method ◽

Energy Harvesting Devices ◽

Efficient Power

Sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) are energy harvesting devices where the anode is buried inside marine sediment, while the cathode stays in an aerobic environment on the surface of the water. To apply this SCMFC as a power source, it is crucial to have an efficient power management system, leading to development of an effective energy harvesting technique suitable for such biological devices. In this work, we demonstrate an effective method to improve power extraction with SMFCs based on anodes alternation. We have altered the setup of a traditional SMFC to include two anodes working with the same cathode. This setup is compared with a traditional setup (control) and a setup that undergoes intermittent energy harvesting, establishing the improvement of energy collection using the anodes alternation technique. Control SMFC produced an average power density of 6.3 mW/m2 and SMFC operating intermittently produced 8.1 mW/m2. On the other hand, SMFC operating using the anodes alternation technique produced an average power density of 23.5 mW/m2. These results indicate the utility of the proposed anodes alternation method over both the control and intermittent energy harvesting techniques. The Anode Alternation can also be viewed as an advancement of the intermittent energy harvesting method.

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Polyelectrolyte–single wall carbon nanotube composite as an effective cathode catalyst for air-cathode microbial fuel cells

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2014.416 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 70 (10) ◽

pp. 1610-1616 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Huanan Wu ◽

Min Lu ◽

Lin Guo ◽

Leonard Guan Hong Bay ◽

Zheng Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Oxygen Reduction ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Reduction Process ◽

Air Cathode ◽

Single Wall Carbon Nanotube ◽

Single Wall Carbon ◽

Cathode Catalysts ◽

Metal Free

Polyelectrolyte–single wall carbon nanotube (SCNT) composites are prepared by a solution-based method and used as metal-free cathode catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this study, two types of polyelectrolytes, polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDDA) and poly[bis(2-chloroethyl)ether-alt-1,3-bis[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]urea] (PEPU) are applied to decorate the SCNTs and the resulting catalysts exhibit remarkable catalytic ability toward ORR in MFC applications. The enhanced catalytic ability could be attributed to the positively charged quaternary ammonium sites of polyelectrolytes, which increase the oxygen affinity of SCNTs and reduce activation energy in the oxygen reduction process. It is also found that PEPU–SCNT composite-based MFCs show efficient performance with maximum power density of 270.1 mW m−2, comparable to MFCs with the benchmark Pt/C catalyst (375.3 mW m−2), while PDDA–SCNT composite-based MFCs produce 188.9 mW m−2. These results indicate that PEPU–SCNT and PDDA–SCNT catalysts are promising candidates as metal-free cathode catalysts for ORR in MFCs and could facilitate MFC scaling up and commercialization.

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