Enhanced power production of microbial fuel cells by reducing the oxygen and nitrogen functional groups of carbon cloth anode

The physicochemical properties of anode material are important for the electron transfer of anode bacteria and electricity generation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this work, carbon cloth anode was pretreated with isopropanol, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) in order to reduce the anode functional groups. The influence of functional groups on the electrochemical properties of carbon cloth anode and power generation of MFCs was investigated. The anode pretreatments removed the surface sizing layer of carbon cloth and substantially reduced the contents of C‐O and pyridinic/pyrrolic N groups on the anode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry analyses of the biofilm‐matured anodes revealed an enhanced electrochemical electron transfer property because of the anode pretreatments. As compared with the untreated control (612 ± 6 mW m^?2), the maximum power density of an acetate‐fed single‐chamber MFC was increased by 26% (773 ± 5 mW m^?2) with the isopropanol treated anode. Additional treatment with H₂O₂ and NaOCl further increased the maximum power output to 844 ± 5 mW m^?2 and 831 ± 4 mWm^?2. A nearly inverse liner relationship was observed between the contents of C‐O and pyridinic/pyrrolic N groups on anodes and the anodic exchange current density and the power output of MFCs, indicating an adverse effect of these functional groups on the electricity production of anodes. Results from this study will further our understanding on the microbial interaction with carbon‐based electrodes and provide an important guidance for the modification of anode materials for MFCs in future studies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decorating anode with bamboo-like nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes for microbial fuel cells

Anode electrodes play a key role in generating electricity from microbial fuel cells (MFCs) because they directly affect microbial activities. This communication reports the preparation of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes with a bamboo-like nanostructure (Bamboo-NCNTs) by catalytic pyrolysis of ethylene diamine and application of the Bamboo-NCNTs as anode-modifying materials in MFCs. The Bamboo-NCNTs significantly improved performance of an MFC in current production and power output, and reduced internal resistance of the anode compared with conventional CNTs-modified and unmodified anodes. The improved performance could be attributed to the increased active sites induced by multiple joint structures and enhanced biocompatibility originated from nitrogen dopant.     

Polyaniline-MXene-coated carbon cloth as an anode for microbial fuel cells

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Anodes play an important role in the extracellular electron transfer (EET) process in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Herein, polyaniline modified...     

Electrospun carbon fiber mat with layered architecture for anode in microbial fuel cells

Layered carbon fiber mats have been prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile onto thin natural cellulose paper and subsequent carbonization. The layered carbon fiber mat has been proved to be a promising microbial fuel cell anode for high density layered biofilm propagation and high bioelectrocatalytic anodic current density.     

Melamine modified carbon felts anode with enhanced electrogenesis capacity toward microbial fuel cells

Surface electropositivity and low internal resistance are important factors to improve the anode performance in microbial fuel cells(MFCs). Nitrogen doping is an effective way for the modification of traditional carbon materials. In this work, heat treatment and melamine were used to modify carbon felts to enhance electrogenesis capacity of MFCs. The modified carbon felts were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), scanning electron microscope(SEM), atomic force microscopy(AFM)and malvern zeta potentiometer. Results show that the maximum power densities under heat treatment increase from 276.1 to 423.4 m W/m~2(700 °C) and 461.5 m W/m~2(1200 °C) and further increase to472.5 m W/m~2(700 °C) and 515.4 m W/m~2(1200 °C) with the co-carbonization modification of melamine.The heat treatment reduces the material resistivity, improves the zeta potential which is beneficial to microbial adsorption and electron transfer. The addition of melamine leads to the higher content of surface pyridinic and quaternary nitrogen and higher zeta potential. It is related to higher MFCs performance. Generally, the melamine modification at high temperature increases the feasibility of carbon felt as MFCs' s anode materials.     

化学修饰炭黑在微生物燃料电池中的生物产电行为

研究发现微生物燃料电池从启动到稳定运行的过程中往往存在一种现象,就是在高电流密度下,微生物燃料电池的输出电压会出现逆转,从而限制了微生物燃料电池的规模化应用,以及它在污废水处理、脱盐等方面的功能.
　　前期研究发现,微生物燃料电池的性能逆转现象与阳极材料的电容性能有关.电极材料的电容越大,越有利于微生物燃料电池的产电性能稳定,换言之,阳极材料电容不足导致产电性能逆转.但是超级电容活性炭的制作工艺繁琐,成本高,且导电性弱,不能满足微生物燃料电池的应用需求.炭黑的导电能力强、化学稳定性高、成本低,但作为微生物燃料电池的阳极则产生产电性能逆转现象.
　　化学修饰(如酸、碱活化或者添加具有赝电容性质的金属氧化物等)可以提高材料的电容性能.低温条件(80 oC)下,对低电容材料—炭黑进行HNO3和KOH的化学活化处理,并在此基础上,进一步用5%Fe3O4修饰,采用辊压工艺,以质量分数为60%的聚四氟乙烯乳液为粘结剂,制作微生物燃料电池的阳极,与空气阴极构建单室微生物燃料电池系统.采用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、比表面积测试、材料表面pH和X射线能量分析光谱(EDX)等手段表征炭黑活化前后的物理、化学性质;接触角润湿性测试表征活化前后电极表面的亲疏水性.电化学循环伏安法测试活化前后,电极的电子存储能力.
　　与蒸馏水的pH相比较,材料表面pH分析表明炭黑材料经化学活化处理后,其表面pH无明显变化; FTIR和EDX测试表明化学活化处理使得炭黑表面引入含O(N)官能团;吸附-脱附曲线分析表明化学活化后,炭黑的比表面积减小,微孔与介孔的体积比增加;接触角测试表明炭黑阳极活化处理后,电极表面亲水性增加;循环伏安测试证实,化学活化后的炭黑阳极电容得到0.1–0.8 F/cm2的增长.结合燃料电池的产电性能测试,发现只有当炭黑阳极电容不小于1.1 F/cm2时,微生物燃料电池的产电逆转现象才会消失.炭黑阳极的化学活化方法为微生物燃料电池的性能稳定提供了一种简便、低成本的方法.     

A novel mediator-polymer-modified anode for microbial fuel cells

A high-performance anode system based on a combination of mediator-polymer-modified graphite felt and bacteria capable of reducing extracellular materials shows significant potential for practical use in microbial fuel cells (MFCs).     

表面改性炭材料在微生物燃料电池中的应用(英)

研究了在空气阴极微生物燃料电池中修饰方法如硝酸处理和硝酸-氨水酸碱等对XC-72R作为阴极氧还原催化剂催化活性的影响,并且使用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)、Boehm滴定法和X射线光电子能谱(谱(XPS)等手段对催化剂进行了表征.FTIR测试证明硝酸处理可引入含氧基团氨水处理可引入含氮基团.另外,还测试了含有不同表面官能团的XC-72R对氧还原的活性,并将其作为阴极催化剂用在MFC中,测试了电池性能.实验表明,经酸碱修饰的XC-72R作为空气阴极MFC的催化剂具有很好的应用前景.     

Optimization of double chamber microbial fuel cell for domestic wastewater treatment and electricity production

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent a new approach for treating waste water along with electricity production. The present study addressed electricity production from domestic wastewater using a mediator-less double chamber MFC. The electricity production was monitored under different operational conditions for both summer and winter samples. Optimization of the anodic and cathodic chambers resulted in a maximal current of 0.784 and 0.645 mA with the maximal power intensity of 209 and 117 mW/m² in power duration of 24 h for the summer and winter samples, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the bacterial biofilm formation on the anode was denser for the summer sample than that when the winter sample was used, so was the total bacterial count. Therefore, samples taken during summer were considered better in electricity production and waste water treatment than those taken during winter basically because of the high microbial load during the hot season. In parallel, there was a decrease in both biological oxygen demand (BOD₅) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) values which reached 71.8% and 72.85%, respectively at the end of the operation process for the summer sample, while there was no evident decrease for the winter sample. Optimizing the operating conditions not only increased the potential of using domestic waste water in microbial fuel cells to produce electricity, but also improved the quality of the domestic waste water.     

阳极改性对单室微生物燃料电池性能的影响

构建了老龄垃圾渗滤液为底物的空气阴极型单室微生物燃料电池,以考察阳极不同改性方式对微生物燃料电池产电性能和对老龄垃圾渗滤液处理效果的影响。结果表明,碳毡阳极经过热处理、浓硝酸、酸性重铬酸钾、混酸的改性后,电池的最大输出功率密度分别提高了104%、241%、51%、181%,COD的去除率变化不大,但氨氮去除率分别增加了22.2%、21.8%、2.3%、47.3%。垃圾渗滤液pH值升高、电导率呈下降趋势。     

Single solid-oxide fuel cells with supporting ni-cermet anode

Single solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with a porous (36-41%) supporting Ni-cermet anode are manufactured and tested. The effect of the thickness of the supporting Ni-cermet anode on the electrochemical characteristics of single SOFCs is studied. It is shown that polarization losses on electrodes at the current density of 1.2 A/cm² increase by about 2 times from 0.13 to 0.25 V at an increase in the thickness of the supporting Ni-cermet anode from 0.40 to 1.27 mm. The impedance spectroscopy method is used to identify relaxation processes responsible for the behavior of the fuel cell anode and cathode. It is found that a significant percentage of polarization losses on the anode is due to transport limitations in fuel supply to the three-phase nickel/electrolyte/gas phase interface and removal of the reaction products away from it.     

阳极底物对微生物燃料电池处理秸秆水解物性能的影响

以双室微生物燃料电池为反应器,铁氰化钾为阴极液,研究污水处理厂活性污泥菌液和玉米秸秆水解液对MFC的产电性能的影响。结果表明,随着阳极中活性污泥菌液体积（1.5、3.0、4.5、6.0 mL）增加,MFC的产电量逐渐增加,当活性污泥的体积增加至7.5 mL时,产电量开始呈下降趋势;玉米秸秆水解液在底物中的浓度为0、10、15、20、30、40 g/L时,电池的稳定电压分别为54、157、248、208、170、146 mV。当阳极活性污泥菌液体积为6 mL、玉米秸秆水解液浓度为15 g/L时,微生物燃料电池的产电性能最佳,此时MFC的功率密度为54.6 mW/m²,内阻为496 Ω。同时,循环伏安曲线（C-V）和交流阻抗曲线（EIS）测试可知,MFC的电极过程由电荷传递和扩散过程共同控制,反应过程受电子传递控制。     

Multiwalled carbon nanotube supported PtRu for the anode of direct methanol fuel cells

The activity of the methanol oxidation reaction of a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-supported PtRu catalyst was investigated and compared with the Vulcan XC-72 carbon-supported catalyst. The PtRu nanoparticles with 1:1 and 7:3 atomic ratios (with similar PtRu loadings and morphological structures) were deposited both on the MWCNTs and on the carbon. Cyclicvoltammetry results demonstrated that the MWCNT-supported PtRu catalyst exhibited a higher mass activity (mA mg(-1) of PtRu) for the methanol oxidation reaction than the carbon-supported PtRu under the condition that both catalysts possess more or less the same PtRu loadings, particle sizes, dispersions, and electrochemical surface area. The direct methanol fuel cell performance test data showed that MWCNT-supported PtRu catalysts yielded about 35-39% higher power densities than the carbon-supported PtRu.     

Nickel-cermet anode for fuel cells with the LSGM electrolyte

The effect of some technological parameters (firing temperature, thickness of an interphase layer made of solid electrolyte Ce_0.82Gd_0.18O_1.91 (GDC), the GDC electrolyte amount in nickel-cermet) on the electrochemical and electric properties of a nickel-cermet (Ni-GDC) anode intended for fuel cells with the La_0.88Sr_0.12Ga_0.82Mg_0.18O_2.85 (LSGM) electrolyte is studied. The polarization resistance of such an electrode is shown to hardly depend on the thickness of the interphase layer (4.5–23.5 μm) and the GDC electrolyte amount in nickel-cermet and to increase with the anode firing temperature. It is established that the contact resistance is concentrated in cells with the developed nickel-cermet electrode at the GDC/LSGM interface. At a temperature of 700°C the developed anodes may ensure a current density of 1 A cm^?2 at an overvoltage of less than 100 mV when using both moist hydrogen and a methane-oxygen mixture as the fuel.     

Hollow carbon spheres with wide size distribution as anode catalyst support for direct methanol fuel cells

Hollow carbonaceous composites (HCCs) possessing sphere and hemisphere shape, which had wide size distribution between several tens of nanometers and several micrometers, were prepared through a facile hydrothermal method using glucose as carbon source with the assistance of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Pyrolysis of these hollow carbonaceous composites at 900 °C under nitrogen flow produced carbonized hollow carbon spheres (HCSs) without changing their structures. Platinum (Pt) was directly deposited on the surface of the HCSs by incipient wet method, using the NaBH₄ as the reductant. TEM, SEM, powder XRD and FT-IR were utilized to characterize all these samples. It was found that Pt nanoparticles were uniformly anchored on the outer and the inner surface of HCSs. The electrocatalytic properties of the Pt/HCS electrode for methanol oxidation have been investigated through cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. The Pt/HCS electrode showed significantly higher electrocatalytic activity and more stability for methanol oxidation compared with Pt supported carbon microspheres (Pt/CMs) and commercial carbon (Pt/XC-72) electrode. The excellent performance for the Pt/HCS might be attributed to the high dispersion of platinum catalysts and the particular hollow structure of HCSs.     

Nanostructured polyaniline-coated anode for improving microbial fuel cell power output

An approach for improving the power generation of a dual-chamber microbial fuel cell by using a nanostructured polyaniline (PANI)-modified glassy carbon anode was investigated. Modification of the glassy carbon anode was achieved by the electrochemical polymerisation of aniline in 1 M H₂SO₄ solution. The MFC reactor showed power densities of 0.082 mW cm^?2 and 0.031 mW cm^?2 for the nano- and microstructured PANI anode, respectively. The results from electron microscopy scanning confirmed formation of the nanostructured PANI film on the anode surface and the results from electrochemical experiments confirmed that the electrochemical activity of the anode was significantly enhanced after modification by nanostructured PANI. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopic results proved that the charge transfer would be facilitated after anode modification with nanostructured PANI.     

Improved performance of anode with iron/sulfur-modified graphite in microbial fuel cell

The paper reports the operation of a new-design microbial fuel cell using compost leachate as a substrate, oxygen/electrodeposited MnO_x cathode and a new-anode concept with graphite modified by an iron/sulfur solid chemical catalyst which almost eliminates the starting delay time and gives very high current and power densities, I ~ 25 A m^− 3 at P_max ~ 12 W m^− 3 or I ~ 3.8 A m^− 2 at P_max ~ 1.8 W m^− 2.     

Thermal behaviors of polyimide with plasma-modified carbon nanotubes

A series of plasma-modified carbon nanotubes with maleic anhydride (mCNT) based on polyimide (mCNT/PI) nanocomposites were prepared by a two-step method. The mCNT/PI nanocomposites exhibit excellent thermal properties owing to mCNT and its good dispersion in the polyimide matrix. The TEM patterns were proved to show dispersed behavior of mCNT in the PI matrix. By using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), thermogravimetric with infrared spectra (TGA-IR), we discuss the kinetic behavior during the degradation of nanocomposites. Then Ozawa and Kissinger's theorems were calculated based on the relationship between activation energy and mCNT content.     

Conductive artificial biofilm dramatically enhances bioelectricity production in Shewanella-inoculated microbial fuel cells

A new strategy of electrogen immobilization was developed to construct a conductive artificial biofilm (CAB) on an anode of a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The MFCs equipped with an optimized CAB exhibited an eleven fold increase in power output compared with natural biofilms.     

Pt-Ru supported on double-walled carbon nanotubes as high-performance anode catalysts for direct methanol fuel cells

Pt-Ru supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (single-walled nanotubes, double-walled nanotubes (DWNTs), and multi-walled nanotubes) catalysts are prepared by an ethylene glycol reduction method. Pt-Ru nanoparticles with a diameter of 2-3 nm and narrow particle size distributions are uniformly deposited onto the CNTs. A simple and fast filtration method followed by a hot-press film transfer is employed to prepare the anode catalyst layer on a Nafion membrane. The Pt-Ru/DWNTs catalyst shows the highest specific activity for methanol oxidation reaction in rotating disk electrode experiments and the highest performance as an anode catalyst in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) single cell tests. The DMFC single cell with Pt-Ru/DWNTs (50 wt %, 0.34 mg Pt-Ru/cm(2)) produces a 68% enhancement of power density, and at the same time, an 83% reduction of Pt-Ru electrode loading when compared to Pt-Ru/C (40 wt %, 2.0 mg Pt-Ru/cm(2)).