Abstract
A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising renewable energy option, which enables the effective and sustainable harvesting of electrical power due to bacterial activity and, at the same time, can also treat wastewater and utilise organic wastes or renewable biomass. However, the practical implementation of MFCs is limited and, therefore, it is important to improve their performance before they can be scaled up. The surface modification of anode material is one way to improve MFC performance by enhancing bacterial cell adhesion, cell viability and extracellular electron transfer. The modification of graphite felt (GF), used as an anode in MFCs, by electrochemical oxidation followed by the treatment with ethylenediamine or p-phenylenediamine in one-step short duration reactions with the aim of introducing amino groups on the surface of GF led to the enhancement of the overall performance characteristics of MFCs. The MFC with the anode from GF modified with p-phenylenediamine provided approx. 32% higher voltage than the control MFC with a bare GF anode, when electric circuits of the investigated MFCs were loaded with resistors of 659 Ω. Its surface power density was higher by approx. 1.75 times than that of the control. Decreasing temperature down to 0 °C resulted in just an approx. 30% reduction in voltage generated by the MFC with the anode from GF modified with p-phenylenediamine.
Highlights
Expectations of contemporary society for sustainable energy production and wastewater reclamation or effluent‘s return to the water cycle with minimal environmental issues have evolved over time [1]
Bare graphite felt (GF) as a control; GF modified with ethylenediamine (EDA); GF modified with p-phenylenediamine
Washed well with distilled water and still wet bare GF was oxidized electrochemically in H2 SO4 solution under flow-through mode with the aim of introducing oxygen-containing functional groups, which later would participate in the reaction with organic diamines and form amide -CO-NH- and ≡C-NH- bonds on the surface of GF
Summary
Expectations of contemporary society for sustainable energy production and wastewater reclamation or effluent‘s return to the water cycle with minimal environmental issues have evolved over time [1]. Wastewater treatment is seen as a sustainable process if sustainable innovations and technologies can be adopted Among these technical innovations and progressive developments, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) as an emerging technology that may serve customers in a variety of industry sectors are bringing new opportunities. Compatibility problems arise even when the anodic material selection and design is supposedly proper It is a major reason underlying the low efficiency in different microbial fuel cell prototypes and is still a primary setback for its practical applications
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