Hair hydrolysate functionalized cellulose nanocrystal based chitosan membrane to harness power from wastewater fed MFCs

Abstract

Chitosan (CS) is an environmentally benign polymer increasingly utilized to prepare low-cost proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) applications. In this work, hair hydrolysate functionalized CNCs have been utilized with CS matrix followed by cross-linking with epichlorohydrin to enhance the properties of neat chitosan for its application as Nafion-alternative membrane to harvest electricity from domestic wastewater fed MFC device for the first time. Characterizations reveals the structural interaction between the hair hydrolysate functionalized CNC and chitosan matrix resulting in higher antibacterial property with a low percentage of water uptake (60%) and swelling (26%) and higher ion conductivity (1.04 mS/cm). Maximum power density of 142.57 mW/m2 and maximum open circuit voltage of 769.58 mV is derived from real wastewater which is higher compared to previous literature. The results demonstrate the possibility of application of the new low-cost, sustainable PEM with enhanced properties for MFC and wastewater treatment in future.