Hydrogen production from macroalgae by simultaneous dark fermentation and microbial electrolysis cell with surface-modified stainless steel mesh cathode

Abstract

An affordable cathode material for microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) was synthesized via surface-modification of stainless steel mesh (SSM) by anodization. The anodization parameters, such as wire mesh size, temperature, applied voltage, operating time, were optimized. The surface-modified SSM (smSSM) exhibited porous surface and higher specific surface area. The as synthesized smSSMs were utilized as freestanding cathodes in a conventional microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) and a simultaneous dark fermentation and MEC process (sDFMEC). The H2 production in MEC and sDFMEC with smSSM as cathode was approximately 150% higher than that with SSM. The performance of smSSM was 67–75% of that of Pt/C. The sDFMEC with smSSM as cathode was stable for 12 cycles of fed-batch operation in 60 days. Overall, energy conversion from S. japonica by sDFMEC was as high as 23.4%.