Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising devices for sustainable energy production, wastewater treatment and biosensors. Anode materials directly interact with electricigens and accept electrons between cells, playing an important role in determining the performance of MFCs. In this study, a novel carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposite film modified Indium-tin oxide (ITO) anode was fabricated through graft polymerization of PANI after the modification of γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) on ITO substrate, which was followed by layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembling of CNTs and PANI alternatively on its surface. (CNTs/PANI)n/APTES/ITO electrode with low charge transfer resistance showed better electrochemical behavior compared to the bare ITO electrode. Twelve layers of CNTs/PANI decorated ITO electrode with an optimal nanoporous network exhibited superior biocatalytic properties with a maximal current density of 6.98 µA/cm2, which is 26-fold higher than that of conventional ITO electrode in Shewanella loihica PV-4 bioelectrochemical system. MFCs with (CNTs/PANI)12/APTES/ITO as the anode harvested a maximum output power density of 34.51 mW/m2, which is 7.5-fold higher than that of the unmodified ITO electrode. These results demonstrate that (CNTs/PANI)12/APTES/ITO electrode has superior electrochemical and electrocatalytic properties compared to the bare ITO electrode, while the cellular toxicity of CNTs has an effect on the performance of MFC with (CNTs/PANI)n/APTES/ITO electrode.
Highlights
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are apparatus, which use electricigens as biocatalysts to harvest electrical energy from waste and biomass [1,2]
Indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrode displays no obvious redox waves, while a couple of well-formed redox peaks at the potentials ranging between −0.07 and 0.18 V is evident on (CNTs/PANI)n /APTES/ITO electrode
The results confirm the successful deposition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/PANI composite film on ITO electrode
Summary
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are apparatus, which use electricigens as biocatalysts to harvest electrical energy from waste and biomass [1,2]. Carbon nanotubes are promising materials for designing or modifying electrodes in MFCs to improve the power density of MFCs, which have been widely used as electrochemical filters and catalytic membranes for degradation of organic pollutants [12,13,14] due to their large surface area, high conductivity and direct electron transfer characteristics [11,15]. Graft polymerization together with self-assembling technology can design and functionalize the substrate surfaces by the required polymers in a precise and homogenous manner [31,32] This covalent binding of the grafted chains onto the surfaces of the materials avoids detachment of the chains and maintains the long-term chemical stability that is favorable for practical applications. The electrochemical and electricity generation performance of MFCs with (CNTs/PANI)n /APTES/ITO electrodes as anodes and Shewanella loihica PV-4 as electricigens in a single-chamber three-electrode electrochemical system and dual-chamber MFC were investigated
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