Polymer Composites for Fuel Cells

Abstract

In past years, the scientific community has been interested in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) technology because of its direct power production from organic waste via microbially catalyzed electrochemical processes. Firstly, a brief discussion about the components of MFC is presented. In addition to a detailed study of the literature and current advances in material synthesis, the effectiveness of carbon-polymer-based nanocomposites as anode and cathode materials for MFCs are deliberated in this chapter. The creation of nanocomposites with surface- and bulk-modified electrode materials has the potential to address MFCs’ primary drawback of poor power density. Polymers containing fluorine and nitrogen, like polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polyaniline (PANI), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyacrylamide (PAM), and polydopamine (PDA), have been considered as viable candidates for surface or bulk modification in the involvement of active redox species to improve cathodic effectiveness and biocompatibility. Efforts are now being undertaken to investigate optimal electrodes and dominant strains in order to reach practical applications. The relevance of modification methods and their effects on electrode design, biocompatibility, and longevity are discussed in order to increase overall MFC performances.