Abstract
Power generation of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) is a very important electrochemical parameter to consider particularly when the output has to be harvested for practical applications. This work studies the effect of cathode immersion on the performance of a self-stratified membraneless microbial fuel cell (SSM-MFC) fuelled with human urine. Four different electrolyte immersion heights, i.e. 14, 24, 34 and fully submerged were considered. The SSM-MFC performance improved with increased immersion up to 34. The output dropped drastically when the cathode was fully submerged with the conditions becoming fully anaerobic. SSM-MFC with 34 submerged cathode had a maximum power output of 3.0 mW followed by 2.4 mW, 2.0 mW, and 0.2 mW for the 24, 14 and fully submerged conditions. Durability tests were run on the best performing SSM-MFC with 34 cathode immersed and showed an additional increase in the electrochemical output by 17% from 3.0 mW to 3.5 mW. The analysis performed on the anode and cathode separately demonstrated the stability in the cathode behaviour and in parallel an improvement in the anodic performance during one month of investigation.
Highlights
Through the metabolic activity of anaerobic electro-active respiring microorganisms, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) converts reduced organic matter into electricity [1,2]
The selfstratified membraneless microbial fuel cell (SSM-MFC) were built around a 15 mm acrylic U-shaped core that was sandwiched between two 5 mm thick acrylic plates (Fig. 1)
The hypothesis being that the increase of the urine column height, implies more cathode surface area in contact with the liquid electrolyte, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) rate should be enhanced
Summary
Through the metabolic activity of anaerobic electro-active respiring microorganisms, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) converts reduced organic matter (i.e. chemical energy) into electricity [1,2]. In MFCs, microorganisms employ an anode, i.e. a solid electrode, as the terminal electron acceptor of their electroactive anaerobic [3]. This anaerobic respiration of organic matters releases smaller organic molecules, protons and CO2 into the electrolyte. The protons and electrons react through a reduction reaction with an oxidant, producing current (electrons flow). Several oxidants were considered for the cathode reduction reaction [4] but oxygen is preferred and the most used due to its intrinsic high reduction potential, naturally availability at practically no cost
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