Strategies to Boost MFC Power By Supercapacitive Materials and Components

Abstract

The low cost, the intrinsic robustness, the low environmental impact combined with the potential integration with the current production processes are some of the strength points that are pushing the research on Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) since the last thirty years. Still, to become a technology capable of incisively change the water and energetic landscape critical issues, MFCs needs to be improved for power output and quality. Here we report about three main strategies to address this challenge: i) the enhancement of the oxygen redox reaction at the cathode in the circum-neutral pH environment of MFCs by PGM-free catalysts based on Manganese and/or Iron oxides prepared by fast autocombustion from nitrates and glycols; ii) the exploitation of the inherent capacitive behaviour of the metal (Fe, Mn) oxides cathodes, iii) the smart integration of MFCs with commercial supercapacitors properly sized and connected in order to match short recharge time and high power output. Acknowledgments The research has been carried out under the Italy-South Africa joint Research Programme 2018-2020 Italian Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Environment. References Malaie, Keyvan, et al. "Simple preparation of carbon–bimetal oxide nanospinels for high-performance bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts." New Journal of Chemistry 42.24 (2018): 20156-20162.Francesca Soavi, Keyvan Malaie and Mohammad Reza Ganjal, “Towards low-cost and sustainable supercapacitor electrode processing simultaneous carbon grafting and coating of mixed-valence metal oxides by fast annealing ”, Frontiers, Accepted manuscript