Use of loofah electrodes coated with rice husk smoked charcoal and Japanese ink in a microbial fuel cell for muddy water treatment

Abstract

Recently, it has become increasingly difficult for many people to obtain fresh water. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have attracted attention as a technology that can simultaneously purify water and generate electricity. The challenge facing MFC is to fabricate inexpensive electrodes. In this study, electrodes made of loofah sponges coated with Japanese ink and rice husk smoked charcoal was developed and examined for use in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Japanese inks are mainly made from carbon black and are conductive. The MFC, which utilizes electrodes that are simply loofah coated with Japanese ink, decomposes organic matter in muddy water and obtains a power density of 0.30 μW/cm 2. However, coating the loofah with Japanese ink to which was added rice husk smoked charcoal doubled the decomposition of organic matter in the muddy water and improved the power density by about 5260%. Since rice husks are industrial waste and smoked carbonization increases their microbiological affinity, they can cheaply improve the performance of MFC as described above.