Proton Exchange Membrane Materials Research Articles

[Ce2(H2PO3)(C2O4)4](C6N2H16)·H3O·3H2O: A lanthanide phosphite-oxalate compound with high proton conductivity

A new cerium phosphite-oxalate, [Ce2(H2PO3)(C2O4)4](C6N2H16)·H3O·3H2O (1), was prepared under solvothermal condition using 1-ethylpiperazine as template. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction proves that compound 1 has a new three-dimensional (3D) structure constructed with CeO9 polyhedra, [C2O42−] ligands and [H2PO3−] groups. View along the b-axis, 1-ethylpiperazine cations and water molecules alternately located in the adjacent 12-ring channels. Impedance analysis shows that the proton conductivity of 1 is up to 9.17 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 75 °C and 98 % relative humidity (RH). Stability test reveals that proton conduction has good persistence at the highest temperature and humidity. This suggests that compound 1 possesses promising proton conductivity property, making it into a potential candidate material for proton exchange membranes.

Unraveling the nanostructures and self-assembly behavior of perfluorosulfonic acid in water/ethanol solvent: Effect of EW and side-chain chemistry

The perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers are key materials for proton exchange membranes (PEMs) and catalyst layers (CLs). Their morphology is profoundly influenced by the chain assembly behavior of PFSA in dispersions. Hence, we combine the characterization techniques of dynamic light scattering (DLS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) to study the nanostructures of PFSA dispersions, and provide a structure model for diverse PFSA ionomers in water/ethanol solvent. It is seen that PFSA ionomers self-assembly into a rod-like particle in dilute dispersion. As the concentration increases, the primary rod aggregates gradually assemble into a swollen- or Gaussian-network structure. Beyond this feature, we see that different PFSA ionomers show different nanostructures in dispersion. For the long-side-chain (LSC) PFSA ionomers, the 800-LSC PFSA tends to form monodisperse rod-like aggregates that is in a highly ordered arrangement with a rod diameter of 3.16 nm and a length of 28.72 nm. As the equivalent weight (EW) increases to 960, the poor solubility of the main chains in water/ethanol solvents leads to the “end-to-end” assemblies of the primary rod particles and dendritic secondary aggregates. The short-side-chain (SSC) PFSA ionomer that shares the same backbone with 960-LSC PFSA exhibit remarkable mono-dispersity and ordered arrangement of rod-like aggregates in water/ethanol solvents due to the strong electrostatic repulsion.

Supramolecular Modifying Nafion with Fluoroalkyl-Functionalized Polyoxometalate Nanoclusters for High-Selective Proton Conduction.

Fluoroalkyl-grafted polyoxometalate nanoclusters are used as supramolecular additives to precisely modify the ionic domains of Nafion, which can increase the proton conductivity and selectivity simultaneously. The resulting hybrid membranes show significantly enhanced power density in fuel cells and improved energy efficiency in vanadium flow batteries.

Supramolecular Modifying Nafion with Fluoroalkyl‐Functionalized Polyoxometalate Nanoclusters for High‐Selective Proton Conduction

Proton exchange membranes with high selectivity are urgently required in energy and electronic technologies. Nafion, a state‐of‐the‐art commercial proton exchange membrane material, faces significant challenges. It suffers from the permeation of undesirable substances, like hydrogen in fuel cells and vanadium ions in redox flow batteries, due to the unmatched sizes between its ionic domains (3~5 nm) and these substances. In this work, we present a supramolecular modification strategy that simultaneously enhances the proton conductivity and selectivity of Nafion. We employ fluoroalkyl‐grafted polyoxometalate (POMs) nanoclusters as supramolecular additives to modify Nafion via co‐assembly. These POMs can precisely and robustly decorate at Nafion ionic domains, with their fluoroalkyl chains anchoring into the perfluorinated matrix while their inorganic clusters stay in the ionic regions. The hybrid membranes, with continuous proton hopping sites and nanoscale steric hindrance offered by POMs, exhibit a 56% increase in proton conductivity and a 100% improvement in proton/vanadium selectivity. This leads to significantly enhanced power density and energy efficiency in fuel cells and vanadium flow batteries, respectively. These results underscore the intriguing potential of molecular cluster additives in improving the functions of ion‐conducting membranes.

Cellulose nanofiber-connected covalent organic framework nanosheets composite membrane for proton conduction

Covalent organic framework (COF) nanosheets have been considered as promising materials for proton exchange membranes (PEM) due to their orderly, adjustable pores and relatively improved membrane forming properties. Here, we introduced the one-dimensional sulfonated bacterial cellulose nanofibers (SBCNF), originating from coconut and binding TpBd-2SO3H nanosheets to prepare a series of SBCNF/TpBd-2SO3H composite membranes. The composite membranes present a typical layered structure due to the presence of SBCNF. Moreover, extensive hydrogen bond network is formed between the embedded TpBd-2SO3H nanosheets and SBCNF, which is beneficial for improving the proton conductivity and mechanical strength of the membrane. As a result, the composite membrane achieved a proton conductivity of 147.5 mS/cm at 80 °C, 100 %RH and a highest tensile strength of 88.49 MPa.

Robust and highly proton conductive COF composite membranes for fuel cell and electrochemical hydrogen compression

Robust and highly conductive proton exchange membrane (PEM) is the unremitting pursuit of numerous electrochemical energy technologies such as fuel cell and the emerging electrochemical hydrogen compression. Ionic covalent organic framework nanosheets (iCONs) with long-range ordered nanochannels and abundant ionic groups show substantial potential as next-generation PEM materials. However, it is challenging to assemble iCONs into membranes with both robustness and flexibility due to the electrostatic repulsion and rigid framework. Herein, we propose a hydrogen-bond binding strategy to fabricate sulfonic iCON (SCON) composite membranes by co-assembling tannic acid (TA) nanoaggregates and SCONs. The abundant and dynamically reversible hydrogen-bond interactions introduced by TA nanoaggregates establish effective linkage between SCONs and allow some restricted movements, endowing membranes with remarkably improved mechanical properties. The stacked SCONs construct long-range ordered nanochannels with well-arranged sulfonic groups in membranes, and the hydrogen-bond networks further facilitate the proton transport through Grotthuss mechanism. Consequently, TA/SCON composite membranes displays significantly enhanced tensile strength of 101.9 MPa, good flexibility and high proton conductivity of 490.1 mS cm−1 at 80 °C and 100 % RH simultaneously. This hydrogen-bond binding strategy offers a promising approach to fabricate robust and highly conductive PEMs for various proton-conducting applications.

Proton exchange membranes with functionalized sulfonimide and phosphonic acid groups for next-generation fuel cells operating at 120 °C

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) face a significant challenge when operating in high-temperature and low-humidity environments, the hydrocarbon-based polymers that are sulfonated or phosphonated can’t meet the demand for achieving high performance. Modifying perfluorosulfonyl fluoride (PFSF) through meticulous design of side-chain chemical structures and introducing functionalized sulfonimide and phosphonic acid groups. Membranes derived from a perfluorocarbon backbone and polyacid side chain structures exhibit distinct microphase separation. The sulfonimide group exhibits hyper-acidic properties, whereas the phosphonic acid group functions as proton acceptor and donor. These two groups work synergistically to establish a distinct proton transport channel. The robust adsorption between acidic functional groups and water molecules enhances the diffusion of water molecules, resulting in an increase in proton conductivity. Moreover, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the phosphonic acid group of the side chain has difficulty forming anhydrides. The prepared perfluorosulfonimide-phosphonic acid (PFSNPA) proton exchange membrane demonstrates an impressive conductivity of 263 mS·cm−1 at 120 °C. In H2/Air fuel cell tests, PFSNPA achieves an outstanding output power of 1076.1 mW·cm−2 at 120 °C and 40 % RH. This study introduces a new approach for designing and fabricating proton exchange membrane materials for high-temperature fuel cells.

Enhancing proton conduction of MOF-74(Co) by encapsulating NH3 molecules

The functional design of efficient and stable proton exchange membrane materials is an important research direction in the field of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this work, ammonia molecules were successfully encapsulated into the one-dimensional pores of MOF-74(Co) through fumigation with ammonia vapor. Alternating current (AC) impedance tests showed that the proton conductivity of NH3 modified NH3@ MOF-74(Co) reaches an impressive value of 6.8 × 10−3 S/cm, being 10000 times that of the pristine MOF-74(Co) at 98% relative humidity (RH) and 50 °C. Various and abundant hydrogen bonds can improve the proton conduction of NH3 modified compound. This strategy provides an efficient and convenient way to construct high proton conducting porous MOFs materials by attaching NH3 molecules.

Dimethylamine-tuned guanidinium arylphosphonate iHOFs and superprotonic conduction Nafion hybrid membranes for DMFCs

The fabrication of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) with excellent conductivity and low methanol permeability is critical but challenging for the further development of high-performance direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). In this work, two ionic hydrogen-bonded organic frameworks (iHOF-14 and iHOF-15) are obtained from 1,3,5-tris(4-phosphonophenyl)benzene and guanidine hydrochloride under the control of dimethylamine cations. Due to the abundant hydrogen bonding network, iHOF-14 and iHOF-15 exhibit good proton conductivity of over 10–2 S cm−1. In addition, we dope the iHOFs into Nafion matrix to get the PEMs with richer proton transport pathways and good methanol barrier properties. At 100 °C and 98 % RH, the conductivity of 9 %-iHOF-14/Nafion and 9 %-iHOF-15/Nafion reaches up to 1.53 × 10–1 and 1.78 × 10–1 S cm−1, respectively. The 72 h permeation experiment results show that the methanol permeability of the composite membranes is 73.7 % lower than that of the recast Nafion. The maximum power densities of hybrid membranes for DMFCs reach about 80 mW cm−2, which is 1.5 times higher compared to the recast Nafion. This work not only enriches the high proton conductivity of arylphosphonate iHOFs, but also expands iHOFs/Nafion PEMs materials for DMFCs.

A polybenzimidazole-covalent organic framework hybrid membrane with highly efficient proton-selective transport channels for vanadium redox flow battery

Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is considered as the one of the most promising materials for proton exchange membranes (PEMs) owing to its negligible crossover and outstanding chemical stability. However, the low proton conductivity of PBI membrane restricts its commercial application in vanadium flow battery (VFB). Herein, the PBI hybrid membranes with high proton conductivity were prepared by introducing crystalline covalent organic frameworks (TpPa and TpPa-SO3H (STpPa)). Owing to the highly ordered sub-nanometer pores within TpPa and STpPa, faster proton highway was constructed in the hybrid membrane. Meanwhile, the sulfonic acid groups introduced to STpPa further provided additional proton transport sites and vanadium permeation barriers to achieve high ion selectivity. Accordingly, the cell assembled with PBI hybrid membrane with 3% STpPa achieved superior voltage efficiency (95.22%–74.84%) and energy efficiency (91.38%–74.38%) at 40–240 mA cm−2, and exhibited superb electrochemical stability during 800 cycles at 160 mA cm−2. This work offers a facile and efficient strategy to construct high-performance PBI-based PEMs by incorporating functional porous materials, which has incredible prospect for use in VFBs.

Incorporating 2D porous organic polymer nanosheets into high-temperature proton-exchange membranes for low H3PO4 loss

Phosphoric acid (PA)-doped ion exchange membranes have been recognized as a classical high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HT-PEM) material. Nonetheless, the leaching of PA from membranes occurs progressively during operation, inevitably diminishing overall performance. In this study, we present a novel approach for crafting two-dimensional porous organic polymer nanosheets (NS-POPs) synthesized through nano-interfacial azo-coupling polymerization. The prepared NS-POPs possessed different pore structures with main pore sizes of 0.55 nm and 1.19 nm, which were derived from the discrepancy of monomer structure. Subsequently, the NS-POPs were successfully incorporated into polybenzimidazole to create mixed-matrix membranes due to the good interface compatibility, characterized by homogeneity and stability facilitated by the 2D nature of NS-POPs. As a comparison, POPs with non-2D properties prepared by the solution method cannot be successfully obtained in good MMMs due to poor dispersibility and interface compatibility. Furthermore, the profusion of pore structures and the presence of N/O-rich functional groups in NS-POPs significantly enhance their PA uptake capacity with up to 289 %, consequently boosting proton conductivity. As a result, the composite membrane doped with NS-POPs demonstrated a maximum conductivity of up to 143 mS cm−1 at 180 °C, which is approximately 2.97 times that of pure membrane. And the peak power density of H2/O2 fuel cell based on the composite membrane was 378 mW cm−2, which was higher than PBI. Most significantly, the confinement effect exerted by the small pores in NS-POPs enables composite membranes to maintain a higher PA retention of up to 74 % even after a 48 h of high-temperature and high-humidity treatment. Our study introduces an innovative and straightforward approach to synthesizing porous organic polymer nanosheets. This work not only advances the understanding of the impact of interface compatibility on composite membrane fabrication, but also establishes a versatile technology for modulating pore size and managing PA leaching in HT-PEMs.

Temperature‐dependent mechanical performance of Nafion® 212 proton exchange membrane under uniaxial and biaxial loading

AbstractThe degradation of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) can significantly affect the structural integrity and lifetime of fuel cells. This study investigates the effects of temperature, peak load, initial strain, and loading modes on the mechanical properties of Nafion® 212 PEM using an in‐situ biaxial testing system. The findings indicate that membrane creeping is positively correlated with temperature and peak loads. The stress relaxation rate increases with the increase of initial strain, and an increase in temperature also leads to an apparent decrease in the anti‐relaxation properties of Nafion® 212 membrane. Additionally, the mechanical properties of low‐cycle fatigue at various temperatures were explored under biaxial cyclic loading conditions. When the temperature is fixed, the membrane strain increases and gradually stabilizes with the rise of fatigue cycles. With an increase in temperature, the strain increases at a greater rate. The phase difference increases with temperature growth, and the “hysteresis” phenomenon of the strain becomes more pronounced, resulting in greater energy loss. These results provide valuable insights into the mechanical behavior of Nafion® 212 PEM under different conditions. And can inform the design and optimization of fuel cell systems and contribute to the development of more robust and durable PEM materials.

Ionic-Nanophase Hybridization of Nafion by Supramolecular Patching for Enhanced Proton Selectivity in Redox Flow Batteries.

Nafion, as the mostly used proton exchange membrane material in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), encounters serious vanadium permeation problems due to the large size difference between its anionic nanophase (3-5 nm) and cationic vanadium ions (∼0.6 nm). Bulk hybridization usually suppresses the vanadium permeation at the expense of proton conductivity since conventional additives tend to randomly agglomerate and damage the nanophase continuity from unsuitable sizes and intrinsic incompatibility. Here, we report the ionic-nanophase hybridization strategy of Nafion membranes by using fluorinated block copolymers (FBCs) and polyoxometalates (POMs) as supramolecular patching additives. The cooperative noncovalent interactions among Nafion, interfacial-active FBCs, and POMs can construct a 1 nm-shrunk ionic nanophase with abundant proton transport sites, preserved continuity, and efficient vanadium screeners, which leads to a comprehensive enhancement in proton conductivity, selectivity, and VRFB performance. These results demonstrate the intriguing potential of the supramolecular patching strategy in precisely tuning nanostructured electrolyte membranes for improved performance.

Development of High-Performance Polymer Electrolyte Membranes through the Application of Quantum Dot Coatings to Nafion Membranes

Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) generates oxygen and hydrogen at the anode and cathode, respectively, by conducting protons generated at the anode to the cathode through a proton exchange membrane (PEM). The performance of PEMWE can be improved with faster catalytic reactions at each electrode; thus, the development of a PEM with excellent ionic conductivity and physicochemical stability is essential. Nafion, a type of perfluoro-sulfonic acid polymer, is the most widely used PEM material. However, despite its excellent conductivity and chemical stability, it exhibits high hydrogen permeability due to its structural characteristics. Quantum dots (QDs) have a hydrophilic functional group that can act as an ion conductor and are extremely compatible with the hydrophilic cluster of Nafion due to their characteristic nanosized structure. In this study, various compositions of N-doped carbon quantum dots (CQDs) containing hydrophilic functional groups were coated on a Nafion-212 membrane. The resulting series of CQD-coated Nafion membranes exhibited improvements in morphology and ionic conductivity as well as reductions in hydrogen permeability. In particular, the Nafion membrane coated with 0.75 wt % of N-doped CQD (CQD-cNafion-0.75) exhibited improved mechanical properties and higher oxidation stability compared to Nafion-212. It also displayed higher ionic conductivity of 240.3 mS cm-1 at 80 °C and reduced hydrogen permeability (about 10% reduction) compared to Nafion-212. In addition, the performance of single-cell PEMWE using the CQD-cNafion-0.75 membrane was found to be approximately 1.2 times higher than Nafion-212.

New anhydrous proton exchange membranes based on polypyrrolone (PPy) for high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Polypyrrolone (PPy) possesses excellent heat resistance and mechanical properties, moreover, the N-heterocycle contained in the PPy allows the absorption of phosphoric acid (PA) for proton conduction. In the present work, PPy is synthesized by a two-step method and evaluated for the first time as the polymeric material for high temperature proton exchange membranes (HT-PEMs). The PA-doped PPy membrane reaches a peak power density of 582 mW cm−2 at 160 °C under fully anhydrous conditions, besides, the fuel cell exhibits excellent durability over a period of 300 h with a load voltage decay of only 0.032% per hour and remains 0.647 V after the test. Further, the PPy-impregnated polyimide (PI) nanofiber mat composite membrane (PI@PPy) with an optimal thickness is fabricated with enhanced dimensional stability, of which acid swelling ratio noticeably declined by 51% in area and 25% in volume. A higher peak power density (634 mW cm−2) and less cell voltage reduction is also observed in the composite membrane, benefits from the trade–off between proton conductivity and PA retention ability. The results of the present study may contribute to further studies on polypyrrolone-based HT-PEMs and composite membranes.

Recent Approaches to Achieve High Temperature Operation of Nafion Membranes

A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), as an efficient energy conversion device, has many advantages, such as high energy conversion efficiency and environmentally friendly zero emissions, and is expected to have great potential for addressing the uneven distribution of global green energy. As a core component, the performance of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) directly affects the overall output of the fuel cell system. At present, Nafion membranes with good, comprehensive properties are the most widely used commercial proton exchange membrane materials. However, Nafion membranes demonstrate a great inadaptability with an increase in operating temperatures, such as a rapid decay in proton conductivity. Therefore, enhancing the overall performance of Nafion membranes under high temperatures and low relative humidity (RH) has become an urgent problem. Although many efforts have been made to solve this problem, it is difficult to find the balance point between high-temperature conductivity and overall stability for researchers. In this paper, we summarize the recent approaches to improving the operating temperature of Nafion membranes from the following two perspectives: (1) using different materials for the modification of Nafion membranes, and (2) applying different modification methods to the Nafion membranes. Based on the structural and functional characteristics of Nafion, the non-destructive targeted filling of fillers and the efficient synergy of the two-phase region are two vital research directions for the preparation of high-performance composite membranes.

Molecular Dynamics Study on Swelling and Exfoliation Properties of Montmorillonite Nanosheets for Application as Proton Exchange Membranes

Existing proton exchange membranes have the disadvantages of low proton conductivity at high temperature, high cost, and poor barrier properties. Montmorillonite (MMT) materials have excellent thermal and chemical stability, and two-dimensional nanostructures formed by exfoliated MMT show excellent proton conductivity. Therefore, they are expected to become new proton exchange membrane materials. However, the existing exfoliation methods still lack a unified theoretical guidance. In this work, we systematically investigate the detailed swelling and exfoliation properties of MMT with different intercalation cations via extensive molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the swelling properties are determined by the hydration capacity of interlayer cations, and the exfoliation mainly occurs via a lateral sliding process between adjacent layers. The exfoliation energy barrier strongly depends on the interaction strength between interlayer cations and MMT nanosheets, swelling degree, and surface charge density. Lower interaction strength and a higher swelling degree together with larger surface charge density can result in an easy exfoliation process. Our work unveiled the detailed mechanism of the exfoliation process of MMT nanosheets and may contribute to the search for efficient MMT exfoliation methods.

Quaternary ammonium-biphosphate ion-pair based copolymers with continuous H+ transport channels for high-temperature proton exchange membrane

Phosphoric acid (PA)-doped polymer electrolyte membranes are the most promising materials for high-temperature proton exchange membranes (HT-PEMs). However, their development is subject to the compromise between proton conductivity and phosphoric acid (PA) doping level. Here, an ether-free QPAF-4 membrane (a copolymer containing perfluoroalkylene and fluorenyl groups with pendant ammonium groups) is directly doped with phosphoric acid and studied as HT-PEMs. Due to the intrinsic micro-phase separation structure of QPAF-4 matrix and strong interaction of quaternary ammonium (QA)-PA, the PA-doped membranes possess high proton conductivity and eminent PA retention at comparatively low PA doping level, respectively. The QPAF-4 membrane with 150% PA uptake (QPAF-4-150%PA) offers a proton conductivity of 52 mS cm−1 at 160 °C. As expected, the single cell with QPAF-4-150%PA membrane shows the maximum peak power density of 683 mW cm−2 at 160 °C under anhydrous condition. Meanwhile, the single cell exhibits excellent durability over a period of 60 h with only a slight reduction in voltage of 3.1%. These results indicate that the as-prepared PA-doped quaternized polymer with micro-phase separation structure seems to offer a promising way to develop performing and long-life HT-PEMs with low PA doping levels.

Performance and Durability of HT-PEMFC Enhanced By One-Step Electrochemical Exfoliated Phosphonated Graphene Oxide

The high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) conducts protons through the hydrogen bond network established by the polymer and phosphoric acid (PA), which reduces the dependence on humidity and allows its operating temperature to be higher than 100°C [1]. A higher operating temperature is conducive to improve catalyst activity, reducing carbon dioxide adsorption on the catalyst thus reducing the requirement for hydrogen purity, and convenient water management [2]. As the most widely commercialized HT-PEMFC proton exchange membrane material, the performance and durability of Polybenzimidazole (PBI) still need to be improved. In particular, it has insufficient proton conductivity, insufficient mechanical properties, and phosphoric acid leaching issues under high acid doping level [3] [4] [5].The doping of functionalized graphene oxide in the PBI membrane can build additional proton transfer channels, promote proton hopping and act as a trap for PA to reduce its leaching by virtue of abundant functional groups of functionalized GO [6] [7] [8]. Among the groups that can be used for functionalization, the phosphoric acid group has become one of the most promising due to its strong hydrogen bonding and water retention ability [9] [10] [11]. Phosphonated graphene oxide (PGO) is usually synthesized by further phosphonation of GO obtained by chemical exfoliation [6] [7]. Chemical exfoliation methods usually require the long-term action of strong acids and strong oxidants [12]. The safety and environmental issues caused by those methods can not be underestimated. And the two-step synthesis method of PGO has a long reaction period.This work achieved the rapid, safe, and large-yield production of electrochemically exfoliated PGO by using a 3D printed reactor, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate as the electrolyte and natural graphite flakes as the raw material. The two-step electrochemical exfoliation method of producing GIC with concentrated sulfuric acid as the first electrolyte is also used to synthesize electrochemical exfoliated (E)GO. 1.5wt% EGO or PGO was doped in the PBI membrane to explore the effect of different GO on the performance and durability of the PBI- membrane-based HT-PEMFC. Compared with pure PBI, the doping of EGO and PGO increases the peak power density of HT-PEMFC by 17.4% and 35.4%, respectively.[1] Y.-L. Ma, J.S. Wainright, M.H. Litt, R.F. Savinell, Journal of The Electrochemical Society 2004, 151, A8.[2] H. Su, S. Pasupathi, B. Bladergroen, V. Linkov, B.G. Pollet, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2013, 38, 11370.[3] S. Galbiati, A. Baricci, A. Casalegno, R. Marchesi, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2013, 38, 6469.[4] S.H. Eberhardt, F. Marone, M. Stampanoni, F.N. Büchi, T.J. Schmidt, Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 2014, 21, 1319.[5] Q. He, X. Yang, W. Chen, S. Mukerjee, B. Koel, S. Chen, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 2010, 12, 12544.[6] J. Yang, C. Liu, L. Gao, J. Wang, Y. Xu, R. He, RSC Advances 2015, 5, 101049.[7] C. Xu, Y. Cao, R. Kumar, X. Wu, X. Wang, K. Scott, Journal of Materials Chemistry 2011, 21, 11359.[8] Y. Cai, Z. Yue, S.X.-J. of A.P. Science, undefined 2017, Wiley Online Library 2017, 134, 44986.[9] E. Abouzari-Lotf, H. Ghassemi, A. Shockravi, T. Zawodzinski, D. Schiraldi, Polymer 2011, 52, 4709.[10] E. Abouzari-Lotf, M. Zakeri, M.M. Nasef, M. Miyake, P. Mozarmnia, N.A. Bazilah, N.F. Emelin, A. Ahmad, Journal of Power Sources 2019, 412, 238.[11] S. Some, I. Shackery, S.J. Kim, S.C. Jun, Chemistry - A European Journal 2015, 21, 15480.[12] C. Xu, Y. Cao, R. Kumar, X. Wu, X. Wang, K. Scott, Journal of Materials Chemistry 2011, 21, 11359.

Experimental Study of Power Generation and COD Removal Efficiency by Air Cathode Microbial Fuel Cell Using Shewanella baltica 20

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a kind of bioreactor for generating electricity, facilitated by exoelectrogens while treating wastewater. The present article focuses on the performance of an air cathode plexiglass MFC in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency and power output by performing two sets of experiments. The proton exchange membrane and electrode materials were Nafion 117 and carbon felts, whereas, for stable biofilm formation on the anode surface, a pure culture of Shewanella baltica 20 was used. Firstly, sterile Luria-Bertani (LB) media containing lactate, ranging from 20 to 100 mM, was continuously fed to an MFC, and a maximum power density of 55 mW/m2 was observed. Similarly, artificial wastewater with COD ranging from 3250 mg/L to 10,272 mg/L was supplied to the MFC in the second set of experiments. In this case, the maximum power density and COD removal efficiency were 12 mW/m2 and 57%, respectively. In both cases, the hydraulic retention time (HRT) was 1.5 h. It was found that electricity generation depends on the characteristics of the wastewater. These initial findings confirm that the design aspects of an MFC, i.e., surface area to volume ratio, and external resistance with respect to the quality of influent need to be optimised to improve the MFC’s performance.