Carbon-Based Air-Breathing Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cells

Catalysts

John Greenman¹  Ioannis Ieropoulos¹  Irene Merino-Jimenez¹  Carlo Santoro²  Plamen Atanassov²  Santiago Rojas-Carbonell² 

[1] Bristol BioEnergy Centre, Bristol Robotics Laboratory, University of the West of England, Bristol, BS16 1QY, UK;Center for Micro-Engineered Materials (CMEM), Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA;

关键词: air-breathing cathode;    carbon electrodes;    microbial fuel cells;    oxygen reduction reaction;   

DOI  :  10.3390/catal6090127

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

A comparison between different carbon-based gas-diffusion air-breathing cathodes for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is presented in this work. A micro-porous layer (MPL) based on carbon black (CB) and an activated carbon (AC) layer were used as catalysts and applied on different supporting materials, including carbon cloth (CC), carbon felt (CF), and stainless steel (SS) forming cathode electrodes for MFCs treating urine. Rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) analyses were done on CB and AC to: (i) understand the kinetics of the carbonaceous catalysts; (ii) evaluate the hydrogen peroxide production; and (iii) estimate the electron transfer. CB and AC were then used to fabricate electrodes. Half-cell electrochemical analysis, as well as MFCs continuous power performance, have been monitored. Generally, the current generated was higher from the MFCs with AC electrodes compared to the MPL electrodes, showing an increase between 34% and 61% in power with the AC layer comparing to the MPL. When the MPL was used, the supporting material showed a slight effect in the power performance, being that the CF is more powerful than the CC and the SS. These differences also agree with the electrochemical analysis performed. However, the different supporting materials showed a bigger effect in the power density when the AC layer was used, being the SS the most efficient, with a power generation of 65.6 mW·m−2, followed by the CC (54 mW·m−2) and the CF (44 mW·m−2).

【 授权许可】

Unknown