Catalytic performance of nano-hybrid graphene and titanium dioxide modified cathodes fabricated with facile and green technique in microbial fuel cell

Progress in Natural Science: Materials International

M. Mashkour¹  M. Rahimnejad¹  S.M. Pourali¹  H. Ezoji¹  Ahmed ElMekawy²  Deepak Pant³ 

[1] Biofuel and Renewable Energy Research Center, Department of Chemical Engineering, Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, Babol, Iran;Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, University of Sadat City (USC), Sadat City, Egypt;Separation and Conversion Technologies, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, Mol 2400, Belgium;

关键词: Microbial fuel cell;    Cathode;    Graphite paste;    Titanium dioxide;    Graphene oxide;    Power density;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.pnsc.2017.11.003

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Finite resources of the world's fossil fuel give rise to the irresistible urge to explore alternative renewable energy routes such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The limited productivity is one of the main obstacles for MFC scalability. In this study, a dual-chamber MFC was assembled and equipped with fabricated modified cathodes with titanium dioxide (TiO2) or hybrid graphene (HG) which mainly improved the catalytic activity of the cathode. The graphite paste (GP) bare electrode was modified by both nanomaterials using a green and facile technique. The results showed that the modified cathodes resulted in a considerable improvement for the MFC performance, i.e., the power density reaching levels of 80 mW/m2 for GP-TiO2 and 220 mW/m2 for GP-HG compared to 30 mW/m2 for GP electrode. Additionally, the modified electrodes exhibited lower charge transfer resistance (Rct) compared to the bare electrode. Therefore, these modified electrodes, fabricated by an eco-friendly method, could be used as alternatives to the precious expensive metals like Pt.

【 授权许可】

Unknown