3D printed components of microbial fuel cells: Towards monolithic microbial fuel cell fabrication using additive layer manufacturing

You, Jiseon; Preen, Richard J.; Bull, Larry; Greenman, John; Ieropoulos, Ioannis

doi:10.1016/j.seta.2016.11.006

Cited by 60 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Although the conductive PLA inserts used in this study were not used simply for expanding the size of anodes, it seems clear that the larger surface area of the conductive inserts contributed to the MFC power production. However, due to the relatively low conductivity of the filament material, it would be unlikely to replace the carbon fibre veil anode (You et al, 2017). 3-D printing structures that serve as both anodes and chassis will be an interesting avenue to explore in future work, in terms of additive layer manufacturing for scale-up.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The measured volume resistivity of 3-D printed conductive parts perpendicular to layers was 44 Ω·cm. See You et al (2017) for further information on commercially available 3-D printed filaments for MFC anodes and membranes. This conductive PLA based filament was chosen to provide conductive inner structure as well as to create different volumes, inner shapes, and hydrodynamics in each MFC unit's anodic chamber.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is particularly true for MFC cascade systems. In this respect, additive manufacturing technology, also known as 3-D printing, can be a very useful tool to test novel MFC architectures as well as electrodes and separators relatively quickly and easily (Ieropoulos et al, 2010b;Calignano et al, 2015;You et al, 2017). The design optimisation of individual MFC units will im-prove the individual performance, which results in performance enhancements to the whole system in terms of waste treatment efficiency and level of power output.…”

Section: Cascades Of Microbial Fuel Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design mining microbial fuel cell cascades

et al. 2018

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Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) perform wastewater treatment and electricity production through the conversion of organic matter using microorganisms. For practical applications, it has been suggested that greater efficiency can be achieved by arranging multiple MFC units into physical stacks in a cascade with feedstock flowing sequentially between units. In this paper, we investigate the use of computational intelligence to physically explore and optimise (potentially) heterogeneous MFC designs in a cascade, i.e. without simulation. Conductive structures are 3-D printed and inserted into the anodic chamber of each MFC unit, augmenting a carbon fibre veil anode and affecting the hydrodynamics, including the feedstock volume and hydraulic retention time, as well as providing unique habitats for microbial colonisation. We show that it is possible to use design mining to identify new conductive inserts that increase both the cascade power output and power density.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cascades Of Microbial Fuel Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Design mining microbial fuel cell cascades

et al. 2018

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“…Recently, You et al. fabricated a highly performed membrane from the Gel‐Lay and high surface area of anode by using FDM . The maximum power of 3D‐printed gel‐lay membrane and anode structure has been increased by 35% from the conventional CEM.…”

Section: Fuel Cell Advances Enabled By Am Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerating Fuel Cell Development with Additive Manufacturing Technologies: State of the Art, Opportunities and Challenges

et al. 2019

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In recent years, the use of additive manufacturing (AM) has been demonstrated in the fabrication of components in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), microbial fuel cell (MFC) and laminar flow-based fuel cell (LFFC). Various AM technologies have been successfully demonstrated in fuel cell manufacturing include material extrusion, powder bed fusion, vat photopolymerization and binder jetting. One of the unique advantages of AM is the ability to handle sophisticated design with features ranging from macro to micro scales, which are inaccessible by conventional manufacturing technologies. Well-designed complex 3D structures were reported to have the potential for increasing the performance of fuel cells. Therefore, AM presents itself as a promising fabrication method to promote the development of fuel cells. Besides, AM also showed its specialty in time-saving, flexibility, and on-demand manufacturability in the fabrication of fuel cell components. In spite of the prospects of AM in fuel cells, more studies and researches are required to overcome challenges, such as availability of material, manufacturing quality, and the costs. This review focuses on the advantages and applications of additive manufacturing that enable improvement in fuel cell performance. The critical challenges and directions for future development are also highlighted.

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“…The z-direction bottomto-top distance within each pitch is reduced to ~0. 1 . μm surfaces are performed using the alternative experimental setup with the translation stage.…”

Section: Pattern Printingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Thermal Studies of Three-Dimensional Printing Using Pulsed Laser Heating

Xiao¹,

Hong²,

Coleman³

et al. 2018

ES Mater.Manuf.

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Laser-based three-dimensional (3D) printing of polymers is a promising technology in fabricating complicated structures for applications in bioengineering, optics and molding. Infrared (IR) laser-assisted thermal curing printing technique offers high controllability by heating up the sample locally. Compared with other techniques like ultraviolet (UV) curing, IR laser-assisted thermal curing avoids yellowing issue, which is a common problem in UV curing. Accurate thermal simulations of the polymer curing processes under the laser heat is crucial to the design and improvement of the printing apparatus. In this work, a multi-physics simulation is carried out to predict the temperature rise and the curing extent profile of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) heated by a periodic, pulsed laser. The simulation incorporates the coupling between the local heating and the curing extent change. The cured spot sizes are provided for the given duty cycle and laser pulse period. The exothermic enthalpy of PDMS during the curing process is also measured to improve the simulation accuracy. The simulation results are validated with experiments using a pulsed 2 µm IR laser. This technique can control the polymer curing to achieve a minimum feature size of ~20 µm. Various patterns are fabricated to demonstrate the flexibility of this technique.

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3D printed components of microbial fuel cells: Towards monolithic microbial fuel cell fabrication using additive layer manufacturing

Cited by 60 publications

References 34 publications

Design mining microbial fuel cell cascades

Design mining microbial fuel cell cascades

Accelerating Fuel Cell Development with Additive Manufacturing Technologies: State of the Art, Opportunities and Challenges

Thermal Studies of Three-Dimensional Printing Using Pulsed Laser Heating

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