Effect of polyaniline‐graphene nanosheets modified cathode on the performance of sediment microbial fuel cell

Abstract

BACKGROUND The limitation on output power is a great challenge for the practical application of sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFC). One of the effective strategies to overcome this problem is to develop better‐performing cathodes. RESULTS Polyaniline (PANI)‐graphene nanosheets (GNS) modified cathodes were fabricated and applied as the cathodes of SMFCs to improve their electricity generation capacity. PANI‐GNS cathodes were fabricated through situ‐polymerization of aniline in a solution containing homogeneously dispersed GNS. The mass ratio between aniline and GNS in the polymerized solution was the key factor controlling the properties of the modified cathode and the optimum ratio was 9:1. Because of the outstanding electrical conductivity of GNS, PANI‐GNS cathodes outperform the control (blank) and PANI cathodes. The PANI‐GNS0.1‐SMFC exhibited the highest output voltage of 640 mV, 5 times that of the blank SMFC; the maximum power density was improved from 0.85 mW m‐2 with the blank SMFC to 99 mW m‐2 of the optimal PANI‐GNS0.1‐SMFC. CONCLUSIONS This study provides a simple electrode modifying method to enable an as‐synthesized PANI‐GNS cathode to dramatically promote the performance of an SMFC. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry

Graphene Polymer Nanocomposites for Fuel Cells

“…The properties of modified cathode can be readily tuned by the mass ratio of aniline and GNS in the precursor solution and optimized performance was achieved at the ratio of 9:1. The addition of highly conductive GNS assisted PANI-GNS electrode to outperform the PANI electrode with the highest output voltage of 640 mV and maximum power density of 99 mW/m 2 , much higher than the blank MFC [76]. …”

“…Similar to other types of fuel cells, cathode is of vital importance for improving the electricity generation of MFCs [76]. Graphene-polymer conjugated nanocomposites were thoroughly investigated as cathode electrode for rapid power output of MFC, due to their remarkable electron transfer efficiency and fast oxygen reduction rate.…”

Graphene-based electrode materials for microbial fuel cells

“…Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) results revealed the diminished internal resistance for the PANI/GNS cathodes compared to the PANI cathode, with the PANI/GNS ratio of 9:1 being the most conductive electrode. Moreover, The PANI/GNS 0.1 -MFC exhibited the maximal power density of 99 mW m −2 due to the outstanding electrical conductivity, 116 times that of the blank MFC (0.85 mW m −2 ) [55]. PANI has been also used as an attractive precursor for synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon material.…”

Application of Graphene‐Based Materials to Improve Electrode Performance in Microbial Fuel Cells

“…PANI is one of the most widely used conductive polymers, and exhibits electrocatalytic activity toward the ORR. It has been demonstrated that the MFCs with a PANI-coated cathode generated more electrical energy than those without the PANI coating [43,49]. When PANI was doped with a certain amount of GNS to form a PANI-GNS cathode, the power density was further improved compared with the non-graphene-doped cathode electrode.…”

“…When PANI was doped with a certain amount of GNS to form a PANI-GNS cathode, the power density was further improved compared with the non-graphene-doped cathode electrode. The mass ratio between aniline and graphene was optimized to be 9 : 1 in order to achieve the highest maximum power density (0.10 W m −2 ) for this type of cathode electrode [43].…”