Improved structures of stainless steel current collector increase power generation of microbial fuel cells by decreasing cathodic charge transfer impedance

Abstract

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an innovative environmental and energy system that converts organic wastewater into electrical energy. For practical implementation of MFC as a wastewater treatment process, a number of limitations need to be overcome. Improving cathodic performance is one of major challenges, and introduction of a current collector can be an easy and practical solution. In this study, three types of current collectors made of stainless steel (SS) were tested in a single-chamber cubic MFC. The three current collectors had different contact areas to the cathode (P 1.0 cm 2 ; PC 4.3 cm 2 ; PM 6.5 cm 2) and increasing the contacting area enhanced the power and current generations and coulombic and energy recoveries by mainly decreasing cathodic charge transfer impedance. Application of the SS mesh to the cathode (PM) improved maximum power density, optimum current density and maximum current density by 8.8%, 3.6% and 6.7%, respectively, comparing with P of no SS mesh. The SS mesh decreased cathodic polarization resistance by up to 16%, and cathodic charge transfer impedance by up to 39%, possibly because the SS mesh enhanced electron transport and oxygen reduction reaction. However, application of the SS mesh had little effect on ohmic impedance.

Simple and Precise Approach for Determination of Ohmic Contribution of Diaphragms in Alkaline Water Electrolysis

“…Additionally, the apparent similarity of corresponded ohmic resistance obtained for all samples, can be also explained, considering that ohmic resistance is contributed by several resistances: Electrode materials, electric contact, electrolyte, etc. [28], and for EIS-method, the same electrodes and electrolyte conditions were used.…”

Eksplorasi Substrat Single-Chamber Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cell Dengan Elektroda Stainless Steel Dan Karbon Aktif

“…Hal ini menunjukkan bahwa selain terdapat bakteri exoelectrogen di setiap substrat, elektroda di dalam reaktor juga mampu menghantar listrik. Elektroda yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini merupakan kombinasi antara dua bahan yang telah diketahui memiliki kemampuan untuk menghantarkan elektron, yaitu stainless steel mesh dan karbon aktif (Dumas et al, 2007;Guerrini et al, 2014;Masoudi et al, 2020;Nam et al, 2018;Peng et al, 2015;Sudirjo et al, 2019;Yamashita et al, 2016;Zhao et al, 2008).…”

Simultaneous Production of Bioethanol and Bioelectricity in a Membrane-Less Single-Chambered Yeast Fuel Cell by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia fermentans

“…A typical mediator less membrane less single chambered MFC was constructed using glass asks (with working volume 100 mL). Bow shaped Carbon bers (100 cm length, 7 mm diameter) were used as anode and circular stainless steel wire (as a mesh) (100 cm length, 0.05 mm diameter) as cathode (Nam et al 2018). Both the electrodes were sterilized with ethanol, rinsed with autoclaved distilled water, and treated under UV radiation for 20 min, then dried under aseptic conditions.…”