Abstract
The cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cell (MFC) plays a crucial role in scaling up. Activity of biomass-derived activated carbon catalysts with appropriate precursor selection in a natural clay membrane-based MFC of 250 mL was studied. The performance of scaled up MFC of 1.5 L capacity with two different configurations was monitored. Rod-shaped particles with slit-type pores and amorphous graphitic nature with a surface area of 800.37 m2/g was synthesized. The intrinsic doping of heteroatoms N and P in the catalyst was with atomic weight percentages of 4.5 and 3.5, respectively and the deconvolution of N1 spectra confirmed pyridinic N and graphitic N content of 17.3% and 34.1% validating its suitability as a cathode catalyst. Electrochemical characterization of the catalyst coated SS mesh electrode confirmed that a loading of 5 mg/cm2 rendered higher catalytic activity compared to bare SS mesh. The maximum power density in catalyst modified cell was 0.91 W/m3 compared to 0.02 W/m3 as obtained in a plain stainless steel electrode cell at a COD removal efficiency of 93.3%. Series, parallel, and parallel-series combinations of 6 cells showed a maximum voltage of 4.15 V when connected in series and a maximum power density of 1.54 W/m3 when connected in parallel. System with multielectrode assembly achieved better power and current density (0.84 W/m3 and 1.97 A/m3) than the mixed parallel series circuitry (0.7 W/m3 and 0.57 A/m3). These performance results confirm that the catalyst is effective in both stacked and hydraulically connected system.
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Abbreviations
- AC:
-
Activated carbon
- COD:
-
Chemical oxygen demand
- CV:
-
Cyclic voltammetry
- EIS:
-
Electrochemical impedance Spectroscopy
- MEA:
-
Membrane electrode assembly
- MFC:
-
Microbial fuel cell
- OCV:
-
Open circuit voltage
- ORR:
-
Oxygen reduction reaction
- PTFE:
-
Polytetrafluoroethylene
- SS:
-
Stainless steel
- XPS:
-
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
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The authors would like to acknowledge Nikitha Subran for her valuable contribution.
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Haribabu Krishnan—conceptualization; supervision; project administration; visualization; Karnapa Ajit—methodology; investigation; writing original draft; Juliana John—review and editing; investigation; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Ajit, K., John, J. & Krishnan, H. Synthesis and performance of a cathode catalyst derived from Bauhinia accuminata seed pods in single and stacked microbial fuel cell. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27845-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-27845-x