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Performance of an air-cathode microbial fuel cell under varied relative humidity conditions in the cathode chamber

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Abstract

The performance of an air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a cap arrangement was significantly affected by humidity conditions in the cathode. An MFC at a relative humidity (RH) of 88% produced a highest cell voltage of 0.42 V (600 Ω) compared to other operations at 50% (0.34 V) and 30% (0.29 V) RHs. During polarization analysis, MFC operation at 88% RH produced a maximum power density of 0.377 W/m2 (a current density of 1.5 A/m2), which was 1.8 and 2.9 times higher than with 50% and 30% RHs, respectively. Cyclic voltammogram analysis revealed a higher reduction current of − 0.073 A with 88% RH. Furthermore, no increase in dissolved oxygen concentration in the anode chamber was observed with 88% RH. This result suggests that control of humidity conditions in cathode chamber could maximize power generation from an air-cathode MFC.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by Grants from the National Research Foundation of Korea (nos. 2015R1D1A1A09059935; 2018R1A2B6001507).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1 Selocheon-dong, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, 446-701, Republic of Korea

      Mungyu Lee, Ramesh Kakarla & Booki Min

    2. School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Engineering, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Gwangju, 61005, Republic of Korea

      Mungyu Lee

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    1. Mungyu Lee
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    Correspondence to Booki Min.

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    Mungyu Lee and Ramesh Kakarla have contributed equally to this study.

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    Lee, M., Kakarla, R. & Min, B. Performance of an air-cathode microbial fuel cell under varied relative humidity conditions in the cathode chamber. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 42, 1247–1254 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-019-02122-9

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-019-02122-9

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