Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Electrochemical preparation and application of PANI/MWNT and PPy/MWNT composite anodes for anaerobic fluidized bed microbial fuel cell

  • Original Article
  • Published:
3 Biotech Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Polyaniline (PANI)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) and polypyrrole (PPy)/MWNT composite anodes were first prepared using electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV) method. FTIR and SEM spectra proved that PPy/MWNT and PANI/MWNT were successfully modified on graphite rods, meanwhile, the modified mechanism was also investigated. EIS tests indicated that the Rct values for unmodified anode, PANI/MWNT anode and PPy/MWNT anode were 226.20, 87.93 and 34.95 Ω, respectively, which meant that PPy/MWNT composite anode possessed best electrical conductivity compared with PANI/MWNT anode and unmodified anode. By using PPy/MWNT and PANI/MWNT modified anodes in AFBMFC, the maximum output power density improved by 65.13% and 45.59% compared to that of PPy anode and PANI anode, respectively. Meanwhile, the COD removal rates for the three anodes followed as PPy/MWNT anode > PANI/MWNT anode > PPy anode > PANI anode > unmodified anode.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amin MA, El-Rehim SSA, El-Sherbini EEF, Bayoumi RS (2007) The inhibition of low carbon steel corrosion in hydrochloric acid solutions by succinic acid part I. Weight loss, polarization, EIS, PZC, EDX and SEM studies. Electrochim Acta 52:3588–3600

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Cetiner S, Harakas H, Ciobanu R, Oarius M, Kaya NU, Unsal C, Kalaoglu F, Sarac AS (2010) Polymerization of pyrrole derivatives on polyacrylonitrile matrix, FTIR-ATR and dielectric spectroscopic characterization of composite thin films. Synth Met 160:1189–1196

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fan YZ, Sharbrough E, Liu H (2008) Quantification of the internal resistance distribution of microbial fuel cells. Environ Sci Technol 42:8101–8107

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fan MJ, Zhang W, Sun JY, Chen LL, Li PW, Chen YW, Zhu SM, Shen SB (2017) Different modified multi-walled carbon nanotube-based anodes to improve the performance of microbial fuel cells. Int J Hydrog Energy 42:22786–22795

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Filip J, Tkac J (2014) Is graphene worth using in biofuel cells? Electrochim Acta 136:340–354

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Forrest GA, Alexander AJ (2007) A model for the dependence of carbon nanotube length on acid oxidation time. J Phys Chem C 111:10792–10798

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hassan HH, Abdelghani E, Amin MA (2007) Inhibition of mild steel corrosion in hydrochloric acid solution by triazole derivatives. Electrochim Acta 52:6359–6366

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hou JX, Liu ZL, Zhang PY (2013) A new method for fabrication of graphene/polyaniline nanocomplex modified microbial fuel cell anodes. J Power Sources 224:139–144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huang LH, Li XF, Ren YP, Wang XH (2016) In-situ modified carbon cloth with polyaniline/graphene as anode to enhance performance of microbial fuel cell. Int J Hydrog Energy 41:11369–11379

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iroh JO, Wood GA (1997) Effect of electrolytes on the kinetics and mechanism of the electropolymerization of pyrrole onto carbon fibers. Eur Polym J 33:107–114

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kong WF, Guo QJ, Wang XY, Yue XH (2011) Electricity generation from wastewater using an anaerobic fluidized bed microbial fuel cell. Ind Eng Chem Res 50:12225–12232

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumar GG, Sarathi VGS, Nahm KS (2013) Recent advances and challenges in the anode architecture and their modifications for the applications of microbial fuel cells. Biosens Bioelectron 43:461–475

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li XH, Qian JS, Guo XG, Shi LW (2018) One-step electrochemically synthesized graphene oxide coated on polypyrrole nanowires as anode for microbial fuel cell. 3 Biotech 8:375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu HS, Song CJ, Zhang L, Zhang JJ, Wang HJ, Wilkinson DP (2006) A review of anode catalysis in the direct methanol fuel cell. J Power Sources 155:95–110

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Liu XW, Chen JJ, Huang YX, Sun XF, Sheng GP, Li DB, Xiong L, Zhang YY, Zhao F, Yu HQ (2014) Experimental and theoretical demonstrations for the mechanism behind enhanced microbial electron transfer by CNT network. Sci Rep 4:3732

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Logan BE, Hamelers B, Rozendal RA, Schrorder U, Keller J, Freguia S, Aelterman P, Verstraete W, Rabaey K (2006) Microbial fuel cells: methodology and technology. Environ Sci Technol 40:5181–5192

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mehdinia A, Ziaei E, Jabbari A (2014) Multi-walled carbon nanotube/SnO2, nanocomposite: a novel anode material for microbial fuel cells. Electrochim Acta 130:512–518

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Qiao Y, Li CM, Bao SJ, Bao QL (2007) Carbon nanotube/polyaniline composite as anode material for microbial fuel cells. J Power Sources 170:79–84

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Quraishi MA, Rawat J (2002) Corrosion inhibiting action of tetramethyl-dithia-octaaza-cyclotetradeca-hexaene (MTAH) on corrosion of mild steel in hot 20% sulfuric acid. Mater Chem Phys 77:43–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues PC, Cantao MP, Janissek P, Scarpa PCN, Mathias AL, Ramos LP, Gomes MAB (2002) Polyaniline/lignin blends: FTIR, MEV and electrochemical characterization. Eur Polym J 38:2213–2217

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rulkens W (2008) Sewage sludge as a biomass resource for the production of energy: overview and assessment of the various options. Energy Fuels 22:9–15

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shen Y, Zhao QD, Li XY, Yuan DL, Hou Y, Liu SM (2012) Enhanced visible-light induced degradation of benzene on Mg-ferrite/hematite/PANI nanospheres: in situ FTIR investigation. J Hazard Mater 241–242:472–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabaciarova J, Micusík M, Fedorko P, Omastova M (2015) Study of polypyrrole aging by XPS, FTIR and conductivity measurements. Polym Degrad Stabil 120:392–401

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thepsuparungsikul N, Ng TC, Lefebvre O, Ng HY (2014) Different types of carbon nanotube-based anodes to improve microbial fuel cell performance. Water Sci Technol 69:1900–1910

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang ZJ, Yuan JH, Li MY, Han DX, Zhang YJ, Shen YF, Niu L, Ivaska A (2007) Electropolymerization and catalysis of well-dispersed polyaniline/carbon nanotube/gold composite. J Electroanal Chem 599:121–126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wang XY, Yue XH, Guo QJ (2014) Production of electricity during wastewater treatment using fluidized-bed microbial fuel cell. Chem Eng Technol 37:703–708

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu SJ, Li H, Zhou XC, Liang P, Zhang XY, Jiang Y, Huang X (2016) A novel pilot-scale stacked microbial fuel cell for efficient electricity generation and wastewater treatment. Water Res 98:396–403

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan H, Deng L, Chen Y, Yuan Y (2016) MnO2/Polypyrrolre/MnO2 multi-walled-nanotube-modified anode for high-performance microbial fuel cell. Electrochim Acta 196:280–285

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang P, Liu J, Qu YP, Zhang J, Zhong YJ, Feng YJ (2017a) Enhanced performance of microbial fuel cell with a bacteria/multi-walled carbon nanotube hybrid biofilm. J Power Sources 361:318–325

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang WZ, Xie BZ, Yang LG, Liang DW, Zhu Y, Liu H (2017b) Brush-like polyaniline nanoarray modified anode for improvement of power output in microbial fuel cell. Bioresour Technol 233:291–295

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou M, Heinze J (1999) Electropolymerization of pyrrole and electrochemical study of polypyrrole. 2. Influence of acidity on the formation of polypyrrole and the multipathway mechanism. J Phys Chem B 103:8443–8450

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zou YJ, Xiang CL, Yang LN, Sun LX, Fen Xu, Cao Z (2008) A mediatorless microbial fuel cell using polypyrrole coated carbon nanotubes composite as anode material. Int J Hydrogen Energy 33:4856–4862

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors express their appreciation for the support of the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (ZR2013BM012).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, Shandong, China

    Yun Jia, Dong Ma & Xuyun Wang

Authors
  1. Yun Jia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dong Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xuyun Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xuyun Wang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jia, Y., Ma, D. & Wang, X. Electrochemical preparation and application of PANI/MWNT and PPy/MWNT composite anodes for anaerobic fluidized bed microbial fuel cell. 3 Biotech 10, 3 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-019-1950-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-019-1950-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation