Air-breathing cathode self-powered supercapacitive microbial fuel cell with human urine as electrolyte
Air-breathing cathode self-powered supercapacitive microbial fuel cell with human urine as electrolyte
In this work, a membraneless microbial fuel cell (MFC) with an empty volume of 1.5 mL, fed continuously with hydrolysed urine, was tested in supercapacitive mode (SC-MFC). In order to enhance the power output, a double strategy was used: i) a double cathode was added leading to a decrease in the equivalent series resistance (ESR); ii) the apparent capacitance was boosted up by adding capacitive features on the anode electrode. Galvanostatic (GLV) discharges were performed at different discharge currents. The results showed that both strategies were successful obtaining a maximum power output of 1.59 ± 0.01 mW (1.06 ± 0.01 mW mL−1) at pulse time of 0.01 s and 0.57 ± 0.01 mW (0.38 ± 0.01 mW mL−1) at pulse time of 2 s. The highest energy delivered at ipulse equal to 2 mA was 3.3 ± 0.1 mJ. The best performing SC-MFCs were then connected in series and parallel and tested through GLV discharges. As the power output was similar, the connection in parallel allowed to roughly doubling the current produced. Durability tests over ≈5.6 days showed certain stability despite a light overall decrease.
Current/power pulses, Galvanostatic discharges, Human urine, Microbial fuel cell, Supercapacitive mode
Santoro, Carlo
03549f6d-d57f-4d79-8bae-2d9271aa7371
Walter, Xavier Alexis
67c83b61-76af-4e37-aec8-79ebc723b807
Soavi, Francesca
ebdd72f5-996d-44e9-a0ac-f29cf580a21e
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
1 September 2020
Santoro, Carlo
03549f6d-d57f-4d79-8bae-2d9271aa7371
Walter, Xavier Alexis
67c83b61-76af-4e37-aec8-79ebc723b807
Soavi, Francesca
ebdd72f5-996d-44e9-a0ac-f29cf580a21e
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
Santoro, Carlo, Walter, Xavier Alexis, Soavi, Francesca, Greenman, John and Ieropoulos, Ioannis
(2020)
Air-breathing cathode self-powered supercapacitive microbial fuel cell with human urine as electrolyte.
Electrochimica Acta, 353, [136530].
(doi:10.1016/j.electacta.2020.136530).
Abstract
In this work, a membraneless microbial fuel cell (MFC) with an empty volume of 1.5 mL, fed continuously with hydrolysed urine, was tested in supercapacitive mode (SC-MFC). In order to enhance the power output, a double strategy was used: i) a double cathode was added leading to a decrease in the equivalent series resistance (ESR); ii) the apparent capacitance was boosted up by adding capacitive features on the anode electrode. Galvanostatic (GLV) discharges were performed at different discharge currents. The results showed that both strategies were successful obtaining a maximum power output of 1.59 ± 0.01 mW (1.06 ± 0.01 mW mL−1) at pulse time of 0.01 s and 0.57 ± 0.01 mW (0.38 ± 0.01 mW mL−1) at pulse time of 2 s. The highest energy delivered at ipulse equal to 2 mA was 3.3 ± 0.1 mJ. The best performing SC-MFCs were then connected in series and parallel and tested through GLV discharges. As the power output was similar, the connection in parallel allowed to roughly doubling the current produced. Durability tests over ≈5.6 days showed certain stability despite a light overall decrease.
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Published date: 1 September 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
CS would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Bristol BioEnergy Centre QR (UWE internal fund) for funding certain aspects of this work. IAI and XAW would like to acknowledge the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (grant no. OPP1149065 ) for the support and for funding parts of this work. F.S. acknowledges the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment , Land and Sea of the Republic of Italy under the Italy South Africa Research Project (ISARP) 2018–2020 - Progetto di Grande Rilevanza.
Funding Information:
CS would like to acknowledge the financial support from the Bristol BioEnergy Centre QR (UWE internal fund) for funding certain aspects of this work. IAI and XAW would like to acknowledge the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (grant no. OPP1149065) for the support and for funding parts of this work. F.S. acknowledges the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment, Land and Sea of the Republic of Italy under the Italy South Africa Research Project (ISARP) 2018?2020 - Progetto di Grande Rilevanza.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s)
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Current/power pulses, Galvanostatic discharges, Human urine, Microbial fuel cell, Supercapacitive mode
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 453974
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/453974
ISSN: 0013-4686
PURE UUID: dc356cc5-4b33-48a2-bcbf-dd08751ede04
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Date deposited: 27 Jan 2022 17:30
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 02:12
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Author:
Carlo Santoro
Author:
Xavier Alexis Walter
Author:
Francesca Soavi
Author:
John Greenman
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