A new design of membraneless microbial fuel cell: anode and cathode share the same self-stratified electrolyte of urine

Walter, X. A., Gajda, I., Forbes, S., Greenman, J. and Ieropoulos, I. A. (2015) A new design of membraneless microbial fuel cell: anode and cathode share the same self-stratified electrolyte of urine. Barchiesi, Chiara, Chianella, Michela and Cigolotti, Viviana (eds.) In Proceedings of the 6th European Fuel Cell - Piero Lunghi Conference, EFC 2015. ENEA. pp. 315-316 .

Abstract

Regardless of architecture, microbial fuel cell technology requires a plurality of units to achieve exploitable electrical power. This implies that each unit needs a simple design allowing the production of the needed multiplicity. Here, we present a novel design of two membraneless MFC stacks in which the anode and cathode share the same electrolyte. This design relies on the self-stratification of a liquid under the natural activity of the microbial consortia thriving in the system. Results showed that individual stacks reached a power density of ∼20 W.m³ at 390 mV under 40 Ω. Oxygen concentration showed that the oxycline was at 0.25-0.5 cm depth (total depth of 7.5 cm). Hence, oxygen was not the dominant electron acceptor in the liquid phase. In conclusion, this simple design of microbial fuel cell demonstrated that high power density was reached even if the anode and cathode shared the same electrolyte.

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Contributors

Author: I. A. Ieropoulos

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