Water formation at the cathode and sodium recovery using Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs)
Water formation at the cathode and sodium recovery using Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs)
Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) utilise biodegradable carbon compounds in organic waste to generate electric current. The aim of this work was to enhance MFC performance by using low cost and catalyst (platinum)-free cathode materials. The results showed that the range of Pt-free cathodes including activated carbon, plain carbon fibre veil with and without microporous layer (MPL) in two-chamber MFCs generated power with simultaneous catholyte generation in the cathode chamber. This is the first time to report a clear catholyte formation on the cathode half cell, which was directly related to MFC power performance. The importance of this phenomenon may be attributed to the oxygen reduction reaction, water diffusion and electroosmotic drag. The synthesised catholyte in situ on the open-to-air cathode appeared to be sodium salts (9% w/v concentration), which was recovered from the anolyte feedstock containing sludge and sodium acetate. An overlooked benefit of catholyte formation and accumulation contributes greatly to the overall wastewater treatment, water recovery, bioremediation of salts and carbon capture.
Carbon veil cathodes, Electroosmotic drag, Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), Microporous layer (MPL), Wet scrubbing
187-194
Gajda, Iwona
943dd6bd-524b-4c7b-b794-dec5ee8014b7
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Melhuish, Chris
c52dcc8b-1e36-425e-80df-9d05d2b21893
Santoro, Carlo
03549f6d-d57f-4d79-8bae-2d9271aa7371
Li, Baikun
12bb227e-24b7-4c2e-bc6f-c29200d0aa4a
Cristiani, Pierangela
3cb7a0bc-6dd3-4514-ad96-60dc3578ce80
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
September 2014
Gajda, Iwona
943dd6bd-524b-4c7b-b794-dec5ee8014b7
Greenman, John
eb3d9b82-7cac-4442-9301-f34884ae4a16
Melhuish, Chris
c52dcc8b-1e36-425e-80df-9d05d2b21893
Santoro, Carlo
03549f6d-d57f-4d79-8bae-2d9271aa7371
Li, Baikun
12bb227e-24b7-4c2e-bc6f-c29200d0aa4a
Cristiani, Pierangela
3cb7a0bc-6dd3-4514-ad96-60dc3578ce80
Ieropoulos, Ioannis
6c580270-3e08-430a-9f49-7fbe869daf13
Gajda, Iwona, Greenman, John, Melhuish, Chris, Santoro, Carlo, Li, Baikun, Cristiani, Pierangela and Ieropoulos, Ioannis
(2014)
Water formation at the cathode and sodium recovery using Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs).
Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 7, .
(doi:10.1016/j.seta.2014.05.001).
Abstract
Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) utilise biodegradable carbon compounds in organic waste to generate electric current. The aim of this work was to enhance MFC performance by using low cost and catalyst (platinum)-free cathode materials. The results showed that the range of Pt-free cathodes including activated carbon, plain carbon fibre veil with and without microporous layer (MPL) in two-chamber MFCs generated power with simultaneous catholyte generation in the cathode chamber. This is the first time to report a clear catholyte formation on the cathode half cell, which was directly related to MFC power performance. The importance of this phenomenon may be attributed to the oxygen reduction reaction, water diffusion and electroosmotic drag. The synthesised catholyte in situ on the open-to-air cathode appeared to be sodium salts (9% w/v concentration), which was recovered from the anolyte feedstock containing sludge and sodium acetate. An overlooked benefit of catholyte formation and accumulation contributes greatly to the overall wastewater treatment, water recovery, bioremediation of salts and carbon capture.
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More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 June 2014
Published date: September 2014
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council – United Kingdom EPSRC CAF EP-I004653/1 and EP/L002132/1 . Authors would like to thank Dr. David Patton, Mr. Paul Bowdler from the University of the West of England and Dr. Christopher H. Woodall from the University of Bristol for the valuable expertise and analysis of the catholyte samples.
Keywords:
Carbon veil cathodes, Electroosmotic drag, Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), Microporous layer (MPL), Wet scrubbing
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 454607
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/454607
ISSN: 2213-1388
PURE UUID: b9fabe6d-bc86-4803-9889-b729b6cd8901
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Date deposited: 17 Feb 2022 17:36
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:04
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Contributors
Author:
Iwona Gajda
Author:
John Greenman
Author:
Chris Melhuish
Author:
Carlo Santoro
Author:
Baikun Li
Author:
Pierangela Cristiani
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