Performance enhancement of microbial fuel cell by applying transient-state regulation

Peng Liang, Changyong Zhang, Yong Jiang, Yanhong Bian, Helan Zhang, Xueliang Sun, Xufei Yang, Xiaoyuan Zhang and Xia Huang

Applied Energy, 2017, vol. 185, issue P1, 582-588

Abstract: A binder-free, pseudocapacitive anode was fabricated by coating reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and manganese oxide (MnO2) nanoparticles on stainless steel fibre felt (SS). Microbial fuel cell (MFC) equipped with this novel anode yielded a maximum power density of 1045mWm−2, 20 times higher than that of a similar MFC with a bare SS anode (46mWm−2). Transient-state regulation (TSR) was implemented to further improve the MFC’s power generation. The optimal TSR duty cycle ranged from 67% to 95%, and the MFC’s power density increased with TSR frequency. A maximum power density output of 1238mWm−2 was achieved at the TSR duty cycle of 75% and the frequency of 1Hz, 18.4% greater than that obtained from the steady state operation. The TSR mode delivered better MFC performance especially when the external resistance was small. Long-term operation tests revealed that the current density and power density yielded in the TSR mode were on average 15.0% and 32.7% greater than those in the steady state mode, respectively. The TSR mode was believed to reduce the internal resistance of the MFC while enhance substrate mass transfer and electron transfer within the anode matrix, thereby improving the MFC performance.

Keywords: Microbial fuel cell; Capacitive anode; Transient-state regulation; Steady-state operation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.10.130

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