Study of the Use of Gas Diffusion Anode with Various Cathodes (Cu-Ag, Ni-Co, and Cu-B Alloys) in a Microbial Fuel Cell

Paweł P. Włodarczyk () and Barbara Włodarczyk ()
Additional contact information
Paweł P. Włodarczyk: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Opole, ul. Kominka 6a, 45-032 Opole, Poland
Barbara Włodarczyk: Institute of Environmental Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Opole, ul. Kominka 6a, 45-032 Opole, Poland

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: Advancing microbial fuel cell (MFC) technologies appears to be a crucial direction in bolstering wastewater treatment efforts. It ensures both energy recovery (bioelectricity production) and wastewater pre-treatment. One of the problems in the widespread use of MFCs is the generation of a small amount of electricity. Hence, a pivotal concern revolves around enhancing the efficiency of this process. One avenue of investigation in this realm involves the selection of electrode materials. In this research, a carbon-based gas diffusion electrode (GDE) was used as the anode of MFC. Whereas for the cathode, a copper mesh with various catalysts (Cu-B, Ni-Co, and Cu-Ag) was used. This research was conducted in glass MFCs with the sintered glass acting as a chamber separator. This research was conducted for various electrode systems (GDE/Cu-Ag, GDE/Ni-Co, and GDE/Cu-B). This study analyzed both the electrical parameters and chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction time. In each case (for each electrode system), bioelectricity production was achieved. This work shows that when GDE is used as the anode and Cu-B, Ni-Co and Cu-Ag alloys as the cathode, the most efficient system is the GDE/Cu-Ag system. It ensures the fastest start-up, the highest power density, and the shortest COD reduction time.

Keywords: bioelectricity; microbial fuel cell; MFC; electricity production; carbon-based electrode; environmental engineering; renewable energy sources; environment protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1636/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1636/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:7:p:1636-:d:1366296

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().