Assessment of the Effects of Flow Rate and Ionic Strength on the Performance of an Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cell Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy

Doug Aaron, Costas Tsouris, Choo Y. Hamilton and Abhijeet P. Borole
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Doug Aaron: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Costas Tsouris: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
Choo Y. Hamilton: The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
Abhijeet P. Borole: BioSciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA

Energies, 2010, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Impedance changes of the anode, cathode and solution were examined for an air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) under varying conditions. An MFC inoculated with a pre-enriched microbial culture resulted in a startup time of less than ten days. Over this period, the anode impedance decreased below the cathode impedance, suggesting a cathode-limited power output. Increasing the anode flow rate did not impact the anode impedance significantly, but it decreased the cathode impedance by 65%. Increasing the anode-medium ionic strength also decreased the cathode impedance. These impedance results provide insight into electron and proton transport mechanisms and can be used to improve MFC performance.

Keywords: biofuel cell; internal resistances; electrogenic; anode impedance; capacitance (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: 2010
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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