A Systematic Study of Separators in Air-Breathing Flat-Plate Microbial Fuel Cells—Part 1: Structure, Properties, and Performance Correlations

Sona Kazemi, Madjid Mohseni and Khalid Fatih
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Sona Kazemi: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
Madjid Mohseni: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
Khalid Fatih: National Research Council Canada, Vancouver, BC V6T 1W5, Canada

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 2, 1-18

Abstract: Passive air-breathing microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising technology for energy recovery from wastewater and their performance is highly dependent on characteristics of the separator that isolates the anaerobic anode from the air-breathing cathode. The goal of the present work is to systematically study the separator characteristics and its effect on the performance of passive air-breathing flat-plate MFCs (FPMFCs). This was performed through characterization of structure, properties, and performance correlations of eight separators in Part 1 of this work. Eight commercial separators were characterized, in non-inoculated and inoculated setups, and were examined in passive air-breathing FPMFCs with different electrode spacing. The results showed a decrease in the peak power density as the oxygen and ethanol mass transfer coefficients in the separators increased, due to the increase of mixed potentials especially at smaller electrode spacing. Increasing the electrode spacing was therefore desirable for the application of diaphragms. The highest peak power density was measured using Nafion ® 117 with minimal electrode spacing, whereas using Nafion ® 117 or Celgard ® with larger electrode spacing resulted in similar peak powers. Part 2 of this work focuses on numerical modelling of the FPMFCs based on mixed potential theory, implementing the experimental data from Part 1.

Keywords: flat-plate microbial fuel cell; passive air-breathing; separator; electrode spacing; crossover (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: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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