Microbial Fuel Cell Using a Novel Ionic-Liquid-Type Membrane-Cathode Assembly with Heterotrophic Anodic Denitrification for Slurry Treatment

Adrián Hernández-Fernández, Eduardo Iniesta-López, Yolanda Garrido, Ioannis A. Ieropoulos and Francisco J. Hernández-Fernández ()
Additional contact information
Adrián Hernández-Fernández: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia (UMU), Campus de Espinardo, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
Eduardo Iniesta-López: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia (UMU), Campus de Espinardo, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
Yolanda Garrido: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia (UMU), Campus de Espinardo, E-30100 Murcia, Spain
Ioannis A. Ieropoulos: Civil, Maritime & Environmental Engineering Department, University of Southampton, Bolderwood Campus, Southampton SO16 7QF, UK
Francisco J. Hernández-Fernández: Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Murcia (UMU), Campus de Espinardo, E-30100 Murcia, Spain

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 20, 1-18

Abstract: In this paper, microbial fuel cell technology with heterotrophic anodic denitrification, based on a new membrane-cathode assembly, was tested for slurry treatment and bioenergy production. Slurry is used due to its high chemical oxygen demand and a high content of nutrient compounds of nitrogen which can contaminate soil and water. The new membrane-cathode assembly systems were based on different ammonium and phosphonium cations combined with chloride, bistriflimide, phosphate, and phosphinate anions and a non-noble catalyst composed of copper and cobalt mixed-valence oxides. The influence of ionic liquids on the catalytic membrane was studied. The best membrane-cathode assembly was based on the ionic liquid catalyst [MTOA + ][Cl − ]-CoCu which achieved 65% of the energy reached with the Pt-Nafion ® system. The [MTOA + ][Cl − ]-CoCu system improved the water purification parameter, reducing the COD by up to 35%, the concentration of nitrates by up to 26%, and the organic nitrogen by up to 70% during the experiments. This novel membrane-cathode system allows for easier manufacturing, lower costs, and simpler catalysts than conventionally used in microbial fuel cells.

Keywords: microbial fuel cell; ionic liquid; copper oxides; cobalt oxides; denitrification; slurry treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/14817/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/20/14817/ (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:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:20:p:14817-:d:1258624

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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