IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v9y2016i5p388-d70555.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cathode Assessment for Maximizing Current Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells Utilizing Bioethanol Effluent as Substrate

Author

Listed:
  • Guotao Sun

    (Center for BioProcess Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads 229, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark)

  • Anders Thygesen

    (Center for BioProcess Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads 229, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark)

  • Anne S. Meyer

    (Center for BioProcess Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads 229, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark)

Abstract

Implementation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for electricity production requires effective current generation from waste products via robust cathode reduction. Three cathode types using dissolved oxygen cathodes (DOCs), ferricyanide cathodes (FeCs) and air cathodes (AiCs) were therefore assessed using bioethanol effluent, containing 20.5 g/L xylose, 1.8 g/L arabinose and 2.5 g/L propionic acid. In each set-up the anode and cathode had an electrode surface area of 88 cm 2 , which was used for calculation of the current density. Electricity generation was evaluated by quantifying current responses to substrate loading rates and external resistance. At the lowest external resistance of 27 Ω and highest substrate loading rate of 2 g chemical oxygen demand (COD) per L·day, FeC-MFC generated highest average current density (1630 mA/m 2 ) followed by AiC-MFC (802 mA/m 2 ) and DOC-MFC (184 mA/m 2 ). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to determine the impedance of the cathodes. It was thereby confirmed that the FeC-MFC produced the highest current density with the lowest internal resistance for the cathode. However, in a setup using bioethanol effluent, the AiC-MFC was concluded to be the most sustainable option since it does not require ferricyanide. The data offer a new add-on option to the straw biorefinery by using bioethanol effluent for microbial electricity production.

Suggested Citation

  • Guotao Sun & Anders Thygesen & Anne S. Meyer, 2016. "Cathode Assessment for Maximizing Current Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells Utilizing Bioethanol Effluent as Substrate," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:5:p:388-:d:70555
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/5/388/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/5/388/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Leong, Jun Xing & Daud, Wan Ramli Wan & Ghasemi, Mostafa & Liew, Kien Ben & Ismail, Manal, 2013. "Ion exchange membranes as separators in microbial fuel cells for bioenergy conversion: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 575-587.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Renata Toczyłowska-Mamińska, 2020. "Wood-Based Panel Industry Wastewater Meets Microbial Fuel Cell Technology," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-8, March.
    2. Jafary, Tahereh & Daud, Wan Ramli Wan & Ghasemi, Mostafa & Kim, Byung Hong & Md Jahim, Jamaliah & Ismail, Manal & Lim, Swee Su, 2015. "Biocathode in microbial electrolysis cell; present status and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 23-33.
    3. He, Li & Du, Peng & Chen, Yizhong & Lu, Hongwei & Cheng, Xi & Chang, Bei & Wang, Zheng, 2017. "Advances in microbial fuel cells for wastewater treatment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 388-403.
    4. Wang, Lu & Wei, Yi-Ming & Brown, Marilyn A., 2017. "Global transition to low-carbon electricity: A bibliometric analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 57-68.
    5. Luo, Qizhao & Pei, Junxian & Yun, Panfeng & Hu, Xuejiao & Cao, Bin & Shan, Kunpeng & Tang, Bin & Huang, Kaiming & Chen, Aofei & Huang, Lu & Huang, Zhi & Jiang, Haifeng, 2023. "Simultaneous water production and electricity generation driven by synergistic temperature-salinity gradient in thermo-osmosis process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    6. Cano, Vitor & Cano, Julio & Nunes, Sabrina C. & Nolasco, Marcelo A., 2021. "Electricity generation influenced by nitrogen transformations in a microbial fuel cell: assessment of temperature and external resistance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Escapa, A. & Mateos, R. & Martínez, E.J. & Blanes, J., 2016. "Microbial electrolysis cells: An emerging technology for wastewater treatment and energy recovery. From laboratory to pilot plant and beyond," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 942-956.
    8. Oliot, Manon & Galier, Sylvain & Roux de Balmann, Hélène & Bergel, Alain, 2016. "Ion transport in microbial fuel cells: Key roles, theory and critical review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1682-1704.
    9. Chen, Xueye & Li, Tiechuan & Shen, Jienan & Hu, Zengliang, 2017. "From structures, packaging to application: A system-level review for micro direct methanol fuel cell," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 669-678.
    10. Shabani, Mehri & Younesi, Habibollah & Pontié, Maxime & Rahimpour, Ahmad & Rahimnejad, Mostafa & Guo, Hanxiao & Szymczyk, Anthony, 2021. "Enhancement of microbial fuel cell efficiency by incorporation of graphene oxide and functionalized graphene oxide in sulfonated polyethersulfone membrane," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 788-801.
    11. N. Evelin Paucar & Chikashi Sato, 2022. "An Overview of Microbial Fuel Cells within Constructed Wetland for Simultaneous Nutrient Removal and Power Generation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-30, September.
    12. Toczyłowska-Mamińska, Renata, 2017. "Limits and perspectives of pulp and paper industry wastewater treatment – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 764-772.
    13. Saba, Beenish & Christy, Ann D. & Yu, Zhongtang & Co, Anne C., 2017. "Sustainable power generation from bacterio-algal microbial fuel cells (MFCs): An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 75-84.
    14. Kumar, Ravinder & Singh, Lakhveer & Zularisam, A.W., 2016. "Exoelectrogens: Recent advances in molecular drivers involved in extracellular electron transfer and strategies used to improve it for microbial fuel cell applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1322-1336.
    15. Zinadini, S. & Zinatizadeh, A.A. & Rahimi, M. & Vatanpour, V. & Bahrami, K., 2017. "Energy recovery and hygienic water production from wastewater using an innovative integrated microbial fuel cell–membrane separation process," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1350-1362.
    16. Sugumar, Moogambigai & Dharmalingam, Sangeetha, 2022. "Statistical assessment of operational parameters using optimized sulphonated titanium nanotubes incorporated sulphonated polystyrene ethylene butylene polystyrene nanocomposite membrane for efficient ," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:5:p:388-:d:70555. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.