Fabrication of stainless steel mesh gas diffusion electrode for power generation in microbial fuel cell.
This study reports the fabrication of a new membrane electrode assembly by using stainless steel mesh (SSM) as raw material and its effectiveness as gas diffusion electrode (GDE) for electrochemical oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cell (MFC). Based on feeding glucose (0.5 g L(-1)) substrate to a single-chambered MFC, power generation using SSM-based GDE was increased with the decrease of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) content applied during fabrication, reaching the optimum power density of 951.6 mW m(-2) at 20% PTFE. Repeatable cell voltage of 0.51 V (external resistance of 400 Ω) and maximum power density of 951.6 mW m(-2) produced for the MFC with SSM-based GDE are comparable to that of 0.52 V and 972.6 mW m(-2), respectively obtained for the MFC containing typical carbon cloth (CC)-made GDE. Besides, Coulombic efficiency (CE) is found higher for GDE (SSM or CC) with membrane assembly than without, which results preliminarily from the mitigation of Coulombic loss being associated with oxygen diffusion and substrate crossover. This study demonstrates that with its good electrical conductivity and much lower cost, the SSM-made GDE suggests a promising alternative as efficient and more economically viable material to conventional typical carbon for power production from biomass in MFC.
State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, PR China. shijieyou@gmail.com
Shi-Jie
SJ
You
Xiu-Heng
XH
Wang
Jin-Na
JN
Zhang
Jing-Yuan
JY
Wang
Nan-Qi
NQ
Ren
Xiao-Bo
XB
Gong
D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D004058:Diffusion; D011211:Electric Power Supplies / Q000382:microbiology*; D004566:Electrodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D013193:Stainless Steel / Q000737:chemistry*
D005740:Gases; D013193:Stainless Steel