title: A comparison of membranes and enrichment strategies for microbial fuel cells.
abstract: The external resistance is perhaps the easiest way to influence the operation of a microbial fuel cell (MFC). In this paper, three enrichment strategies, whereby the external resistance was fixed at: (1) a high value in order to maximize the cell voltage (U strategy); (2) a low value in order to maximize the current (I strategy); and (3) a value equal to the internal resistance of the MFC to maximize the power output (P strategy), were investigated. The I strategy resulted in increased maximum power generation and the likely reason is that electron transfer was facilitated under low external resistance, which in turn, favored the development of an electrochemically active biofilm. This experiment was conducted in a single-chamber MFC system equipped with a membrane electrode assembly, and a comparison of the performance achieved by five different membranes is also provided. Selemion was found to be a suitable alternative to Nafion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, 1 Engineering Drive 2, Singapore 117576, Singapore.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lefebvre
authors.forename: Yujia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Zi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uzabiaga
authors.forename: In Seop
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: How Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D004563:Electrochemistry; D008567:Membranes, Artificial
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial