title: Effects of sulfide on microbial fuel cells with platinum and nitrogen-doped carbon powder cathodes.
abstract: Because of the advantages of low cost, good electrical conductivity and high oxidation resistance, nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC) materials have a potential to replace noble metals in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for wastewater treatment. In spite of a large volume of studies on NDC materials as catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction, the influence of sulfide on NDC materials has not yet been explicitly reported so far. In this communication, nitrogen-doped carbon powders (NDCP) were prepared by treating carbon powders in nitric acid under reflux condition. Sodium sulfide (Na(2)S) was added to the cathodic electrolyte to compare its effects on platinum (Pt) and NDCP cathodes. Cell voltages, power density and cathodic potentials were monitored without and with Na(2)S and after Na(2)S was removed. The maximum cell voltage of the MFCs with Pt cathode decreased by 10% in the presence of Na(2)S that did not change the performance of the MFC with NDCP cathode, and the maximum power density of the MFC with NDCP cathode was even 11.3% higher than that with Pt cathode (222.5 ± 8 mW m(-2) vs. 199.7 ± 4 mW m(-2)).
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China. Electronic address: yujief@hit.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yujie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Xinxin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pollution Processes and Environmental Criteria, Ministry of Education, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Urban and Environment Science, Northwest University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710127, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Youpeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Weihua
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne E1 7RU, UK.
authors.forename: S M Senthil
authors.initials: SMS
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China; Water Environment Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, 39-1 Hawolgokdong, Sungpook-ku, Seoul 136-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Hong
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, 73 Huanghe Road, Nangang District, Harbin 150090, China.
authors.forename: Nanqi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D002244:Carbon; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009584:Nitrogen; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010984:Platinum; D013440:Sulfides / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D013440:Sulfides; D010984:Platinum; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen; C033479:sodium sulfide