title: Microbially-reduced graphene scaffolds to facilitate extracellular electron transfer in microbial fuel cells.
abstract: A one-pot method is exploited by adding graphene oxide (GO) and acetate into an microbial fuel cell (MFC) in which GO is microbially reduced, leading to in situ construction of a bacteria/graphene network in the anode. The obtained microbially reduced graphene (MRG) exhibits comparable conductivity and physical characteristics to the chemically reduced graphene. Electrochemical measurements reveal that the number of exoelectrogens involved in extracellular electron transfer (EET) to the solid electrode, increases due to the presence of graphene scaffolds, and the EET is facilitated in terms of electron transfer kinetics. As a result, the maximum power density of the MFC is enhanced by 32% (from 1440 to 1905 mW m(-2)) and the coulombic efficiency is improved by 80% (from 30 to 54%). The results demonstrate that the construction of the bacteria/graphene network is an effective alternative to improve the MFC performance.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Institute of Eco-Environmental and Soil Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Shungui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhuang
authors.forename: Yueqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D018441:Biofilms; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004583:Electrons; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism*; D006108:Graphite / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D006108:Graphite