title: Percarbonate as a naturally buffering catholyte for microbial fuel cells.
abstract: Sustainable cathode development has been a challenge for the emerging microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology. This study presents a simple catholyte called sodium percarbonate to serve as a new type of electron acceptor for MFCs. Lab scale comparisons showed sodium percarbonate cathode obtained comparable power density (9.6W/m(3)) with traditional air-cathode and potassium ferricyanide, but percarbonate showed multiple additional benefits that no other catholyte had demonstrated. Percarbonate has a sustaining natural buffering capacity that can counter pH fluctuations seen in many other systems, and the peroxide produced prevents bio-fouling problems associated with air-cathodes. It is also safer to use and has the lowest cost among popular cathode options based on per mole of electron transferred, which makes it a good candidate for modular system scale up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States.
authors.forename: Casey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Forrestal
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States. Electronic address: jason.ren@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: Zhiyong Jason
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D002254:Carbonates / Q000737:chemistry*; D004566:Electrodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D004573:Electrolytes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D004735:Energy Transfer; D004866:Equipment Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008422:Materials Testing
chemical_list: D002254:Carbonates; D004573:Electrolytes; C034738:sodium percarbonate
keywords: Bioelectrochemical system; Cathode; Catholyte; Microbial fuel cell; Percarbonate