title: Long term testing of Microbial Fuel Cells: Comparison of different anode materials.
abstract: This paper focuses on the long term operation and testing of three Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) having three different anode materials: commercial carbon felt (C-FELT), polyaniline-deposited carbon felt (C-PANI) and carbon-coated Berl saddles (C-SADDLES). A mixed consortium from seawater was used as inoculum and acetate was used as substrate. Tests were conducted for four months under 1000Ω external load. The maximum power generation was obtained by C-SADDLES (102mWm(-2)) followed by C-FELT and C-PANI, respectively. A similar trend was obtained with the evaluation of electrical energy produced: C-SADDLES (2222J), C-PANI (2183J) and C-FELT (2114J). However, the performance of C-PANI decreased over time, most evidently due to degradation or deactivation of deposited polyaniline by the microorganisms' activity. These results provide evidence that the three-dimensional structure, C-SADDLES, offers excellent biocompatibility, high specific surface area, high conductivity and most importantly these properties are maintained for a long period of time.
authors.affiliation: Center for Sustainable Futures, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, C.so Trento 21, 10129 Torino, Italy; Applied Science and Technology Department, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Center for Sustainable Futures, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, C.so Trento 21, 10129 Torino, Italy. Electronic address: tonia.tommasi@iit.it.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tommasi
authors.affiliation: Applied Science and Technology Department, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy; Department of Applied Science and Technology, Environmental Management Laboratory, A.C. Tech, Anna University, Chennai 600025, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Velayutham
authors.affiliation: Applied Science and Technology Department, Politecnico di Torino, C.so Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ruggeri
mesh_terms: D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D000077482:Carbon Fiber; D004560:Electricity; D004566:Electrodes; D012996:Solutions; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D000077482:Carbon Fiber; D012996:Solutions; C416807:polyaniline; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Anode treatment; Continuous operation; Electrical energy; Marine environment; Three-dimensional material