title: Boosting current generation in microbial fuel cells by an order of magnitude by coating an ionic liquid polymer on carbon anodes.
abstract: Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have attracted great attentions due to their great application potentials, but the relatively low power densities of MFCs still hinder their widespread practical applications. Herein, we report that the current generation in MFCs can be boosted by an order of magnitude, simply by coating a hydrophilic and positively charged ionic liquid polymer (ILP) on carbon cloth (CC) or carbon felt (CF). The ILP coating not only can increase the bacterial loading capacity due to the electrostatic interactions between ILP and bacterial cells, but also can improve the mediated extracellular electron transfer between the electrode and the cytochrome proteins on the outer membrane of Shewanella putrefaciens cells. As a result, the maximum power density of a MFC equipped with the CF-ILP bioanode is as high as 4400±170mWm-2, which is amongst the highest values reported to date. This work demonstrates a new strategy for greatly boosting the current generation in MFCs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China.
authors.forename: Wenfang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China; State Key Laboratory of Powder Metallurgy, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China.
authors.forename: Youming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China. Electronic address: tanyueming0813@126.com.
authors.forename: Yueming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Traditional Chinese Medicine Research (Ministry of Education of China), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China.
authors.forename: Qingji
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xie
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry; D004560:Electricity; D004566:Electrodes; D004579:Electron Transport; D052578:Ionic Liquids / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D020614:Shewanella putrefaciens / Q000502:physiology*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D052578:Ionic Liquids; D011108:Polymers; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Bacterial loading capacity; Current generation; Extracellular electron transfer; Ionic liquid polymer; Microbial fuel cell