title: Effect of short-term alkaline intervention on the performance of buffer-free single-chamber microbial fuel cell.
abstract: Anolyte acidification is a drawback restricting the electricity generation performance of the buffer-free microbial fuel cells (MFC). In this paper, a small amount of alkali-treated anion exchange resin (AER) was placed in front of the anode in the KCl mediated single-chamber MFC to slowly release hydroxyl ions (OH-) and neutralize the H+ions that are generated by the anodic reaction in two running cycles. This short-term alkaline intervention to the KCl anolyte has promoted the proliferation of electroactive Geobacter sp. and enhanced the self-buffering capacity of the KCl-AER-MFC. The pH of the KCl anolyte in the KCl-AER-MFC increased and became more stable in each running cycle compared with that of the KCl-MFC after the short-term alkaline intervention. The maximum power density (Pmax) of the KCl-AER-MFC increased from 307.5mW·m-2to 542.8mW·m-2, slightly lower than that of the PBS-MFC (640.7mW·m-2). The coulombic efficiency (CE) of the KCl-AER-MFC increased from 54.1% to 61.2% which is already very close to that of the PBS-MFC (61.9%). The results in this paper indicate that short-term alkaline intervention to the anolyte is an effective strategy to further promote the performance of buffer-free MFCs.
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, Jiangsu Cooperative Innovation Center of Technology and Material of Water Treatment, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, Jiangsu Cooperative Innovation Center of Technology and Material of Water Treatment, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China. Electronic address: ypren@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yueping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, Jiangsu Cooperative Innovation Center of Technology and Material of Water Treatment, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China. Electronic address: xfli@jiangnan.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiufen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Anaerobic Biotechnology, Jiangsu Cooperative Innovation Center of Technology and Material of Water Treatment, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu 214122, China.
authors.forename: Xinhua
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000837:Anion Exchange Resins / Q000737:chemistry; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology; D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D002021:Buffers; D045302:Geobacter / Q000235:genetics; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006878:Hydroxides; D011189:Potassium Chloride / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000837:Anion Exchange Resins; D002021:Buffers; D006878:Hydroxides; D011189:Potassium Chloride; C031356:hydroxide ion
keywords: Anion exchange resin (AER); Buffer-free; Microbial fuel cell (MFC); Self-buffering