title: Response of anodic biofilm and the performance of microbial fuel cells to different discharging current densities.
abstract: To better understand the responses of anodic biofilm and MFC performance, five identical MFCs started at 100Ω were operated with different discharging current densities (0.3, 1.6, 3.0, 3.6 and 4.8A/m2, denoted as MFC-0.3, MFC-1.6, MFC-3.0, MFC-3.6 and MFC-4.8, respectively). It was demonstrated that the discharging current would significantly influence biofilm development and MFC performance. Compared with the original MFC started at 100Ω, the performance of MFC-0.3 and MFC-1.6 decreased, whereas MFC-3.0 and MFC-3.6 exhibited improved maximum power densities. This was attributed to the reduced charge transfer resistance resulting from the increased active biomass after increasing discharging current. This indicated that the increasing discharging current could enhance active biomass and performance. However, a high discharging current density (4.8A/m2) caused the exfoliation of carbon particles from the carbon cloth and then the detachment of the anode biofilm, resulting in the cell failure of MFC-4.8.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, PR China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, PR China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, PR China.
authors.forename: Hejing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, PR China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, PR China.
authors.forename: Jili
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, PR China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, PR China. Electronic address: liangzhang@cqu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, PR China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, PR China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, PR China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, PR China.
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400030, PR China; Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liao
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D018441:Biofilms; D018533:Biomass; D004566:Electrodes; D013784:Textiles
keywords: Biofilm structure; Carbon corrosion; Discharging current; Microbial fuel cells; Performance response