화학공학소재연구정보센터
Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology, Vol.90, No.3, 468-475, 2015
Passive air breathing flat-plate microbial fuel cell operation
BACKGROUNDHigh cost and ohmic loss are two issues that microbial fuel cells (MFC) face before becoming economically viable. To address the high cost and ohmic loss issues, a flat-plate MFC (FPMFC) configuration applying a passive air-breathing cathode and a three-dimensional anode was introduced. Electricity generation was examined in the FPMFC through operation in the presence and absence of a proton exchange membrane (PEM), and in batch and continuous modes. RESULTSContinuous operation of the FPMFC in the presence of a PEM favored power generation, mainly due to elimination of oxygen and biomass in the anode. Peak power density of 18 Wm(-3) was produced in the presence of a PEM (ohmic resistance 40 cm(2)), which was more than 5-fold higher than that with J-cloth. During batch operation, the power density increased and reached maximum in the third batch (18 W m(-3) at 60 A m(-3)). Greater stability was observed during continuous operation resulting in a 2.5-fold increase in peak power density (44 W m(-3) at 146 A m(-3)). CONCLUSIONThe passive air-breathing FPMFC showed promising performance, offering a more economically viable configuration than the conventional FPMFCs using active (air, ferricyanide, and ferric iron) cathodes. (c) 2014 Crown copyright. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology (c) 2014 Society of Chemical Industry