Sediment microbial fuel cell with floating biocathode for organic removal and energy recovery

doi:10.1007/s11783-011-0335-1

Front Envir Sci Eng

2012, Vol. 6

Issue (4) : 569-574 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-011-0335-1

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Sediment microbial fuel cell with floating biocathode for organic removal and energy recovery

Aijie WANG¹(

), Haoyi CHENG¹, Nanqi REN¹, Dan CUI¹, Na LIN¹, Weimin WU^1,2

1. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China; 2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4020, USA

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Abstract

A sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) with three dimensional floating biocathode (FBC) was developed for the electricity generation and biodegradation of sediment organic matter in order to avoid negative effect of dissolved oxygen (DO) depletion in aqueous environments on cathode performance and search cost-effective cathode materials. The biocathode was made from graphite granules with microbial attachment to replace platinum (Pt)-coated carbon paper cathode in a laboratory-scale SMFC (3 L in volume) filled with river sediment (organic content 49±4 g·kg^-1 dry weight). After start-up of 10 days, the maximum power density of 1.00W·m^-3 (based on anode volume) was achieved. The biocathode was better than carbon paper cathode catalyzed by Pt. The attached biofilm on cathode enhanced power generation significantly. The FBC enhanced SMFC performance further in the presence aeration. The SMFC was continuously operated for an over 120-day period. Power generation peaked within 24 days, declined gradually and stabilized at a level of 1/6 peak power output. At the end, the sediment organic matter content near the anode was removed by 29% and the total electricity generated was equal to 0.251 g of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removed.

Keywords microbial fuel cell (MFC) sediment biocathode electricity generation organic removal

Corresponding Author(s): WANG Aijie,Email:waj0578@hit.edu.cn

Issue Date: 01 August 2012

Cite this article:

Aijie WANG,Haoyi CHENG,Nanqi REN, et al. Sediment microbial fuel cell with floating biocathode for organic removal and energy recovery[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng, 2012, 6(4): 569-574.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-011-0335-1
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2012/V6/I4/569

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of the laboratory-scale sediment MFC with FBC

Fig.2 Current and electrode potential in SMFCs with FBC and CP-Pt

Fig.3 Scanning electron micrograph of biofilm on the surface of graphite granules taken from FBC 8 days after the circuit closed

Fig.4 Performance of SMFC with different cathodes and different conditions: (a) power density curve; (b) polarization curve of cathode. FBC-A: FBC with surface aeration; FBC-NA: FBC without surface aeration; FBC-B: FBC treated with bactericide; FC-NM: FC without attached biofilm; Pt-A: Pt-cathode with surface aeration

Tab.1 Sediment organic matter content (g·kg) in the SMFC with closed circuit and open circuit (control)

Fig.5 (a) Current generation with time in SMFC with FBC over 134 day period; (b) accumulated chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal based on the calculation from output current, assuming the columbic efficiency of 100%, during the operation

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