Using crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol polymer membrane as a separator in the microbial fuel cell

doi:10.1007/s11783-013-0534-z

Front Envir Sci Eng

2014, Vol. 8

Issue (1) : 137-143 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-013-0534-z

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Using crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol polymer membrane as a separator in the microbial fuel cell

Yanping HOU¹, Kaiming LI², Haiping LUO¹, Guangli LIU¹(

), Renduo ZHANG¹, Bangyu QIN¹, Shanshan CHEN¹

1. The Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China; 2. South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Guangzhou 510655, China

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Abstract

Separator between anode and cathode is an essential part of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) and its property could significantly influence the system performance. In this study we used polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymer membrane crosslinked with sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) as a new separator for the MFC. The highest power density of 759±4 mW·m^-2 was obtained when MFC using the PVA membrane crosslinked with 15% of SSA due to its desirable proton conductivity (5.16 × 10^-2 S·cm^-1). The power density significantly increased to 1106±30?mW·m^-2 with a separator-electrode-assembly configuration, which was comparable with glass fiber (1170±46?mW·m^-2). The coulombic efficiencies of the MFCs with crosslinked PVA membranes ranged from 36.3% to 45.7% at a fix external resistance of 1000 ?. The crosslinked PVA membrane could be a promising alternative to separator materials for constructing practical MFC system.

Keywords microbial fuel cell crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) membrane separator material power generation coulombic efficiency

Corresponding Author(s): LIU Guangli,Email:liugl@mail.sysu.edu.cn

Issue Date: 01 February 2014

Cite this article:

Yanping HOU,Kaiming LI,Haiping LUO, et al. Using crosslinked polyvinyl alcohol polymer membrane as a separator in the microbial fuel cell[J]. Front Envir Sci Eng, 2014, 8(1): 137-143.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-013-0534-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2014/V8/I1/137

Fig.1 (a) Power densities and (b) electrode potentials (cathode, filled symbols; anode, open symbols) (vs. SCE) of the crosslinked PVA membranes with different amount of crosslinker SSA

Tab.1 Properties of crosslinked PVA membranes

Fig.2 (a) Comparison of power generation of PVA/SSA-15, GF1 and the MFC without a separator (NS) in separator-cathode (SC) and separator-electrode-assembly configuration (SEA); (b) electrode potentials as a function of current density (cathode, filled symbols; anode, open symbols) (vs. SCE)

Tab.2 Comparison of the performance of crosslinked PVA membranes with glass fiber and that without separator in separator-cathode and separator-electrode-assembly configuration

Fig.3 Coulombic efficiencies of different separators run at a fix external resistance of 1000Ω

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