Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.92, No.4, 610-614, 2014
The Role of Electrode Material in Capturing Power Generated in Pseudomonas Catalysed Fuel Cells
High efficiency electrodes (e.g. metal coated, carbon-polymer composites and noble-metal catalyst, etc.) used in conventional fuel cells are commercially available; however they are not being used in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). These electrodes are not biocompatible and more susceptible to catalyst poisoning when industrial effluents/aquatic sediments are used as a fuel. There is a need for unique electrode materials for MFCs that should be highly conductive material with enhanced active surface area, cheap, easy to process, biocompatible and scalable. In this study, the performance of mediator-less microbial fuel cells (MFC) using Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a biocatalyst using different electrodes such as graphite blocks, carbon cloth, carbon fibre reinforced plate and graphite sheet was evaluated. Different metal salt doped graphite epoxy composites (MS-GECE) and chemically modified carbon electrodes (CMCE) were also tested. Among the different combinations of the electrodes tested, Fe3+ graphite cathode produced significantly higher power density (1679.9 +/- 98.04 mu W/m(2)). These studies indicate the feasibility of the improvement in electrode design on the performance of MFC for wider applications.