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Researchers developed nanoporous carbon fibers with zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) for enhanced interfacial electron transfer in microbial fuel cells, achieving 10-fold higher power density compared to carbon fabric.

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What they did

System
MFC

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Abstract

The nanoporous carbon fiber materials derived from electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers doped with zeolitic imidazolate framework are developed here and applied in the microbe fuel cell anode for enhanced interfacial electron transfer. Zeolitic imidazolate fram-8 (ZIF-8) could introduce a large number of mesopores into fibers, which significantly promote indirect electron transfer mediated by flavins (IET). Moreover, it is noted that thinner fibers are more suitable for cytochromes-based direct electron transfer (DET). Furthermore, the enlarged fiber interspace strengthens the amount of biofilm loading but a larger interspace between thick fibers would hinder the formation of continuous biofilm. Consequently, the nanoporous carbon fiber derived from PAN/ZIF-8 composite with a 1:1 wt ratio shows the best performance according to its suitable mesoporous structure and optimal fiber diameter, which delivers a 10-fold higher maximum power density in microbial fuel cells compared to carbon fabric. In this work, we reveal that the proportion of IET and DET in the interfacial electron transfer process varies with different porous structures and fiber diameters, which may provide some insights for designing porous fiber electrodes for microbial fuel cells and also other devices of bioelectrochemical systems.

Key findings

  • Indirect electron transfer mediated by flavins (IET) is significantly promoted by mesopores introduced by ZIF-8.
  • Thinner fibers are more suitable for cytochromes-based direct electron transfer (DET).
  • Optimal fiber diameter and mesoporous structure are crucial for biofilm loading and electron transfer efficiency.

Keywords

Electron transferPolyacrylonitrileFiberMicrobial fuel cellChemical engineeringNanoporous

Identifiers

DOI
10.3390/catal12101187
Journal
Catalysts
Year
2022