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A ceramic membrane microbial fuel cell (MFC) was designed and constructed to improve power generation. The best results were obtained using carbon felt as an anode and a cathodic zone built with carbon felt and activated carbon. The modular system with eight cells produced 90 mW/m².

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What they did

System
MFC

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Abstract

Abstract Some of the most popular technologies for wastewater sanitation, still face serious limitations related to high energy consumption requirements. In this context, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) constitute a promising approach since they do not require aeration and produce electricity at the same time. Limitations for these devices, however, are related to the cost of the constituents and the functionality of the arrangement. In this work, a semi‐cylindrical ceramic MFC was designed and constructed using a low‐cost commercial ceramic handcraft as a membrane, carbon felt, carbon cloth, and carbon cloth/activated carbon in different arrangements for the anode and cathode components. The best results were obtained using carbon felt as an anode and a cathodic zone built with carbon felt in which void regions were filled with activated carbon. This arrangement produced 85 mWm −2 for each cell. Evaluating the performance of the MFC in a modular system with eight cells using a different number of separations inside the module and different electrical connections, resulting in a 4‐compartment module that produced 90 mWm −2 with one single module and 95 mWm −2 with a serial arrangement of two modules.

Key findings

  • The use of carbon felt as an anode and a cathodic zone built with carbon felt and activated carbon improved power generation to 85 mW/m².
  • A 4-compartment module with different electrical connections produced 90 mW/m².
  • The ceramic MFC design and construction using low-cost materials improved the functionality of the arrangement.

Keywords

Microbial fuel cellElectrodeFuel cellsCeramicMembraneProton exchange membrane fuel cell

Identifiers

DOI
10.1002/fuce.202300241
Journal
Fuel Cells
Year
2024