Liting Wang , Manman Li

Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Journal of Energy Bioscience, 2024, Vol. 15, No. 4   doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0022
Received: 19 May, 2024    Accepted: 25 Jun., 2024    Published: 07 Jul., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Wang L.T., and Li M.M., 2024, Improving the performance of microbial fuel cell electrode materials to enhance electricity production, Journal of Energy Bioscience, 15(4): 233-242 (doi: 10.5376/jeb.2024.15.0022)

This study hopes to investigate novel materials and configurations that can increase bacterial adhesion, improve electron transfer, and ultimately boost power output. The study identified several key findings. Polypyrrole (PPy)-coated electrodes significantly increased initial power production from 20 mW/m² to 160 mW/m² within the first four days, although no significant difference was observed between different coating thicknesses. Granular activated carbon (GAC) electrodes demonstrated high bacterial adhesion and power output, generating 5 W/m³ and maintaining peak power for six days. Additionally, the use of N-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) on carbon felt (CF) as a support for hierarchical Co₈FeS₈-FeCo₂O₄/NCNTs core-shell nanostructures resulted in a power density of 3.04 W/m², a 47.6% improvement compared to bare CF. The study also highlighted the importance of optimizing the microbial community and biofilm formation to enhance electron transfer and power generation. The findings suggest that the use of advanced electrode materials such as PPy-coated electrodes, GAC, and hierarchical nanostructures can significantly enhance the performance of MFCs. These improvements in electrode materials and configurations can lead to higher power densities and more efficient electricity production from organic waste. Future research should focus on further optimizing these materials and exploring their long-term stability and scalability for practical applications.

Microbial fuel cells; Electrode materials; Electricity production; Polypyrrole; Granular activated carbon; N-doped carbon nanotubes; Biofilm formation; Electron transfer