Performance of a scaled-up Microbial Fuel Cell with iron reduction as the cathode reaction

✍ Scribed by Annemiek Ter Heijne; Fei Liu; Lucas S. van Rijnsoever; Michel Saakes; Hubertus V.M. Hamelers; Cees J.N. Buisman

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 362 KB
• Volume: 196
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0378-7753
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2011.04.034

✦ Synopsis

Scale-up studies of Microbial Fuel Cells are required before practical application comes into sight. We studied an MFC with a surface area of 0.5 m 2 and a volume of 5 L. Ferric iron (Fe 3+ ) was used as the electron acceptor to improve cathode performance. MFC performance increased in time as a combined result of microbial growth at the bio-anode, increase in iron concentration from 1 g L -1 to 6 g L -1 , and increased activity of the iron oxidizers to regenerate ferric iron. Finally, a power density of 2.0 W m -2 (200 W m -3 ) was obtained. Analysis of internal resistances showed that anode resistance decreased from 109 to 7 m m 2 , while cathode resistance decreased from 939 to 85 m m 2 . The cathode was the main limiting factor, contributing to 58% of the total internal resistance. Maximum energy efficiency of the MFC was 41%.