Evaluation of low-cost cathode catalysts for high yield biohydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cell

Abstract

As an ideal fuel due to the advantages of no pollution, high combustion heat and abundant sources, hydrogen gas can be produced from organic matter through the electrohydrogenesis process in microbial electrolysis cells. But in many MECs, platinum is often used as catalyst, which limits the practical applications of MECs. To reduce the cost of the MECs, Ni-based alloy cathodes were developed by electrodepositing. In this paper hydrogen production using Ni-W-P cathode was studied for the first time in a single-chamber membrane-free MEC. At an applied voltage of 0.9 V, MECs with Ni-W-P cathodes obtained a hydrogen production rate of 1.09 m3/m3/day with an cathodic hydrogen recovery of 74%, a Coulombic efficiency of 56% and an electrical energy efficiency relative to electrical input of 139%, which was the best result of reports in this study. The Ni-W-P cathode demonstrated a better electrocatalytic activity than the Ni-Ce-P cathode and achieved a comparable performance to the Pt cathode in terms of hydrogen production rate, Coulombic efficiency, cathodic hydrogen recovery and electrical energy efficiency at 0.9 V.

Hydrogen production with carbon nanotubes based cathode catalysts in microbial electrolysis cells

“…The Pt/MWNT cathode (surface area = 30 cm 2 ) was loaded with 0.5 mg cm −2 . Similar methods have been used for the preparation of MWNT cathode (0.5 mg cm −2 ) and Pt cathode (0.5 mg cm −2 ) using a platinum catalyst with a 5%(w/w) Nafion binder as described by Wang et al 14…”

Cathodic catalysts in bioelectrochemical systems for energy recovery from wastewater

“…In another study, doping of biogenic Pd with Au was found to greatly alleviate the catalyst poisoning caused by sulfide and enable efficient dechlorination under environmental conditions. 47 For economic considerations, noble metals can be alloyed with non-noble elements 48 or even noble metal-free composite catalysts 49 can be created. For example, a Ti/nano-TiO 2 /Pd catalyst exhibited a comparable ORR catalytic activity with Pt and led to steady current generation when assembled in an MFC, with a maximum power density of 200 mW m À2 achieved.…”

Stainless Steel Application as Metal Electrode in Bioelectrochemical System

“…Walaupun Au dan Pt memiliki sifat logam yang berupaya meningkatkan prestasi BES, namun disebabkan kos yang tinggi menghalang aplikasi berskala besar dan tujuan pengkomersialan. Penggunaan Pt boleh memberi kesan negatif dan toksik kepada bakteria (Mustakeem 2015;Santoro et al 2018;Wang et al 2011).…”