Polyaniline Modified Stainless Steel Fiber Felt for High-Performance Microbial Fuel Cell Anodes

Abstract

Abstract-The three-dimensional (3D) macroporous anodes are constructed by coating polyaniline(PANI) on stainless steel fiber felts (SSFFs) that have an open, solid and macroporous structure. In the present study, nano-polyaniline is synthesized in two different methods by using chemical and electrochemical oxidative polymerization. These modified electrodes provide large surface area for reaction, interfacial transport and biocompatible interface available for bacterial colonization and substrate transport. The polarization curves together with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements demonstrate that polyaniline modified anodes could greatly improve MFCs' power output and decrease MFCs' internal resistance. Our experimental results also prove that embedding polyaniline into 3D macroporous metallic scaffold is a promising method for MFC anode fabrication.Index Terms-Microbial fuel cell, anode, polyaniline, stainless steel fiber felt, polymerization.

Composite of medium‐chain‐length polyhydroxyalkanoates‐co‐methyl acrylate and carbon nanotubes as innovative electrodes modifier in microbial fuel cell

“…About 76% decrease in internal resistance was observed in MFC 3 and 58% decrease in MFC 2. The highest percentage in MFC 3 when compared with other two MFC and with earlier polymeric studies [14,22,26] was attributed to the successful colonization of electrode surface by the microorganism as indicated in Fig. 3F (FESEM), as well as low electrolyte impedance of un‐replenished MFC 3.…”

“…The electrode must be hydrophobic enough to prevent early damage to the electrode due to swelling effect [25]. Conducting polymers such as polyaniline (PANI) [22,23,26,27], polypyrrole [28,29], and poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) [24,30,18] have been extensively utilized in MFC with improved performance when doped with composites of nanomaterial. However, stability and longevity of the power output are limited to 710 mV for 6 days [24].…”

“…However, stability and longevity of the power output are limited to 710 mV for 6 days [24]. High internal resistance resulting in reduced power density has also been reported [22,26]. On the other hand, the potential of biodegradable, biocompatible, piezoelectric polymer such as medium‐chain‐length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl‐PHA) has not been fully explored for its direct use as carbon composites in anode modification [31,21].…”

Characteristics of Carbon Nanotubes/Graphene Coatings on Stainless Steel Meshes Used as Electrodes for Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells

“…To improve the attachment of bacteria on the anode, an electrode with a high specific surface area is necessary. For this purpose, numerous studies have utilized threedimensional structures of stainless steel, such as stainless steel mesh (SSM) [20][21][22][23][24][25], stainless steel foam [26], stainless steel felt [27], and stainless steel fiber felt [28][29][30][31]. But the surface areas of this type of electrode are limited when compared with those of nanomaterial-based electrodes.…”

Enhanced power generation in annular single‐chamber microbial fuel cell via optimization of electrode spacing using chocolate industry wastewater

“…Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy via metabolism of electro‐active microorganism. The main advantage of MFCs over other conventional wastewater treatment methods is their great potential application for treating wastewater, reduction of chemical oxygen demand (COD), and simultaneous energy generation, which is a promising recently developed technology . In a MFC, residual organic wastes such as substrates are oxidized to CO 2 and protons on a bacteria colonized anode.…”