Reticulated carbon foam derived from a sponge-like natural product as a high-performance anode in microbial fuel cells

Chen, Shouhui; Liu, Qin; He, Guowei; Zhou, Yan; Hanif, Muddasir; Peng, Xinwen; Wang, Suqin; Hou, Haoqing

doi:10.1039/c2jm33733a

Cited by 114 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…with graphite felt [8][9][10], carbon foams made from the pyrolysis of natural products [11,12], stainless steel foam [13], etc., but direct comparisons of twodimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) microbial anodes in identical conditions remain very rare [14,15]. Moreover, most of the bioanodes studied so far have been implemented in synthetic media using acetate as the substrate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-dimensional carbon cloth and three-dimensional carbon felt perform similarly to form bioanode fed with food waste

Blanchet

Erable

Solan

et al. 2016

Electrochemistry Communications

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OATAO is an open access repository that collects the work of Toulouse researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. a b s t r a c tTwo-dimensional carbon cloth and three-dimensional carbon felt were compared for their capacity to form bioanodes for food waste treatment. Wastewater was used as the dilution medium instead of a synthetic solution to be close to industrial conditions. In both cases, microbial cells were mainly wrapped around the fibers of the electrodes. The biofilms were around 80-120 μm thick with a 39.3% microbial volume ratio on carbon cloths. On carbon felt, the biofilms showed a lower microbial volume ratio of 16.3% on the upper layers but with a penetration depth of 200-800 μm. The biofilm patterns were different but they resulted in similar current density, around 3.5 A/m 2 .When chemically rich media have to be implemented, 2D cloth offers a worthwhile solution that can equal 3D porous materials.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-dimensional carbon cloth and three-dimensional carbon felt perform similarly to form bioanode fed with food waste

Blanchet

Erable

Solan

et al. 2016

Electrochemistry Communications

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“…Synthesis and design of new electrode materials, purposely built with bioelectrochemical applications in mind is only very recent. 6,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The classical approach in research on prospective electrode materials aims at increasing the active surface area available for biofilm growth. On the other hand, another strategy aims at designing materials with specific properties that will improve the bacteria-electrode interaction, especially the rate of electron transfer, to enhance the activity of the biofilms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The nanostructure of three-dimensional scaffolds enhances the current density of microbial bioelectrochemical systems

Flexer

Chen

Donose

et al. 2013

Energy Environ. Sci.

137

118

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Bioelectrochemical systems encompass a range of electrochemical systems wherein microorganisms are used as biocatalysts. These range from classical microbial fuel cells to novel microbial electrosynthesis processes. The future of practical applications relies on increased performance. In all cases the development of new electrode materials is essential to overcome the low current densities of bioelectrochemical systems. Here we describe a new biocompatible, highly conductive three-dimensional scaffold electrode, NanoWeb-RVC, with a hierarchical porous structure, synthesized by direct growth of carbon nanotubes on a macroporous substrate. The nanostructure of these electrodes enhances the rate of bacterial extracellular electron transfer while the macrostructure ensures efficient mass transfer to and from the electrode surface. NanoWeb-RVC electrodes showed a current density of (6.8 ± 0.3) mA cm-2, almost three times higher than a control electrode with the same macroporous structure but lacking the nanostructure. This current density is among the highest reported to date for a microbial bioanode. to overcome the low current densities of bioelectrochemical systems. Here we describe a new biocompatible, highly conductive three-dimensional scaffold electrode, NanoWeb-RVC, with a hierarchical porous structure, synthetised by direct growth of carbon nanotubes on a macroporous substrate. The nanostructure of these electrodes enhances the rate of bacterial extracellular electron transfer while the macrostructure ensures efficient mass transfer to and from the electrode surface. NanoWeb-RVC electrodes showed a current density of (6.8 ± 0.3) mA cm -2 , almost three times higher than a control electrode with the same macroporous structure but lacking the nanostructure. This current density is among the highest reported to date for a microbial bioanode.

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“…Novel reticulated carbon foam electrodes was prepared by direct carbonization of the sponge-like natural product, Pomelo peel, and used as low-cost, sustainable and eco-friendly bioanode electrode in MFC. High projected current density of over 40 A m -2 were obtained and attributed to the wrinkled electrode surface, large pore size and high porosity of over 97 % in the carbon foam [120].…”

Section: Three-dimensional Hierarchical Electrodesmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…For example, on graphite felt a biofilm is only developed in the outer layers of the fibre mat, but not 2-3 mm from the surface in the deepest core of the electrode. In the last five years, several authors reported current generation enhancement in MFC mode using such 3D electrodes as bioanode material [117][118][119][120][121][122][123].…”

Section: Three-dimensional Hierarchical Electrodesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microbial electrosynthesis from carbon dioxide: performance enhancement and elucidation of mechanisms

Jourdin¹

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Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) of organics from carbon dioxide has been recently put forward as an attractive technology for the renewable production of valuable multi-carbon reduced end-products and as a promising CO 2 transformation strategy. MES is a biocathode-driven process that relies on the conversion of electrical energy into high energy-density chemicals. However, MES remains a nascent concept and there is still limited knowledge on many aspects.It is still unclear whether autotrophic microbial biocathode biofilms are able to selfregenerate under purely cathodic conditions without any external electron or organic carbon sources. Here we report on the successful development and long-term operation of an autotrophic biocathode whereby an electroactive biofilm was able to grow and sustain itself with CO 2 and the cathode as sole carbon and electron source, respectively, with H 2 as sole product. From a small inoculum of 15 mg COD (in 250 mL), the bioelectrochemical system operating at -0.5 V vs. SHE enabled an estimated biofilm growth of 300 mg as COD over a period of 276 days.A critical aspect is that reported performances of bioelectrosynthesis of organics are still insufficient for scaling MES to practical applications. Selective microbial consortia and biocathode material development are of paramount importance towards performance enhancement. A novel biocompatible, highly conductive three-dimensional cathode was manufactured by direct growth of flexible multiwalled carbon nanotubes on reticulated vitreous carbon (NanoWeb-RVC) by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The results demonstrated that: (i) the high surface area to volume ratio of the macroporous RVC maximizes the available biofilm area while ensuring effective mass transfer to and from the biofilm, and (ii) the nanostructure enhances the bacteria-electrode interaction, biofilm development, microbial extracellular electron transfer, and acetate bioproduction rate.However, for scale-up beyond certain sizes, there are some limitations with the CVD technique. We harnessed the throwing power of electrophoretic deposition technique (EPD), suitable for industrial scale production, to form multi-walled CNT coatings onto RVC to generate a new hierarchical porous structure, hereafter called EPD-3D. A very effective mixed microbial consortium was successfully enriched and transferred to EPD-3D reactors and demonstrated drastic performance enhancement reaching biocathode current density of -102 ± 1 A m -2 and acetate production rate of 685 ± 30 g m -2 day -1 .ii An in-depth understanding on how electrons flow from the cathode to the terminal electron acceptor is still missing but crucial (e.g. for improved reactor design). High rates of acetate production by microbial electrosynthesis was shown to occur via biologically-induced hydrogen, likely through the biological synthesis of metal copper particles, with 99 ± 1% electron recovery into acetate. The acetate-producing bacteria showed the remarkable ability to consume a high H 2 flux (ca. 1.15 m ...

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Reticulated carbon foam derived from a sponge-like natural product as a high-performance anode in microbial fuel cells

Cited by 114 publications

References 18 publications

Two-dimensional carbon cloth and three-dimensional carbon felt perform similarly to form bioanode fed with food waste

Two-dimensional carbon cloth and three-dimensional carbon felt perform similarly to form bioanode fed with food waste

The nanostructure of three-dimensional scaffolds enhances the current density of microbial bioelectrochemical systems

Microbial electrosynthesis from carbon dioxide: performance enhancement and elucidation of mechanisms

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