Anode Modification with Reduced Graphene Oxide–Iron Oxide Improves Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cell
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Department of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, ul. Słoneczna 45G, 10-709 Olsztyn, Poland
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Dawid Nosek
Department of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn,
ul. Słoneczna 45G, 10-709 Olsztyn, Poland
J. Ecol. Eng. 2022; 23(10):147-153
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ABSTRACT
In recent years, much research has focused on energy recovery from biomass as an alternative to fossil fuel usage. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which produce electricity via microbial decomposition of organic matter, are of great interest. The performance of an MFC depends on the electrode material; most often, carbon materials with good electrical conductivity and durability are used. To increase the power output of an MFC, the anode material can be modified to reduce the internal resistance and increase the anode surface area. Therefore, this study determined how modifying a carbon felt anode with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and a combination of rGO with iron (III) oxide (rGO-Fe) affected electricity generation in an MFC fueled with wastewater. A mixed microbial consortium was used as the anode biocatalyst. The MFC-rGO-Fe produced significantly higher voltages than other cells (average 109.4 ± 75.1 mV in the cycle). Power density curves indicated that modifying the anode with rGO-Fe increased the power of the MFC to 4.5 mW/m2, 9.3- and 3.9-times higher than that of the control MFC and the MFC-rGO, respectively. Anode modification reduced the internal resistance of the cells from 1029 Ω in the control MFC to 370 and 290 Ω in the MFC-rGO and MFC-rGO-Fe, respectively. These results show that a mixture of rGO with iron (III) oxide positively affects electricity production and can be successfully used for anode modification in the MFCs fueled with wastewater.