Enhanced power generation of air cathode microbial fuel cells with cloth electrode assembly

FUEL 130

Hong Liu, liuh@engr.orst.edu, Yanzhen Fan, fanya@engr.orest.edu, and Hongqiang Hu. Biological and Ecological Engineering, Oregon State University, 116 Gilmore Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331
Single chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) hold a great promise for practical application due to their low operational cost, low maintenance requirements and relative high power density. Increasing the power density is one of the greatest challenges for their practical applications. In this study, a new cell configuration was designed by applying a cloth layer to a membrane-free single chamber MFC and tested using mixed bacterial culture with acetate as substrate. A volumetric power density of 627 W/m3 has been achieved, which is more than 10 times higher than those in the cloth-free MFCs using similar electrode materials. This study indicates that the power density of air cathode MFCs can be significantly improved without using expensive membranes, which greatly increases the feasibility for the practical applications of MFCs.
 

Fuel Cell Technology: Biofuel Cells, Enzymatic and Microbial
8:25 AM-11:45 AM, Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Boston Park Plaza -- Arlington Rm, Oral

Sci-Mix
8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Monday, August 20, 2007 BCEC -- Exhibit Hall - B2, Sci-Mix

Division of Fuel Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007