Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Ceramic Microbial Fuel Cells Stack: Power generation in standard and supercapacitive mode

Santoro, Carlo; Flores-Cadengo, Cristina; Soavi, Francesca; Kodali, Mounika; Merino-Jimenez, Irene; Gajda, Iwona; Greenman, John; Ieropoulos, Ioannis; Atanassov, Plamen

Ceramic Microbial Fuel Cells Stack: Power generation in standard and supercapacitive mode Thumbnail


Authors

Carlo Santoro Carlo.Santoro@uwe.ac.uk
Associate Professor in Bio-Energy

Cristina Flores-Cadengo

Francesca Soavi

Mounika Kodali

Irene Merino-Jimenez

Iwona Serruys Iwona.Gajda@uwe.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in Engineering Management

Yannis Ieropoulos Ioannis2.Ieropoulos@uwe.ac.uk
Professor in Bioenergy & Director of B-B

Plamen Atanassov



Abstract

© 2018 The Author(s). In this work, a microbial fuel cell (MFC) stack containing 28 ceramic MFCs was tested in both standard and supercapacitive modes. The MFCs consisted of carbon veil anodes wrapped around the ceramic separator and air-breathing cathodes based on activated carbon catalyst pressed on a stainless steel mesh. The anodes and cathodes were connected in parallel. The electrolytes utilized had different solution conductivities ranging from 2.0 mScm-1 to 40.1 mScm-1, simulating diverse wastewaters. Polarization curves of MFCs showed a general enhancement in performance with the increase of the electrolyte solution conductivity. The maximum stationary power density was 3.2 mW (3.2 Wm-3) at 2.0 mScm-1 that increased to 10.6 mW (10.6 Wm-3) at the highest solution conductivity (40.1 mScm-1). For the first time, MFCs stack with 1 L operating volume was also tested in supercapacitive mode, where full galvanostatic discharges are presented. Also in the latter case, performance once again improved with the increase in solution conductivity. Particularly, the increase in solution conductivity decreased dramatically the ohmic resistance and therefore the time for complete discharge was elongated, with a resultant increase in power. Maximum power achieved varied between 7.6 mW (7.6 Wm-3) at 2.0 mScm-1 and 27.4 mW (27.4 Wm-3) at 40.1 mScm-1.

Citation

Santoro, C., Flores-Cadengo, C., Soavi, F., Kodali, M., Merino-Jimenez, I., Gajda, I., …Atanassov, P. (2018). Ceramic Microbial Fuel Cells Stack: Power generation in standard and supercapacitive mode. Scientific Reports, 8(3281), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21404-y

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 19, 2018
Online Publication Date Feb 19, 2018
Publication Date Dec 1, 2018
Deposit Date Mar 12, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Scientific Reports
Electronic ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher Nature Research (part of Springer Nature)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 8
Issue 3281
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21404-y
Keywords microbial fuel cell, stack, supercapacitive mode, ceramic, power generation
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/875845
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21404-y
Related Public URLs https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-21404-y

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations