Current generation in membraneless single chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs) treating urine

Santoro, Carlo; Ieropoulos, Ioannis; Greenman, John; Cristiani, Pierangela; Vadas, Timothy; Mackay, Allison; Li, Baikun

Abstract

This study investigated a novel treatment process for human urine in membraneless single-chamber microbial fuel cells (SCMFCs). The performances of SCMFCs with Pt-based or Pt-free cathode were tested for over 1000 hours of operation. The pH of the anodic solution increased from 5.4-6.4 to 9.0 due to the urea hydrolysis, which consequently decreased the anodic performance even though the cathode was not affected, indicating that the MFCs were anode-limited. The solution conductivity increased up to 3 times the initial value. The initial current generated by the Pt-free cathodes SCMFCs was 0.13-0.15 mA, and stabilized at 0.1 mA. The Pt-based cathode SCMFC decreased from 0.18-0.23 mA to 0.13 mA. This study showed that high pH caused by urea hydrolysis lowered the anodic reactions and the SCMFCs overall performance. The Pt-free cathode performance was comparable to that of Pt-based cathodes, thus offering a cost effective alternative for future developments.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 22, 2013
• Journal: Journal of Power Sources
• Print ISSN: 0378-7753
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 238
• Pages: 190-196
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.03.095
• Keywords: human urine, microbial fuel cell, membraneless, pH, single electrode kinetic, current generation
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/927745
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2013.03.095