Ferroelectric LiTaO 3 as novel photo‐electrocatalyst in microbial fuel cells

• Published in: Environmental progress & sustainable energy 2017-09, Vol.36 (5), p.1568-1574
• Main Authors: Benzaouak, Abdellah, Touach, Nour‐eddine, Ortiz‐Martínez, Víctor Manuel, Salar‐García, María José, Hernández‐Fernández, Francisco José, Pérez de los Ríos, Antonia, Mahi, Mohammad El, Lotfi, El Mostapha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-7442; 1944-7450
• DOI: 10.1002/ep.12609

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising technology for simultaneous electricity generation and wastewater treatment. Noble materials can offer high catalyst performance in MFCs but their high cost poses an obstacle for the practical implementation of this technology. Ferroelectric materials such as LiTaO 3 are a new generation of photocatalysts that could potentially be used for the oxygen reduction reaction in these devices. Thus, this work investigates the performance of LiTaO 3 as cathode catalyst in MFCs for the first time. The power performance of carbon cloth cathodes coated with LiTaO 3 was assessed in the presence and absence of light irradiation in MFC systems using wastewater. Prior to be tested in MFCs, the synthesized phase of LiTaO 3 was mainly characterized by XRD, particle‐size distribution, TEM, and UV–vis spectroscopy analyses. The results show that the performance of the cathode coated with LiTaO 3 significantly improves under UV–vis irradiation, with a threefold increase in maximum power density compared with the results obtained in the absence of light source. Under these conditions, COD removal from wastewater reached 66% after 120 h. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 36: 1568–1574, 2017