Cellulose – Carrageenan coated carbon felt as potential anode structure for yeast microbial fuel cell

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2021-01, Vol.46 (8), p.6076-6086
• Main Authors: Christwardana, Marcelinus, Handayani, Aniek Sri, Yudianti, Rike, Joelianingsih
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cellulose micro crystalline; Cellulose micro fibril; Internal resistance; Kappa carrageenan; Yeast biofilm
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.05.265

Anode material is an important part of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs). Carrageenan and cellulose are strong candidates for modifying anode due to their many advantages, especially their biocompatibility. Cellulose microfibrils and microcrystalline were trapped on the surface of carbon felt (CF) using carrageenan (KC). The MFC adopted with CF/[KC/CMF] as anodes structures produced a power density of 70.98 mW∙m−2, higher than MFC that used plain CF. The presence of KC changed the CF properties from hydrophobic to hydrophilic. This can be seen from the weight of biofilms formed in CF/KC, CF/[KC/CMC], and CF/[KC/CMF] being 60, 80, and 90 mg, respectively, higher than plain CF (60 mg). Carrageenan was also successful in entrapping cellulose. Cellulose donated hydrogen ions to form oxycellulose, which has a carboxyl group, wherein can increase Direct Electron Transfer (DET) between yeast and the anode. CF/[KC/CMF] anode structure showed excellent performance and has the potential to be developed in the future. •Yeast biocatalyst and two different cellulose treated felts were investigated.•κ-carrageenan was used as entrapping polymer.•MPD ranged from 48.38 mW·m−2 with CF to 70.98 mW·m−2 with CF/[KC/CMF].•Addition of κ-carrageenan made a better contact between anolyte — and carbon felt.