Carbon nanotube dispersed conductive network for microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising devices for capturing biomass energy. Although they have recently attracted considerable attention, their power densities are too low for practical use. Increasing their electrode surface area is a key factor for improving the performance of MFC. Carbon nano...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2014-08, Vol.105 (8)
Main Authors: Matsumoto, S., Yamanaka, K., Ogikubo, H., Akasaka, H., Ohtake, N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Baking yeast
Biochemical fuel cells
Biomass energy production
Carbon
Carbon nanotubes
Dispersion
Electrical resistivity
Electrodes
Fuel cells
Microorganisms
Performance enhancement
Strong interactions (field theory)
Surface area
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Summary:Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising devices for capturing biomass energy. Although they have recently attracted considerable attention, their power densities are too low for practical use. Increasing their electrode surface area is a key factor for improving the performance of MFC. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which have excellent electrical conductivity and extremely high specific surface area, are promising materials for electrodes. However, CNTs are insoluble in aqueous solution because of their strong intertube van der Waals interactions, which make practical use of CNTs difficult. In this study, we revealed that CNTs have a strong interaction with Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells. CNTs attach to the cells and are dispersed in a mixture of water and S. cerevisiae, forming a three-dimensional CNT conductive network. Compared with a conventional two-dimensional electrode, such as carbon paper, the three-dimensional conductive network has a much larger surface area. By applying this conductive network to MFCs as an anode electrode, power density is increased to 176 μW/cm2, which is approximately 25-fold higher than that in the case without CNTs addition. Maximum current density is also increased to approximately 8-fold higher. These results suggest that three-dimensional CNT conductive network contributes to improve the performance of MFC by increasing surface area.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4894259