Anolyte recirculation effects in buffered and unbuffered single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cells

Two identical microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with a floating air-cathode were operated under either buffered (MFC-B) or bufferless (MFC-BL) conditions to investigate anolyte recirculation effects on enhancing proton transfer. With an external resistance of 50 Ω and recirculation rate of 1.0 ml/min, MFC...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bioresource technology 2015-03, Vol.179, p.26-34
Main Authors: Zhang, Liang, Zhu, Xun, Kashima, Hiroyuki, Li, Jun, Ye, Ding-Ding, Liao, Qiang, Regan, John M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air
Anolytes
Batch Cell Culture Techniques
Biochemical fuel cells
Bioelectric Energy Sources
Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
Buffers
Density
Electric potential
Electricity
Electrodes
Feasibility Studies
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Microorganisms
Optimization
Oxygen transfer
Protons
Voltage
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Summary:Two identical microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with a floating air-cathode were operated under either buffered (MFC-B) or bufferless (MFC-BL) conditions to investigate anolyte recirculation effects on enhancing proton transfer. With an external resistance of 50 Ω and recirculation rate of 1.0 ml/min, MFC-BL had a 27% lower voltage (9.7% lower maximal power density) but a 64% higher Coulombic efficiency (CE) than MFC-B. MFC-B had a decreased voltage output, batch time, and CE with increasing recirculation rate resulting from more oxygen transfer into the anode. However, increasing the recirculation rate within a low range significantly enhanced proton transfer in MFC-BL, resulting in a higher voltage output, a longer batch time, and a higher CE. A further increase in recirculation rate decreased the batch time and CE of MFC-BL due to excess oxygen transfer into anode outweighing the proton-transfer benefits. The unbuffered MFC had an optimal recirculation rate of 0.35 ml/min.
ISSN:0960-8524
1873-2976
DOI:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.11.106