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Developing Cheap and Mass‐Producible Graphite‐Filled Paper as an Anode Material for Microbial Electrochemical Technologies
Author(s) -
Alvarez Esquivel Diana Y.,
Brown Robert Keith,
Knohl Stefan,
Schröder Uwe
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemelectrochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.182
H-Index - 59
ISSN - 2196-0216
DOI - 10.1002/celc.201902087
Subject(s) - graphite , anode , electrochemistry , materials science , electrode , microbial fuel cell , biomass (ecology) , substrate (aquarium) , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , composite material , chemistry , ecology , engineering , biology
This study details, in‐depth, the development of graphite paper as electrodes, specifically anodes, for microbial electrochemical technologies. Processed natural graphite powders were used as an active filler substance in paper composites. Mechanical and electrical properties were balanced during development. Graphite papers with 80 wt% natural graphite content had tear lengths of 730±58 m and resistivities of 0.014±0.001 Ω cm. Electrochemically active biofilms on these materials, cultivated from biomass taken from the bioanodes of an already running bioelectrochemical reactor, were fed with acetate and yielded an average maximum current density of 0.855±0.135 as well as 0.489±0.148 mA cm −2 with a complex substrate mixture. All anodes exhibited similar performance to commonly used carbonaceous electrodes fed the same substrates. This places them as flexible and cheap electrode materials suitable for large‐scale microbial electrochemical technologies.