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pH and Temperature Determine Performance of Oxygen Reducing Biocathodes
Author(s) -
Strik David P. B. T. B.,
Picot Matthieu,
Buisman Cees J. N.,
Barrière Frédéric
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
electroanalysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1521-4109
pISSN - 1040-0397
DOI - 10.1002/elan.201200358
Subject(s) - microbial fuel cell , oxygen , chemistry , cathode , chemical engineering , environmental chemistry , electrode , organic chemistry , engineering , anode
In this paper we investigate the performance of oxygen reducing biocathodes for microbial fuel cells in relation to temperature and pH. Lower pH does likely improve biocatalytic activity and/or proton availability, and results in higher current. Lower temperature does reduce biocatalytic activity and does not reduce possible oxygen mass transfer limitations. The cathode resistance was in the same order of magnitude at pH 5 to 7 which shows that MFC energy recovery can be higher at lower pH. Overall, these results show that oxygen reducing biocathodes are robust at 660 mA per m 2 at +0.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl, pH 5 and 31 °C.