Premium
Photocoupled Bioanode: A New Approach for Improved Microbial Fuel Cell Performance
Author(s) -
Kim HyeonWoo,
Lee KyeongSeok,
Razzaq Abdul,
Lee Sung Hyun,
Grimes Craig A.,
In SuIl
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201700177
Subject(s) - microbial fuel cell , fuel cells , materials science , biochemical engineering , process engineering , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , chemistry , engineering , electrode , anode
Abstract Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) received considerable attention because of their ability to provide dual advantages of electricity generation and wastewater treatment. However, their performance is primarily limited by the slow oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). To alleviate this problem, we describe a hybrid MFC in which a conventional bioanode is coupled with a TiO 2 photoanode. The photocatalytic photoanode utilizes light to provide additional photogenerated electrons to the external circuit of the MFC, which promotes the ORR, as confirmed by power density curves and electrochemical impedance spectra, resulting in improved power generation (1284±20 mW m −2 ) compared to that of a normal MFC (850±12 mW m −2 ). Furthermore, the ability of the TiO 2 photoanode to reduce CO 2 to methane is demonstrated.