Soil Microbial Fuel Cell with Hydrophilic Treated Buckypaper Anodes
Abstract
Fossil fuels, the primary source of energy supply in modern society, are both unsustainable and damaging to the environment. The most cost-effective way to reduce the use of fossil fuels is to switch to renewable energy sources. Soil microbial fuel cells (SMFC) are a green energy production method because they use electron-generating bacteria in the soil to obtain electrical energy from organic matter. One way to improve the output of SMFCs is to increase the specific surface area of the anodes. The larger specific surface area allows more electrons to be received from the bacteria. In this study, bucky paper (BP) was utilized as the anode of SMFC. BP is a freestanding film fabricated from multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) by vacuum filtration method. CNT has a high specific surface area and electrical conductivity. BP is also considered to be mechanically stable in soil due to its CNT network structure. However, the surface of the BP is hydrophobic. In SMFCs, the hydrophobic surface of the anode is a fatal disadvantage in terms of the affinity of microorganisms. Thus, heat treatment and UV ozone treatment were employed to make the surface of BP hydrophilic, and their output in SMFCs was investigated. As a result, SMFCs using UV-ozone-treated BPs as anodes produced the highest power density of 28.8 μW/cm². Also, unlike thermal treatment, UV ozone treatment did not damage the CNT structure. Hence, in this experiment, the output power of the SMFC was stable for at least 140 hours.
Full text article
References
Olabi, A. G., & Abdelkareem, M. A. (2022). Renewable energy and climate change. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 158, Article 112111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112111.
Rahman, A., Farrok, O., & Haque, M. M. (2022). Environmental impact of renewable energy source based electrical power plants: Solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal, tidal, ocean, and osmotic. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 161, Article 112279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112279.
Li, C., Omine, K., Sivasankar, V., Sano, H., & Chicas, S. D. (2021). Development of low-cost solid phase microbial fuel cell using organic waste and recycling of materials after power generation: Characterization of carbon anode. Biomass and Bioenergy, 154, Article 106266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2021.106266.
Yamashita, T., Hayashi, T., Iwasaki, H., Awatsu, M., & Yokoyama, H. Ultra-low-power energy harvester for microbial fuel cells and its application to environmental sensing and long-range wireless data transmission. Journal of Power Sources, 430, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2019.04.120.
Simeon, I. M, Herkendell, K., Pant, D., & Freitag, R. (2022). Electrochemical evaluation of different polymer binders for the production of carbon-modified stainless-steel electrodes for sustainable power generation using a soil microbial fuel cell. Chemical Engineering Journal Advances, 10, Article 100246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceja.2022.100246.
Yu, B., Feng, L., He, Y., Yang, L., & Xun, Y. (2021). Effects of anode materials on the performance and anode microbial community of soil microbial fuel cell. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 401, Article 123394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.123394.
Sahari, S. K., Rosli, M. Z. F, Butit, A. M., Kipli, K., Anyi, M., Awang, A., Sawai, M., Mahmood, M. R., Hasanah, Lilik., Kram,
A. R., Embong, Z., & Nahrawi, H. (2022). Fabrication of Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell (SMFC) Using Soil as a Substrate. Science & Technology, 30(2), 1103-1114. https://doi.org/10.47836/pjst.30.2.14
Guo1, W., Li, X., Cui, L., Li, Y., Zhang, H., & Ni, T. (2022). Promoting the anode performance of microbial fuel cells with nano‑molybdenum disulfide/carbon nanotubes composite catalyst. Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, 45, 159-170. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-021-02649-w.
Mirabootalebi, S. O. (2020). A new method for preparing buckypaper by pressing a mixture of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and amorphous carbon. Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials, 3, 336-343. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42114-020-00167-z
Her, S. C., & Hsu, W. C. (2022). Temperature Sensitivities Along with Mechanical Properties of CNT Buckypaper Sensors.
Sensors 2020, 20, Article 3067. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20113067
Wang, H. Z., Huang, Z. P., Cai, Q. J., Kulkarni, K., Chen, C-L., Carnahan, D., & Ren, Z. F. (2010). Reversible transformation of hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity of aligned carbon nanotube arrays and buckypapers by dry processes, Carbon, 48(3), 868- 875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2009.10.041.
Azimi, M., & Asselin, E. (2022). Improving Surface Functionality, Hydrophilicity, and Interfacial Adhesion Properties of High- Density Polyethylene with Activated Peroxides. ACS Applied Material & Interfaces, 14, 3601-3609. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.1c23703.
Park, J. G., Smithyman, J., Lin, C-Y., Cooke, A., Kismarahardja, A. W., Li, S., Liang, R., Brooks, J. S., Zhang, C., & Wang, B. (2009). Effects of surfactants and alignment on the physical properties of single-walled carbon nanotube buckypaper. Journal of Applied Physics, 106, Article 104310. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3255901.
Hirose, S., Trang, N. D., & Taguchi, K. (2023). Soil microbial fuel cells with low-cost anode made of rice husk charcoal and Japanese drawing ink “Bokuju”, International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, 71(S1), S413-S420. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAE-220189.
Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
- The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
- Attribution: other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
With the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
- The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a pre-publication manuscript (but not the Publisher's final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (see The Effect of Open Access). Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
- Upon Publisher's request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author's own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
- The Author represents and warrants that:
- The Work is the Author's original work;
- The Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
- The Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
- The Work has not previously been published;
- The Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
- The Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
- The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author's breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 7 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher's use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Article Details
Accepted 2023-09-28
Published 2023-09-30