Carbon Nanofibers-Sheathed Graphite Rod Anode and Hydrophobic Cathode for Improved Performance Industrial Wastewater-Driven Microbial Fuel Cells

Abstract

Carbon nanofiber-decorated graphite rods are introduced as effective and low-cost anodes for industrial wastewater-driven microbial fuel cells. Carbon nanofiber deposition on the surface of the graphite rods could be performed by the electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile/N,N-Dimethylformamide solution using the rod as nanofiber collector, which was calcined under inert atmosphere. The experimental results indicated that at 10 min electrospinning time, the proposed graphite anode demonstrates very good performance compared to the commercial anodes. Typically, the generated power density from sugarcane industry wastewater-driven air cathode microbial fuel cells were 13 ± 0.3, 23 ± 0.7, 43 ± 1.3, and 185 ± 7.4 mW/m2 using carbon paper, carbon felt, carbon cloth, and graphite rod coated by 10-min electrospinning time carbon nanofibers anodes, respectively. The distinct performance of the proposed anode came from creating 3D carbon nanofiber layer filled with the biocatalyst. Moreover, to annihilate the internal cell resistance, a membrane-less cell was assembled by utilizing a poly(vinylidene fluoride) electrospun nanofiber layer-coated cathode. This novel strategy inspired a highly hydrophobic layer on the cathode surface, preventing water leakage to avoid utilizing the membrane. However, in both anode and cathode modifications, the electrospinning time should be optimized. The best results were obtained at 5 and 10 min for the cathode and anode, respectively.