Cellulose Aerogel Derived Hierarchical Porous Carbon for Enhancing Flavin-Based Interfacial Electron Transfer in Microbial Fuel Cells

Abstract

The flavin-based indirect electron transfer process between electroactive bacteria and solid electrode is crucial for microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Here, a cellulose-NaOH-urea mixture aerogel derived hierarchical porous carbon (CPC) is developed to promote the flavin based interfacial electron transfer. The porous structure of the CPC can be tailored via adjusting the ratio of urea in the cellulose aerogel precursor to obtain CPCs with different type of dominant pores. According to the electrocatalytic performance of different CPC electrodes, the CPCs with higher meso- and macropore area exhibit greatly improved flavin redox reaction. While, the CPC-9 with appropriate porous structure achieves highest power density in Shewanella putrefaciens CN32 MFC due to larger active surface for flavin mediated interfacial electron transfer and higher biofilm loading. Considering that the CPC is just obtained from the pyrolysis of the cellulose-NaOH-urea aerogel, this work also provides a facile approach for porous carbon preparation.