Xinyu Jing, Xi Chen, Mingchuan Zhang et al.

RSC Advances • 2025

In this study, the in situ growth method was employed to modify biochar with polypyrrole-titanium (PPy-TiN) nitride composites, aiming to enhance its performance as an anode material in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). A series of characterizations were conducted on the polypyrrole-modified corn straw biochar anode (PPy/CS), titanium nitride-modified corn straw biochar anode (TiN/CS), and polypyrrole/titanium nitride composite-modified biochar anode (PPy-TiN/CS) to evaluate the feasibility of the modification method and identify the optimal modification scheme. Characterization techniques included scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and Tafel analysis. SEM and FTIR analyses confirmed the successful integration of polypyrrole and titanium nitride with biochar, achieving a minimum solution resistance of 7.80 Ω and charge transfer resistance of 1.79 Ω. Compared to the unmodified electrode, the modified electrodes demonstrated improved performance, highlighting the need for the development of cost-effective, efficient, and durable anode materials.

Verónica Ávila Vázquez, Eduardo Arturo Enciso Hernández, Sathish‐Kumar Kamaraj et al.

Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A • 2022

This work characterizes two alternative materials to substitute the most expensive microbial fuel cells (MFCs) components: proton exchange membrane (PEM) and cathode. Crude glycerol biodegradation was studied in MFCs using a clay cup as a PEM and activated carbon and camphor carbon mixture (CAC) as a cathode. The cathode performance was compared with Platinum on carbon cloth. Two clay cup single-chamber MFCs were operated with each cathode and fed with 2000 mg/L of crude glycerol. Electrochemical properties were characterized by linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and chronoamperometry. Biodegradation efficiencies were estimated with the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal percentage. MFCs with CAC showed a maximum power density of 100 mW/m2. This result was a 43.47% power response regarding MFCs with Platinum. COD removal efficiencies of 94% were achieved in 37 days for both cells. The Columbic efficiencies were 24.04% and 22.78% for the MFCs with Platinum and CAC. The economic analysis showed a cost of USD 9.97 for MFCs with CAC. This cost is five times lower than when using Platinum. MFCs utilizing clay cups and CAC showed an acceptable performance for the bioenergy production from crude glycerol biodegradation above all economic advantage in the cell cost.

Ana Clara Bonizol Zani, João Carlos de Souza, João Pedro Rueda Furlan et al.

Current Research in Biotechnology • 2024

Although Serratia marcescens is known for its natural ability to produce the red pigment prodigiosin, it has been little explored as a biocatalyst in bioelectrochemical systems (BES). Here, we have employed an environmental S. marcescens isolate S734 as biocatalyst in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) anode to oxidize glycerol and to produce energy; we have evaluated how the anode behaves in three conditions: (i) as an abiotic electrode (FC-A); (ii) as a biotic electrode after S. marcescens biofilm growth (MFC-B); and (iii) as an abiotic electrode added with the supernatant containing prodigiosin (FC-P). Scanning electron microscopy and electrochemical measurements indicated that prodigiosin formed a conductive film over FC-P, which increased charge transfer by 424 times compared to FC-A. The maximum power density during the FC-P operation was 10.0 mW/m−2. Nevertheless, only in the presence of S. marcescens (MFC-B) was glycerol oxidized and electricity generated. Cyclic voltammetry indicated that the prodigiosin was the electrochemical active substance in the supernatant, and that its process was irreversible and controlled by adsorption. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy confirmed that the prodigiosin-containing supernatant decreased the load resistance from 8396.3 Ω in FC-A to 58.10 Ω in FC-P. Genomic analysis showed that the prodigiosin biosynthesis gene cluster in strain S734 belonged to the Serratia 274 type, which contains pigA to pigN genes flanked by cueR and copA homologues. In conclusion, the supernatant produced by S. marcescens strain S734, containing prodigiosin could be explored as a green conductor in BES without further purification steps.

Tahseena Naaz, Kalpana Sharma, Arpita Roy et al.

Food and Chemical Toxicology • 2023

Methyl Orange, an azo dye, is a widely used colouring agent in the textile industry. The study aimed to investigate the efficiency of bioremediating bacteria in degrading methyl orange. Escherichia coli (E. coli), a Methyl Orange-degrading bacterium, was isolated from cow dung and its biochemical properties were analysed using 16S rRNA sequencing, and MALDI-TOF MS. A pre-cultured strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was co-cultured with E. coli in 1:1 ration in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) for simultaneous electricity production and methyl orange degradation. The degradation was combined with biological wastewater treatment at varying Methyl Orange concentrations, and the electrochemical characteristics were analysed through polarisation study, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The impact of parameters such as anolyte pH, dye concentration, incubation time, and substrate concentrations were also studied. This study confirmed E. coli as an effective methyl orange degrading bacteria with a maximum % degradation efficiency of 98% after 48 h incubation at pH 7.0. The co-culture of isolated microorganisms at 250 mg/L of methyl orange concentration showed a maximum power density 6.5 W/m 3 . Further, anode modification with Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles on the anode surface enhanced power production to 11.2 W/m 3 , an increase of 4.7 W/m 3 .

Mozhdeh Dehghanian, Mahmood Akhavan Mahdavi, Reza Gheshlaghi et al.

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2025

Smriti Mehrotra, Meenal Gupta, Dujearic‐Stephane Kouao et al.

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery • 2023

Ramesh Aryal, Diana E. Beltrán, Jia Liu

International Journal of Green Energy • 2019

Ni nanoparticles (NPs), multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), and MWCNT/Ni were compared for the first time in enhancing power production and wastewater treatment efficiency of a two-chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC). The cathode electrode – a 3D carbon fiber brush – was modified for the first time using different amounts of the three types of nanomaterials. Closed-circuit voltage of the cell was recorded, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the anode solution was measured with time. The overall performance of the MFC was enhanced in the following order: MWCNT > MWCNT/Ni > Ni. The power production increased by 7.9 times to 1.2 W/m3 with 1.5 mg/cm2 of MWCNT. The power density further increased to 1.9 W/m3, and the COD maximally decreased by 163.3 mg/L in a 24-h duration with 3.0 mg/cm2 of MWCNT. The internal resistance decreased maximally by 65.2% to 0.4 kΩ with 1.5 mg/cm2 of MWCNT/Ni, and further to 0.3 kΩ with 3.0 mg/cm2 of MWCNT/Ni. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was conducted to assess the effects of different nanomaterials on the impedance of the MFC. Charge transfer resistance of the cathode was maximally reduced by ~85% to 0.3 Ω with 3.0 mg/cm2 of MWCNT/Ni. Considering price, stability, and performance, MWCNT is the most practical material for cathode modification. This study is meaningful for sustainable wastewater treatment by enhancing energy production from wastewater treatment process through applying low-cost nanomaterials on the cathode of the MFC.

Chao-Chin Chang, Chun‐Wei Yeh, Chang‐Ping Yu

Journal of Power Sources • 2023

Ye Wang, Qijun Wang, Xu Zhao et al.

Journal of environmental chemical engineering • 2024

Meshack Imologie Simeon, Agbotiname Lucky Imoize, Ruth Freitag

2021 18th International Multi-Conference on Systems, Signals & Devices (SSD) • 2021

Electrode materials play a critical role in the performance of microbial fuel cells. This study investigates the contribution of capacitive bio-electrodes to sustainable power production in a single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC). The capacitive electrodes consisted of a stainless-steel wire mesh with an activated carbon layer, while the non-capacitive control electrodes were made of graphite felt with a wound current collector. The MFCs were constructed using a glass vessel with the anode completely buried in biologically active soil and the cathode placed above the soil to form a single chamber configuration. The performance of the MFCs was investigated using linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed that the performance of the capacitive MFC was three times better than that of the non-capacitive MFC. While there was no significant difference in the Ohmic resistances of the MFCs, there was a significant difference in charge transfer resistance and capacitance of the MFCs. The capacitive MFC had a double layer capacitance of 8.282 μF in addition to the diffuse layer capacitance at the layer/metal interface of 2.012 F, while the non-capacitive MFC had a double layer capacitance of 5.034 μF with no diffuse layer capacitance. The results show that the capacitive characteristics of both cathode and anode improve the performance of a single-chamber MFC.

Boya Fu, Ting Xu, Xingguo Guo et al.

Journal of Cleaner Production • 2019

Soumyajit Chandra, Krishna Kumar Pandey, Soumya Pandit et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2025

Aicha Zerrouki, Mostéfa Kameche, Hakima Kebaili et al.

Polymer Bulletin • 2018

Aiichiro Fujinaga, Saiki Umeda, Manabu Heya et al.

Journal of Water and Environment Technology • 2022

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can generate electricity from organic compounds present in wastewater; however, the resulting small electric power is insufficient for practical applications. This issue occurs because of the high internal resistance of MFCs, which can be addressed by first precisely measuring these internal resistances. However, a standard method for measuring the internal resistance, which depends on the conditions of the MFCs, does not exist. Therefore, five measurement methods in the open-circuit (OC) mode were evaluated in this study. In addition, the internal resistances in the closed-circuit (CC) mode were measured using a one-resistance method and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The values obtained by the linear sweep intensity of current potentiometry (LSIP) method were different from those measured by the other four methods. This was presumably because LSIP involved forcibly flowing electric current in the MFCs. The one-resistance method yielded similar internal resistances to those of the other methods in the OC mode. In addition, this method was applicable in the CC mode. Therefore, the one-resistance method can be used during discharging and for developing MFCs based on discharging.

Hakima Kebaili, Mostéfa Kameche, Christophe Innocent et al.

Acta Ecologica Sinica • 2020

Yolina Hubenova, Eleonora Hubenova, Blagoy Burdin et al.

Electrochimica Acta • 2019

A. Sumisha, K. Haribabu

Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering • 2020

Sivasankaran Ayyaru, V JAYARAMAN, Young‐Ho Ahn

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2024

Chao-Chin Chang, Chang‐Ping Yu

Journal of Power Sources • 2022

Aling Zhou, Jiasui Huang, Lixia Wang et al.

Inorganic Chemistry • 2025

Optimizing the adsorption and desorption kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for efficient overall water splitting. Herein, we report a series of porous ferrocene-based metal-organic framework (MFc-MOF, M = Co, Ni, Fe, Mn) nanoflowers featuring a close π-π stacking lattice structure as model catalysts, and explore the structure-activity relationship. Operando electrochemical impedance spectroscopy implies that the synthesized CoFc-MOF@NF facilitates intermediate adsorption and desorption. It exhibits an ultralow overpotential of 189 mV at 10 mA cm -2 and maintains stability for 250 h. In an overall water splitting device, when CoFc-MOF@NF serves as the anode, it yields a significantly lower cell voltage than commercial RuO 2 and shows excellent stability at 100 mA cm -2 for 100 h. In situ Raman spectroscopy reveals that the CoFc-MOF@NF surface transforms into CoFeOOH, the OER-active species, while preserving the MOF framework. The inner MOF's ferrocene units act as efficient electron-transfer mediators. These findings highlight CoFc-MOF@NF's potential as a leading catalyst for sustainable water splitting hydrogen production, combining high catalytic activity, rapid kinetics, and robust stability. This work presents a new approach to balance activity and stability in MOF-based OER catalysts.

Markus Stöckl, Christin Schlegel, Anne Sydow et al.

Electrochimica Acta • 2016

Pilar Sánchez‐Peña, Jesús Rodríguez, Raquel Montes et al.

ChemElectroChem • 2021

Abstract Air‐cathode microbial fuel cells (AC‐MFC) use a gas‐diffusion‐layer (GDL) coating based on polytetrafluoroethylene applied to the cathode to prevent electrolyte leakage. However, this type of GDL can also lead to a decrease in MFC performance due to electron‐transfer limitation, mass‐transfer limitation or catalyst availability. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the significance of the GDL coating, demonstrating the interaction between the number of GDL coatings and the external resistance (R ext ) used. An experimental design in 28 mL AC‐MFCs was prepared and conducted using two different R ext (10 and 249 Ω) and four different GDL coatings (1 to 4 layers). The coating effect was not significant when operating with a high R ext , where the electron transfer was the limiting process. However, when the R ext was low, the amount of polytetrafluoroethylene limited the cathode performance due to a significant decrease in the Pt availability on the catalytic surface. Thus, GDL‐1 with 10 Ω as R ext reached 0.96 mA/cm 2 , 3‐fold higher than that obtained with 249 Ω as R ext (ca. 0.30 mA/cm 2 ). Besides, the current density did not vary noticeably in the other cathodes with 249 Ω as R ext . Contrarily, the current density with 10 Ω as R ext decreased as the number of GDL increased (0.74, 0.57 and 0.37 for GDL‐2, GDL‐3 and GDL‐4 respectively). These values agreed with those of the polarization curve. Furthermore, limitations were also observed in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements: the charge resistance increased with the number of GDL, related to the ease of electron flow. These values were18 Ω, 22 Ω, 53 Ω and 58 Ω for GDL‐1, GDL‐2, GDL‐3 and GDL‐4, respectively, for both 10 and 249 Ω cathodes.

Shaohua Chen, Wenliang Chen, Xiufang Wang et al.

Polish Journal of Environmental Studies • 2020

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is regarded as a promising technology to treat waste water and generate electricity simultaneously. MFCs usually work in the water-soluble medium, but the performance of the MFC which works in the porous medium is still unclear. Therefore, in this paper, a sand box was used to construct a dual-chamber MFC to investigate its performance. The MFC was used in porous medium to simulate the environment of groundwater, which was used to investigate the nitrate removal rate and the performance of electricity generation under different pH values. The performance of the MFC electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results showed that the maximum power density was 0.003 mW/m 3 (pH = 7.0) and the lowest nitrate concentration was 0.49 mg/L (pH = 8.5). The dominant microbial communities were Comamonadaceae bacterium, Xanthomonas axonopodis et al. Although the MFC was weak in electricity generation, it could offer valuable reference to further experiment.

Qijun Wang, Chengbin Zhang, Xu Zhao et al.

The Science of The Total Environment • 2023

Huong Viet Hoa Tran, Bonyoung Koo, Sunghoon Son et al.

Journal of Water Process Engineering • 2025

Miguel Mauricio Aguilera Flores, Verónica Ávila Vázquez, Nahúm Andrés Medellín-Castillo et al.

Journal of Environmental Science and Health Part A • 2021

Ibuprofen degradation and energy generation in a single-chamber Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) were evaluated using a bioanode fabricated from devil fish bone char (BCA) synthesized by calcination in air atmosphere. Its performance was compared with conventional carbon felt (CF). Bone char textural properties were determined by nitrogen adsorption. Before and after, the bacterial colonization on the materials was analyzed by environmental scanning electron microscopy. Energy generation was evaluated by electrochemical techniques as open-circuit potential, linear sweep voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Ibuprofen degradation was analyzed by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Ultraviolet, and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was measured. Results showed a specific area of 136 m 2 /g for BCA, having enough space to immobilize microorganisms. The micrographs confirmed the biofilm formation on the electrode materials. Over the 14 days, MFC with BCA reached a maximum power density of 4.26 mW/m 2 , 175% higher than CF, and an electron transfer resistance 2.1 times lower than it. This coincides with the COD removal and ibuprofen degradation efficiencies, which were 43.6% and 34% for BCA and 31.8% and 27% for CF. Hence, these findings confirmed that BCA in MFC could provide an alternative electrode material for ibuprofen degradation and energy generation.

G.S. Jadhav, Arun Kumar Mehta, Akash Tripathi et al.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research • 2024

Pruetsaji Winaikij, Paiboon Sreearunothai, Korakot Sombatmankhong

Solid State Ionics • 2018

T. Sathish, Ravishankar Sathyamurthy, S. Sandeep Kumar et al.

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2022

Zineb Nabti, Tarik Bordjiba, Sujittra Poorahong et al.

Journal of Materials Science Materials in Electronics • 2018

Γεωργία Αντωνοπούλου, Georgios Bampos, Ιωάννα Ντάϊκου et al.

Energy • 2023

S. Karthick, S Vishnuprasad, Haribabu Krishnan et al.

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery • 2021

Rodrigo José Marassi, Mariella Belén Galeano, Lucas Gonçalves Queiroz et al.

Biochemical Engineering Journal • 2021

R. Lalitha Priya, T. Ramachandran, Punathil Vasu Suneesh

IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering • 2016

This work reports the fabrication of a dual chamber microbial fuel cell with E. coli modified graphite as the anode and lead dioxide cathode. At the optimized operating conditions, the cell provided 778 mV open circuit potential, 3.47 mA m-2 of current density and 1660 mW m-2 power density. Morphology of the of E. coli biofilm on the electrode was analysed using AFM and the electrochemical characterization of the fuel cell was carried out using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and polarization curves. The composition of the anode and the time duration for E. coli biofilm formation were varied to obtain maximum power density. The MFC fabricated in this study was found to have improved power density in comparison with other reported fuel cells.

Song‐Jeng Huang, Kavya Arun Dwivedi, Sunil Kumar et al.

Environmental Pollution • 2022

Yao Yin, Guangtuan Huang, Mengjie Di et al.

Research on Chemical Intermediates • 2016

Adel I. Alalawy, Nahla S. Zidan, Mohamed Sakran et al.

Biomass and Bioenergy • 2024

Fatemeh Nourbakhsh, Mohammad Pazouki, M. Mohsen‐Nia

Journal of Fuel Chemistry and Technology • 2017

Miguel Mauricio Aguilera Flores, Verónica Ávila Vázquez, Nahúm Andrés Medellín-Castillo et al.

Journal of environmental chemical engineering • 2021

Rezgar Hassanzadeh, Reza E. Sabzi, Masoud Faraji

Journal of Power Sources • 2023