LAPSE:2020.0168
Published Article
LAPSE:2020.0168
Investigation and Improvement of Scalable Oxygen Reducing Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cells by Spray Coating
Thorben Muddemann, Dennis Haupt, Bolong Jiang, Michael Sievers, Ulrich Kunz
February 3, 2020
This contribution describes the effect of the quality of the catalyst coating of cathodes for wastewater treatment by microbial fuel cells (MFC). The increase in coating quality led to a strong increase in MFC performance in terms of peak power density and long-term stability. This more uniform coating was realized by an airbrush coating method for applying a self-developed polymeric solution containing different catalysts (MnO2, MoS2, Co3O4). In addition to the possible automation of the presented coating, this method did not require a calcination step. A cathode coated with catalysts, for instance, MnO2/MoS2 (weight ratio 2:1), by airbrush method reached a peak and long-term power density of 320 and 200−240 mW/m2, respectively, in a two-chamber MFC. The long-term performance was approximately three times higher than a cathode with the same catalyst system but coated with the former paintbrush method on a smaller cathode surface area. This extraordinary increase in MFC performance confirmed the high impact of catalyst coating quality, which could be stronger than variations in catalyst concentration and composition, as well as in cathode surface area.
Keywords
Co3O4, microbial fuel cell, MnO2, MoS2, municipal wastewater, oxygen reduction reaction, spray method, wastewater treatment
Subject
Suggested Citation
Muddemann T, Haupt D, Jiang B, Sievers M, Kunz U. Investigation and Improvement of Scalable Oxygen Reducing Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cells by Spray Coating. (2020). LAPSE:2020.0168
Author Affiliations
Muddemann T: Institute of Chemical and Electrochemical Process Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany [ORCID]
Haupt D: CUTEC Research Center for Environmental Technologies, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
Jiang B: Institute of Chemical and Electrochemical Process Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
Sievers M: CUTEC Research Center for Environmental Technologies, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany [ORCID]
Kunz U: Institute of Chemical and Electrochemical Process Engineering, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
Journal Name
Processes
Volume
8
Issue
1
Article Number
E11
Year
2019
Publication Date
2019-12-19
Published Version
ISSN
2227-9717
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Original Submission
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PII: pr8010011, Publication Type: Journal Article
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LAPSE:2020.0168
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doi:10.3390/pr8010011
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Feb 3, 2020
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CC BY 4.0
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Feb 3, 2020
 
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Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
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