Polymer Separators for High-Power, High-Efficiency Microbial Fuel Cells
Abstract
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) with hydrophilic poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) separators showed higher Coulombic efficiencies (94%) and power densities (1220 mW m-2) than cells with porous glass fiber separators or reactors without a separator after 32 days of operation. These remarkable increases in both the coublomic efficiency and the power production of the microbial fuel cells were made possible by the separator's unique characteristics of fouling mitigation of the air cathode without a large increase in ionic resistance in the cell. This new type of polymer gel-like separator design will be useful for improving MFC reactor performance by enabling compact cell designs. © 2012 American Chemical Society.Citation
Chen G, Wei B, Luo Y, Logan BE, Hickner MA (2012) Polymer Separators for High-Power, High-Efficiency Microbial Fuel Cells. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 4: 6454–6457. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/am302301t.Sponsors
This research was supported by Award KUS-I1-003-13 from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)ISSN
1944-82441944-8252
PubMed ID
23167669Handle URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/599215ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1021/am302301t
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