Spray-on polyvinyl alcohol separators and impact on power production in air-cathode microbial fuel cells with different solution conductivities
Type
ArticleKAUST Grant Number
KUS-11-003-13Date
2014-11Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/599700
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. Separators are used to protect cathodes from biofouling and to avoid electrode short-circuiting, but they can adversely affect microbial fuel cell (MFC) performance. A spray method was used to apply a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) separator to the cathode. Power densities were unaffected by the PVA separator (339 ± 29 mW/m2), compared to a control lacking a separator in a low conductivity solution (1mS/cm) similar to wastewater. Power was reduced with separators in solutions typical of laboratory tests (7-13 mS/cm), compared to separatorless controls. The PVA separator produced more power in a separator assembly (SEA) configuration (444 ± 8 mW/m2) in the 1mS/cm solution, but power was reduced if a PVA or wipe separator was used in higher conductivity solutions with either Pt or activated carbon catalysts. Spray and cast PVA separators performed similarly, but the spray method is preferred as it was easier to apply and use.Citation
Hoskins DL, Zhang X, Hickner MA, Logan BE (2014) Spray-on polyvinyl alcohol separators and impact on power production in air-cathode microbial fuel cells with different solution conductivities. Bioresource Technology 172: 156–161. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.09.004.Sponsors
This research was supported by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and award KUS-11-003-13 from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The authors would like to thank Dr. Guang Chen for his expertise in the fabrication of PVA membranes.Publisher
Elsevier BVJournal
Bioresource TechnologyPubMed ID
25260178ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.biortech.2014.09.004
Scopus Count
Collections
Publications Acknowledging KAUST SupportRelated articles
- Separator characteristics for increasing performance of microbial fuel cells.
- Authors: Zhang X, Cheng S, Wang X, Huang X, Logan BE
- Issue date: 2009 Nov 1
- Design of clayware separator-electrode assembly for treatment of wastewater in microbial fuel cells.
- Authors: Chatterjee P, Ghangrekar MM
- Issue date: 2014 May
- Scalable air cathode microbial fuel cells using glass fiber separators, plastic mesh supporters, and graphite fiber brush anodes.
- Authors: Zhang X, Cheng S, Liang P, Huang X, Logan BE
- Issue date: 2011 Jan
- Polymer separators for high-power, high-efficiency microbial fuel cells.
- Authors: Chen G, Wei B, Luo Y, Logan BE, Hickner MA
- Issue date: 2012 Dec
- Mitigating external and internal cathode fouling using a polymer bonded separator in microbial fuel cells.
- Authors: Yang W, Rossi R, Tian Y, Kim KY, Logan BE
- Issue date: 2018 Feb