Waste to Wealth by Reeta Rani Singhania Rashmi Avinash Agarwal R. Praveen Kumar & Rajeev K. Sukumaran

Author:Reeta Rani Singhania, Rashmi Avinash Agarwal, R. Praveen Kumar & Rajeev K. Sukumaran
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer Singapore, Singapore

11.7 Anode and Cathode Materials

Electrodes are the most important components of MFC as it decides the performance and the cost of the system. The design of a suitable electrode is very useful, and it can help for scale-up studies (Rabaey et al. 2009). Protons and electrons produced by the bacteria in MFC travel from the point of production on the anode surface to cathode surface. So, electrode materials should have the characteristic of being highly electrically conductive, but they must also be cost-effective and non-corrosive. In addition, the surface of the material must favor bacterial attachment to form biofilm on its surface.

Therefore, the selection of electrode plays an important role in the development and commercialization of MFC. Among all the materials, carbon is known to be one of a trusted material for application as electrode. In MFC research, carbon products have been under use in various forms because of its affability in its size and shape, viz. carbon cloth, carbon paper, carbon fiber. The use of carbon-based materials has significantly improved the MFC research, and it drastically reduces the cost of MFC system (Govind 2015).

Anode surface is the heart of a MFC system as it favors the formation of microbial biofilm, and hence, a anode material must fulfill certain requirements; i.e., it should have high specific surface area (area per volume), highly conductive, non-corrosive, high porosity for biofilm development, non-fouling (i.e., bacteria do not fill it up) (Logan 2008). Usually, carbon material plays a major role as electrodes in most of MFC for its characteristics and cost-effectiveness. Carbon-based electrodes are popular among fabrication of MFC. Table 11.2 shows direct comparisons on the effects of various carbon electrodes on power generations considering size of electrode, MFC type, and bacterial source used in a system.Table 11.2Comparison of various carbon-based anode materials and their performances

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