Exploring the use of cost-effective membrane materials for Microbial Fuel Cell based sensors
Exploring the use of cost-effective membrane materials for Microbial Fuel Cell based sensors
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DOI：
10.1016/j.electacta.2017.01.195
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发表时间：
2017-03-20
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Di Lorenzo, Mirella
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Chouler, Jon;Bentley, Isobel;Di Lorenzo, Mirella
微生物燃料电池作为一种自供电的、真实的实时和现场的技术显示出巨大的潜力，用于监测水系统中不稳定的有机碳含量（例如生化需氧量，BOD）。通过大幅降低制造成本，微生物燃料电池可以成为水质监测的重要工具，世界上最贫穷和最偏远的地区也可以使用。为了实现这一点，本研究首次调查了两种低成本膜材料的使用：天然聚合物（蛋壳膜）和合成聚合物（聚二甲基硅氧烷，PDMS）。将所得装置的能量产生和感测能力与无膜装置进行比较，而众所周知的Nafion膜用作对照。对于每种器件，还研究了电极间距对性能的影响。PDMS的使用导致了与昂贵得多的Nafion膜类似的功率密度。电极间距影响输出功率，但它有一个可忽略的影响的BOD传感能力的设备。特别地，对于蛋壳膜和无膜装置的情况，电极间距越高，功率性能越好。当使用合成膜时，观察到相反的趋势。最后，尽管蛋壳膜装置比其他装置更不稳定，但其具有最低的内阻和最高的灵敏度。总之，这项研究不仅证明了在MFC中使用廉价的膜，但它也提供了设计的指导方针，在电极间距和横截面积方面，根据所使用的材料。(C)2017作者（S）爱思唯尔有限公司出版
Microbial fuel cells show great potential as a self-powered, real time and on- site technology for monitoring the labile organic carbon content (e.g. Biochemical Oxygen Demand, BOD) in water systems. By drastically reducing their cost of manufacture, MFCs can become an important tool for water quality monitoring, accessible also in the poorest and most remote areas of the world. To enable this, this study investigates for the first time the use of two low cost membrane materials: a natural polymer (eggshell membrane), and a synthetic polymer (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS). The energy generation and sensing capability of the resulting devices were compared with a membrane-less device, while the well-known Nafion((R)) membrane was used as a control. For each device, the effect of electrode spacing on performance was also investigated. The use of PDMS led to a power density similar to the case of the much more expensive Nafion((R)) membrane. The electrode spacing affected the output power, but it had a negligible effect on the BOD sensing capability of the devices. In particular, for the case of the eggshell membrane and the membrane-less devices, the higher the electrode spacing the better the power performance. The opposite trend was observed when a synthetic membrane was used. Finally, although more unstable than the other devices, the eggshell membrane devices were associated with the lowest internal resistances and the highest sensitivity. In conclusion, this study not only demonstrates the use of inexpensive membranes in MFCs, but it also provides guidelines on design, in terms of electrode spacing and crosssectional area, according to the material used. (C) 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.