High performance microbial fuel cells utilizing nanocarbon as an electrode

微生物燃料电池（mfc）是一种很有前途的从废弃生物质中捕获能量的设备，这意味着它们可以同时发电和处理废水。虽然它们最近引起了相当大的关注，但它们的功率密度太低，无法实际应用。增加电极表面积是提高mfc性能的关键因素。碳纳米管具有优异的导电性和极高的比表面积，是极具发展前景的电极材料。在这项研究中，我们发现碳纳米管与微生物酿酒酵母有很强的相互作用。CNTs附着在酿酒葡萄球菌细胞上，并分散在水和酿酒葡萄球菌的混合物中。在这里，我们报道了一个分散的碳纳米管的三维导电网络，它利用碳纳米管和铈的相互作用，实现了电极表面积的显著增加和功率密度的大幅提高。

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising devices for capturing the energy in waste biomass, meaning that they can generate electricity and treat wastewater at the same time. Although they have recently attracted considerable attention, their power densities are too low for practical use. Increasing the electrode surface area is a key factor for improving the performance of MFCs. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which have excellent electrical conductivity and extremely high specific surface area, are promising materials for electrodes. In this study, we reveal that CNTs have a strong interaction with the microorganism Saccharomyces cerevisiae. CNTs attach to S. cerevisiae cells and are dispersed in a mixture of water and S. cerevisiae. Here, we report a three-dimensional conductive network of dispersed CNTs, which utilizes the interaction between CNTs and S. cerevisiae, enabling the realization of a markedly increased electrode surface area and a large improvement in power density.