article · Journal of Nanomaterials
Researchers developed a ternary composite anode material for microbial fuel cells by combining biosynthesised alpha manganese dioxide and nickel oxide nanoparticles with polyaniline. When applied to a pencil graphite electrode, this composite achieved greater surface roughness and superior charge storing capacity compared to bare electrodes and single- or dual-component alternatives. Electrochemical characterisation revealed reduced charge transfer resistance and a rapid heterogeneous electron transfer rate, facilitating efficient glucose oxidation. During operation in a double-chambered microbial fuel cell, the modified electrode supported enhanced cycle stability, delivering a maximum power density of 506.96 milliwatts per square metre alongside an 81.92 percent reduction in chemical oxygen demand. These results demonstrate that the ternary composite serves as an effective anode, improving both energy recovery and wastewater treatment efficiency.
Microbial fuel cells offer an attractive route to treat wastewater while simultaneously capturing electrical energy. However, practical application is often held back by slow electron transfer and poor power generation at the anode. Developing nanostructured composite materials that boost electrical conductivity and active surface area helps overcome these limitations, moving bioelectrochemical systems closer to viable dual-purpose solutions for sanitation and clean power.
This material is relevant to developers of microbial fuel cells and wastewater treatment systems seeking enhanced power output and organic contaminant removal. Judged by the reported laboratory-scale synthesis and testing on pencil graphite electrodes in double-chambered cells, the technology is at an early experimental stage. Substantial development, including testing with real wastewater streams and evaluating long-term electrode durability, will be necessary before industrial adoption can be considered.
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In this study, biosynthesized α-MnO2/NiO NPs and chemically oxidative polyaniline (PANI) were synthesized to form ternary composite anode material for MFC. The synthesized materials were characterized with different materials (UV-Vis, FTIR, XRD, TGA-DTA-DSC, SEM-EDX-Gwyddion, CV, and EIS) to deeply examine their optical, structural, morphological, thermal, roughness, and electrocatalytic properties. The degree of surface roughness for α-MnO2/NiO/PANI was <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><a:mn>23.65</a:mn><a:mo>±</a:mo><a:mn>5.652</a:mn><a:mtext> </a:mtext><a:mtext>nm</a:mtext></a:math> . This value was higher than the pure α-MnO2, pure PANI, and even α-MnO2/PANI nanocomposite due to surface modification. The total charge storing performance for bare PGE, α-MnO2/PGE, PANI/PGE, α-MnO2/PANI/PGE, and α-MnO2/NiO/PANI/PGE were 5.291, 17.267, 20.659, 23.258, and 24.456 mC. From this, the charge storing performance formed by α-MnO2/NiO/PANI-modified PGE was highest, indicating that this electrode is best in cycle stability and increases its life cycle during energy conversion time in MFC. This is also supported by its effective surface area, having a value of 0.00984 cm2. From this, it is evidenced that the ternary composite catalyst-modified anode facilitates the fast electrocatalytic activity as observed from its high peak current and lower peak-to-peak potential separation ( <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><c:mi>Δ</c:mi><c:msub><c:mrow><c:mi>E</c:mi></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mtext>p</c:mtext></c:mrow></c:msub><c:mo>=</c:mo><c:mn>0.216</c:mn><c:mtext> </c:mtext><c:mtext>V</c:mtext></c:math> ) than other electrodes. Such surface modification helps to store more electrical charge by increasing electrical conductivity during its charge/discharge processing time. In addition, the lower charge transfer resistance property with a value of 788.9 Ω and the fast heterogeneous electron transfer rate of ~2.92 s-1 enable to facilitate glucose oxidation, and this enhances to produce high power output and increase wastewater treatment efficiency. As a result, the bioelectrical activity of α-MnO2/NiO/PANI composite-modified PGE was very effective in producing a maximum power density of 506.96 mW m-2 with COD of 81.92%. The above observations justified that α-MnO2/NiO/PANI/PGE serves as an effective anode material in double-chambered MFC application.
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DOI: 10.1155/2021/7475902
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