碳纳米管阳极微生物燃料电池产电特性的研究

考察了以碳纳米管(carbon nanotube,CN)、活性炭(activated carbon,AC)和柔性石墨(flexible graphite,FG)为阳极材料的3种微生物燃料电池(CN-MFC、AC-MFC和FG-MFC)的产电性能,其最大产电功率密度分别为402、354和274 mW/m2,CN-MFC产电功率密度和库仑效率均高于AC-MFC和FG-MFC.CN-MFC、AC-MFC和FG-MFC的内阻分别为263、301和381 Q,以碳纳米管为阳极材料町以有效降低MFC的阳极内阻.稳定运行后3种MFC阳极蛋白质含量分别为149、132和92 ug/cm2,阳极上蛋白质含量与阳极内阻呈负相关.碳纳米管和活性炭粉作为阳极的MFC表面累计孔体积均高于柔性石墨阳极.3种阳极材料中柔性石墨的导电性最好,其次为碳纳米管.活性炭最低,与阳极内阻高低次序一致.测量CN.MFC、AC.MFC和FG-MFC内阻所需的稳定时间分别为1 800、1 200和300 S.

Electricity Generation by the Microbial Fuel Cells Using Carbon Nanotube as the Anode

The characteristic of anode plays an important role in the performance of the microbial fuel cell (MFC). Thus, carbon nanotube (CN), flexible graphite (FG) and activated carbon (AC) were used as anode material in this study, and the performances of three MFCs (CN-MFC, FG-MFC and AC-MFC) were studied. The results show that CN is a kind of suitable material to be used as anode in the MFC. The maximal power densities of CN-MFC, FG-MFC and AC-MFC are 402,354 and 274 mW/m2, respectively. The CN-MFC shows a higher power density and coulombic efficiency compared with FG-MFC and AC-MFC. The CN-anode can reduce the internal resistance obviously. The internal resistances of CN-MFC, AC-MFC and FG-MFC are 263, 301 and 381 omega, respectively. The protein contents on the CN-anode, AC-anode and FG-anode are 149, 132 and 92 microg/cm2 after stable operation, and there is a positive relation between the protein content and internal resistance. The conductivity of the three types of MFCs from high to low was FG-MFC, CN-MFC and AC-MFC, which was accordant with the ohmic resistance. The stable times of CN-MFC, FG-MFC and AC-MFC, which were needed to measure the internal resistances, were 1800, 1200 and 300 s respectively.