Microbial fuel battery with air-breathable biological cathode

Abstract

The invention discloses a microbial fuel battery with an air-breathable biological cathode. The microbial fuel battery with the air-breathable biological cathode comprises an anode chamber inoculated with anaerobic activated sludge and a cathode chamber inoculated with an aerobic biological cathode, which are partitioned by a cation exchange membrane, wherein an anode is arranged inside the anode chamber; a cathode is fixed on a reactor through an opening baffle plate to form the cathode chamber; aerobic microbes are adhered to the surface of the cathode to form the biological cathode; the other surface of the biological cathode is communicated with air so as to permeate oxygen into a cathode electrolyte to supply electron donors to the biological cathode; anodic microbes catabolize an organic matter to generate electrons; the electrons move to the biological cathode through an external circuit; and under the action of the microbes, oxygen reacts with the electrons and protons penetrating through the anode to generate water and electrical energy. Increase of operating cost by mechanical aeration can be avoided; and the microbes replace a noble metal catalyst for oxygen reduction, so that the construction cost of the microbial fuel battery is reduced and a relatively high electrical energy density is provided.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to an air-breathing biocathode microbial fuel cell. The permeated air provides sufficient oxygen as an electron acceptor of the biocathode, and belongs to the technical field of green bioenergy. Background technique [0002] The traditional biocathode microbial fuel cell (Microbial Fuel Cell, MFC) consists of an anode chamber and a cathode chamber, which are separated by an ion exchange membrane. The electricity generation process is that the anode microorganisms anaerobically degrade organic matter to generate electrons, protons and carbon dioxide; electrons are transmitted to the anode and reach the biocathode through the external circuit load, and the protons pass through the ion exchange membrane from the anode chamber to the cathode chamber; the cathode chamber electron acceptor (in the form of O 2 For example) under the action of cathode microorganisms, electrons and protons are reduced to water, thereby generating electric ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In the currently reported biocathode MFC, oxygen is mainly provided in the form of aeration, which increases its operating cost; in the open biocathode MFC, oxygen enters the biofilm by active diffusion, which can reduce aeration. The cost brought by the gas, but it is easy to generate a dissolved oxygen gradient inside the biofilm, which affects the performance of the biocathode

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