Highly Conductive Composite Electrodes in Microbial Fuel Cell Applications

• Main Authors: LAI, MAY-FENG, 賴美鳳
• Other Authors: LIN, JIA-HORNG
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/96199175983666844308

博士 === 逢甲大學 === 纖維與複合材料學系 === 105 === Animal husbandry becomes prosperous as a result of the economic growth, and there is thus more amount of animal wastewater. The wastewater is full of high concentration of organic ammonia nitrogen, nitrates, and phosphorus. The release of organic wastewater follows strict laws in order to decrease the pollution caused by highly condense organic ammonia and nitrogen. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) applies a method that catalyzes microorganisms, thereby converting chemical energy into electrical energy. This study aims to create two-chambered cubic MFC to help deal with the problem of pig manure wastewater. Non-precious metals are used to substitute previous metal, such as platinum, and the proposed highly conductive composite electrodes for MFC are able to transform pig manure wastewater into electricity yield. Moreover, the electrodes are designed to have two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) configurations. The plate-form 2D electrodes are composed of a carbon cloth and an iron/zinc (Zn/ Fe) metal mesh and an iron/copper metal mesh. The laminated 3D electrodes are composed of iron/zinc, iron/copper, stainless steel, and carbon fibers. These 2D and 3D electrodes are compared for power generation efficiency in terms of power generation, Coulomb efficiency, and COD removal efficiency. Moreover, 3D electrodes are compared for power generation efficiency as related to surface area. Finally, in order to compare the corrosion resistance against environmental conditions, the laminated 3D electrodes are separately processed with an iron/zinc (Zn/Fe) and iron/nickel (Ni/Fe) coating, examining the influence of the parameters on the power generation of MFC. The test results compare the electricity yield of MFC when the laminated electrodes are composed of zinc-coated metallic wires and carbon fibers (FZ/CF), and when the laminated electrodes are composed of stainless steel wires and carbon fibers (SS/CF). When using 3D-layered FZ/CF electrodes (LZ-C1) for MFC, the maximum voltage is 575.70 mV and the o鉑imal COD removal rate is 81.50 %. On the other hand, the influences of chamber environments on the corrosion resistance of FZ/CF and SS/CF electrodes are also examined. The test results indicate that FN-C3 contributes to an electricity yield of 630.20 mV and a COD removal rate is 81.43 %. The surface contact angle of the FZ electrode is 67.90 ± 0.7 degrees. According to the surface contact angle measurement and the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation, compared to SS/CF electrodes, the FZ/CF electrodes have greater hydrophilicity and wettability, which benefit the electricity yield for MFC. Moreover, the proposed 3D laminated electrodes have a lower production cost than that of traditional electrodes for MFC, and are a good candidate for a large-scale electricity generation.