Thick Activated Carbon Sheet Electrode and Hydrophobic Organic Matter Improve the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cell

Abstract

Recently, there are a lot of environmental problems all over the world. Mass-consumption of fossil fuels contribute to depletion of them, emission of large amount of carbon dioxide, and global warming. However, fossil fuels are used everywhere and they are essential for modern life to get energy. A microbial fuel cell (MFC) is one of the new energy resources. This study focused on activated carbon sheet that has property of absorbing organic matter and large surface area. In this study, the experiment was conducted in eight conditions that were combined organic matter, kind of electrode and thickness of the electrode. Biofilm was built on two kinds of anodes that were made of carbon sheet and activated carbon sheet by using glucose or malt powder. The combination of using activated carbon sheet and malt powder produced maximum current density of 220 μA/cm 2.