TY - JOUR
T1 - Proton exchange membrane and electrode surface areas as factors that affect power generation in microbial fuel cells
AU - Oh, Sang Eun
AU - Logan, Bruce E.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The authors thank Shaoan Cheng and Tom Mallouk for advice on electrode potential measurements, and Hong Liu for help with the development of the power model. This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grants BES-0331824 and BES-0401885, USDA–DOE grant 68-3A75-3-150, the Penn State University Huck Life Sciences Institute, and the Stan and Flora Kappe Endowment.
PY - 2006/3
Y1 - 2006/3
N2 - Power generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is a function of the surface areas of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) and the cathode relative to that of the anode. To demonstrate this, the sizes of the anode and cathode were varied in two-chambered MFCs having PEMs with three different surface areas (APEM=3.5, 6.2, or 30.6 cm2). For a fixed anode and cathode surface area (AAn=ACat=22.5 cm2), the power density normalized to the anode surface area increased with the PEM size in the order 45 mW/m2 (APEM=3.5 cm2), 68 mW/m2 (APEM=6.2 cm2), and 190 mW/m2 (APEM=30.6 cm2). PEM surface area was shown to limit power output when the surface area of the PEM was smaller than that of the electrodes due to an increase in internal resistance. When the relative cross sections of the PEM, anode, and cathode were scaled according to 2ACat=A PEM=2AAn, the maximum power densities of the three different MFCs, based on the surface area of the PEM (APEM=3.5, 6.2, or 30.6 cm2), were the same (168± 4.53 mW/m2). Increasing the ionic strength and using ferricyanide at the cathode also increased power output.
AB - Power generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is a function of the surface areas of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) and the cathode relative to that of the anode. To demonstrate this, the sizes of the anode and cathode were varied in two-chambered MFCs having PEMs with three different surface areas (APEM=3.5, 6.2, or 30.6 cm2). For a fixed anode and cathode surface area (AAn=ACat=22.5 cm2), the power density normalized to the anode surface area increased with the PEM size in the order 45 mW/m2 (APEM=3.5 cm2), 68 mW/m2 (APEM=6.2 cm2), and 190 mW/m2 (APEM=30.6 cm2). PEM surface area was shown to limit power output when the surface area of the PEM was smaller than that of the electrodes due to an increase in internal resistance. When the relative cross sections of the PEM, anode, and cathode were scaled according to 2ACat=A PEM=2AAn, the maximum power densities of the three different MFCs, based on the surface area of the PEM (APEM=3.5, 6.2, or 30.6 cm2), were the same (168± 4.53 mW/m2). Increasing the ionic strength and using ferricyanide at the cathode also increased power output.
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U2 - 10.1007/s00253-005-0066-y
DO - 10.1007/s00253-005-0066-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 16167143
AN - SCOPUS:33644498839
SN - 0175-7598
VL - 70
SP - 162
EP - 169
JO - Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
JF - Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
IS - 2
ER -