Effect of cyclic voltammetry process on start-up and electricity performance of microbial fuel cells

doi:10.11949/j.issn.0438-1157.20161181

Abstract

Abstract:

The start-up process and power generation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) influence the practical application of MFCs for wastewater treatment. In this paper, we reported a novel way to accelerate the electrochemical active biofilm formation by conducting the cyclic voltammetry (CV) scans on the cell. The MFCs with CV scan of 24 h reduced the start-up time by 71.4% from 420 to 120 h, and increased power density by 21.5% from 31.1 to 37.8 W·m^-3, comparing to the MFCs started-up with an external resistance of 1000 Ω. The fast growth rate of biomass having dominant electrogenic bacteria under CV scans contributed to the enhancement of MFCs performance. This technology provides a novel approach to short the start-up time and increase the power density of MFCs.

Key words: microbial fuel cells, cyclic voltammetry, start-up, power density, bacterial growth, biofilm

摘要：

微生物燃料电池（MFCs）的启动及产电性能直接影响其应用于对实际废水的处理。以屠宰厂废水为基质研究了循环伏安扫描对单室空气阴极微生物燃料电池启动和产电性能的影响。结果表明：经过24 h CV扫描的MFCs其启动时间比常规电阻（1000 Ω）直接启动的MFCs缩短了71.4%（从420 h缩短至120 h），MFCs最大功率密度提高了21.5%，达到37.8 W·m^-3。通过电极生物量测定和生物膜表面形貌观察发现，经CV扫描的阳极生物量显著提高且生物膜的产电菌占优势是MFCs性能提高的主要原因。说明CV扫描不断促进产电菌在阳极表面的吸附，而且增加产电微生物的生长速度。这一技术为发展MFCs的快速启动和提升MFCs的产电性能提供了新思路。

关键词: 微生物燃料电池, 循环伏安扫描, 启动, 产电功率, 生物生长, 生物膜

CLC Number:

X382

DING Weijun, LIU Peng, LIU Weifeng, CHEN Jie, ZHU Hang, HUANG Haobin, CHENG Shao'an. Effect of cyclic voltammetry process on start-up and electricity performance of microbial fuel cells[J]. CIESC Journal, 2017, 68(3): 1205-1210.

丁为俊, 刘鹏, 刘伟凤, 陈杰, 朱杭, 黄浩斌, 成少安. 循环伏安扫描对微生物燃料电池启动和产电性能的影响[J]. 化工学报, 2017, 68(3): 1205-1210.

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