Talk Abstract of Dr.Mostafa Ghasemi
New insight to the mechanism and effect of anion and cation exchange membrane in the microbial fuel cell:A benchmark study with PTFE and Nafion 117
Mostafa Ghasemi
Abstract- This presentation studied the application of an anion exchange membrane (PTFE) and compared its performance with a common cation exchange membrane (Nafion 117) in terms of power generation, COD removal, and coulombic efficiency in a microbial fuel cell. The movement of H+ from anode to cathode in MFCs that use CEM and the transfer of OH- from cathode to anode in MFCs that use AEM keep the pH balanced, which is necessary for microbial metabolite and catalytic activity. The CEM-MFC generated 181.5 mW/m2 and 67% COD removal and the AEM-MFC generated 272.37 mW/m2 and 75% COD removal. The coulombic efficiency of CEM-MFC was 24.4% while the CE of AEM-MFC reached to 29%. The results show that AEM-MFC can produce 50.2% more power and 18.8% more CE and is a suitable choice for use in MFC for clean fuel production as well as COD removal. This is a result of higher microbial activity and a cathode catalyst for ORR activity, as the pH in AEM-MFC is kept in equilibrium longer than in CEM-MFC. In AEM-MFC, OH- is more easily transferred from the cathode to the anode, which makes the medium more suitable for bacterial growth and prevents acidification of the anode space. In addition, hydroxide ion transfer maintains the pH balance of the cathodic compartment.
Keywords: Cation exchange membrane; Anion exchange membrane; Power density; Performance; Catalytic activity
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