Performance Study of Double Chamber Microbial Fuel Cell Operating with Dihydrogen Phyllosilicate Clay and Activated Carbon from Coconut Shells as Proton Exchange Membrane

Abstract

Bioelectrochemical system is one of the promising tools under the waste-energy nexus, a chief key in reducing the detrimental impact of global warming and wastewater problem. The upscale of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is hindered by the high cost of proton exchange membranes (PEM). In this study, a lower cost material than the commonly used Nafion membrane was investigated. Mixtures of activated carbon from coconut shells, ACCS, was incorporated in the Manihot starch- kaolin-clay composite as PEM. The ACCS/Clay membrane was characterized based on its swelling degree and proton transfer. Results showed that 2 % ACCS/Clay mixture has the lowest swelling degree and highest amount of proton transfer. The performance of the double chamber yeast-microalgal MFC is evaluated based on its operating voltage produced and % COD reduction within the 240-hour period. The MFC exhibited a maximum voltage of 0.339 V while obtaining an average % COD reduction of 51.27 %. Promising results were obtained in the upscale of this technology as this was around 3 times higher than the voltage generated by commercialized Nafion membranes.