Abstract
Due to energy shortage and the rise of environmental awareness, scientists and researchers try to find some kinds of renewable energy. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a great potential technology. Of all parts of MFC, the electrode materials play a crucial role in the electricity generation. This study investigates the performance of carbon cloth or stainless steel mesh electrodes modified with carbon nanotube (CNT) or graphene in single-chamber MFC. In this study, E. coli and graphene or CNT coated onto carbon cloth or stainless steel mesh electrodes are chosen as the bacteria and modified electrodes, respectively. The morphology of CNT or graphene coated on the electrode and the bacterial biofilm were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). The experimental results showed that (1) the stainless steel mesh electrodes showed better performance of electricity generation. (2) MFC with either graphene or CNT coated onto the electrode improves the power density. Compared with the previous study using E. coli as the bacteria, the composite electrodes with CNT or graphene appeared to perform better. Especially, the catalytic effect of platinum can be replaced by the cathode coated with CNT or graphene. The stainless steel mesh electrodes has the potential to substitute the carbon cloth ones and show the higher power and reduce the cost of MFC. Keywords: Microbial fuel cell, Carbon nanotube, Graphene, E. coli