Facile Fabrication of Graphene‐Containing Foam as a High‐Performance Anode for Microbial Fuel Cells. Issue 30 (19th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Lu; Wang, Shuqin; Peng, Shuqin; Jiang, Hongmei; Zhang, Youming; Deng, Wenfang; Tan, Yueming; Ma, Ming; Xie, Qingji
• Is Part Of: Chemistry. Volume 21:Issue 30(2015)
• Page Start: 10634
• Page End: 10638
• Publication Date: 2015-06-19
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/chem.201501772
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0947-6539

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Facile fabrication of novel three‐dimensional anode materials to increase the bacterial loading capacity and improve substrate transport in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is of great interest and importance. Herein, a novel graphene‐containing foam (GCF) was fabricated easily by freeze‐drying and pyrolysis of a graphene oxide–agarose gel. Owing to the involvement of graphene and stainless‐steel mesh in the GCF, the GCF shows high electrical conductivity, enabling the GCF to be a conductive electrode for MFC applications. With the aid of agarose, the GCF electrode possesses a supermacroporous structure with pore sizes ranging from 100–200 μm and a high surface area, which greatly increase the bacterial loading capacity. Cell viability measurements indicate that the GCF possesses excellent biocompatibility. The MFC, equipped with a 0.4 mm‐thick GCF anode, shows a maximum area power density of 786 mW m⁻², which is 4.1 times that of a MFC equipped with a commercial carbon cloth anode. The simple fabrication route in combination with the outstanding electrochemical performance of the GCF indicates a promising anode for MFC applications.</p> </abstract>