Behavior of two-chamber microbial electrochemical systems started-up with different ion-exchange membrane separators. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Koók, László; Quéméner, Elie Desmond-Le; Bakonyi, Péter; Zitka, Jan; Trably, Eric; Tóth, Gábor; Pavlovec, Lukas; Pientka, Zbynek; Bernet, Nicolas; Bélafi-Bakó, Katalin; Nemestóthy, Nándor
• Is Part Of: Bioresource technology. Volume 278(2019)
• Page Start: 279
• Page End: 286
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: Bioelectrochemical system -- Microbial fuel cell -- Membrane -- Separator -- Microbial community structure -- Principal component analysis; Biomass -- Periodicals; Biomass energy -- Periodicals; Bioremediation -- Periodicals; Agricultural wastes -- Periodicals; Factory and trade waste -- Periodicals; Organic wastes -- Periodicals; Bioénergie -- Périodiques; Déchets agricoles -- Périodiques; Déchets industriels -- Périodiques; Déchets organiques -- Périodiques; Déchets (Combustible) -- Périodiques; 662.88
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.01.097
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-8524

Abstract

Highlights: The use of certain anion/cation exchange membranes in MFC is first presented. The type of membrane separator affected the efficiency of MFC start-up. MFC with anion exchange membrane showed outstanding performance. Geobacter was dominantly selected on anodes independently of membrane type. Voltammograms indicated various anode surface coverage of redox components. Abstract: In this study, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) – operated with novel cation- and anion-exchange membranes, in particular AN-VPA 60 (CEM) and PSEBS DABCO (AEM) – were assessed comparatively with Nafion proton exchange membrane (PEM). The process characterization involved versatile electrochemical (polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy – EIS, cyclic voltammetry – CV) and biological (microbial structure analysis) methods in order to reveal the influence of membrane-type during start-up. In fact, the use of AEM led to 2–5 times higher energy yields than CEM and PEM and the lowest MFC internal resistance (148 ± 17 Ω) by the end of start-up. Regardless of the membrane-type, Geobacter was dominantly enriched on all anodes. Besides, CV and EIS measurements implied higher anode surface coverage of redox compounds for MFCs and lower membrane resistance with AEM, respectively. As a result, AEM based on PSEBS DABCO could be found as a promising material to substitute Nafion.