Energy Science & Engineering (Dec 2021)

Improvement of microbial fuel cell performance using novel kaolin earthenware membrane coated with a polybenzimidazole layer

  • Siti Mariam Daud,
  • Mimi Hani Abu Bakar,
  • Wan Ramli Wan Daud,
  • Byung Hong Kim,
  • Jamaliah Md Jahim,
  • Andanastuti Muchtar,
  • Mahendra Roa Somalu,
  • Pak Hoe Lee,
  • Peer Mohamed Abdul

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.988
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 12
pp. 2342 – 2353

Abstract

Read online

Abstract A proton exchange membrane (PEM) is one of the most critical and expensive components in a dual‐chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) that separates the anode and cathode chambers. The novel macroporous kaolin earthenware coated with polybenzimidazole (NKE‐PBI) fabricated in this study could become an alternative to PEM membranes. Briefly, PBI powder was dissolved in dimethylacetamide. Thereafter, NKE was fabricated at different porosities (10%, 20%, and 30%) using different starch powder volumes, which acted as pore‐forming agents. The NKE‐PBI with 30 vol% starch powder content produced the highest power output of 2450 ± 25 mW m−2 (10.50 A m−2) and internal resistance of 71 ± 19 Ω under batch mode operation. The MFC–PEM reactor generated the lowest power output at the highest internal resistance of up to 1300 ± 15 mW m−2 (3.7 A m−2) and 313 ± 16 Ω, respectively. In this study, the nonselective porous NKE coated with PBI membranes improved proton conduction activity and displayed comparable power performance with that of Nafion 117 in a dual‐chambered MFC. Therefore, a porous earthenware membrane coated with a proton conductor could become a potential separator in a scaled‐up MFC system for commercialization.

Keywords