Enhancing the Proton Exchange Membrane in Tubular Air-Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells Through a Hydrophobic Polymer Coating on a Hydrogel

Overview

Journal Materials (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Date 2024 Mar 28

PMID 38541442

Authors

Junlin Huang

Chih-Hung Wu

Fuying Li

Xiang Wang

Sheng-Chung Chen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The usage time of air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is significantly influenced by the moisture content within the proton exchange membrane (PEM). Therefore, enhancing the water retention capability of the PEM by applying a hydrophobic polymer coating to its surface has extended the PEM's usage time by three times and increased MFCs' operational duration by 66%. Moreover, the hydrophobic nature of the polymer coating reduces contamination on the PEM and prevents anode liquid from permeating into the air cathode. Towards the end of MFC operation, the internal resistance of the MFC is reduced by 45%. The polymer coating effectively maintained the oxygen reduction reaction activity in the cathode. The polymer coating's ability to restrict oxygen transmembrane diffusion is demonstrated by experimental data showing a significant decrease in oxygen diffusion coefficient due to its presence. The degradation efficiency of the chemical oxygen demand from 16% to 35% increased by a factor of one.

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