Preparation And Application Of Graphene Oxide/conductive Polymer Composite Anodes For MFC

Microbial fuel cell(MFC)is a new type of bioelectrochemical system that extracts electric energy from the organic compoundes available in wastewaters by micro-organism.However,the much lower power output of MFC is a significant bottleneck in hurdling its practical application as a sustainable power source.The intrinsic properties of anode materials directly affect bacteria adhesion and electron transfer.Therefore,enhancing the anode properties,including high conductivity,high specific surface area,high porosity,etc.,is a critical step for improving the performance of MFC.In this dissertation,two kinds of graphene oxide/ conductive polymer composite anodes,including poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)(GO/PEDOT)and graphene oxide/polypyrrole(GO/PPy)modified carbon felt(CF)were prepared via constant current electrodeposition.The structures,morphologies and properties were characterized by using raman spectra,scanning electron microscopy,cyclic voltammogram,electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and so on.Furthermore,the prepared anodes were applied in MFC and its properties were evaluated.The main conclusions are summarized as follows:1.Preparation and application of GO/PEDOT composite anode for MFC: The GO/PEDOT-CF electrode had large specific surface area and good electrochemical performance.When the GO/PEDOT-CF anode was used in MFC,maximum power density and current density were up to 1.138 W·m-2 and 4.714 A·m-2 respectively,which were 4.80 times and 5.51 times higher than those of unmodified anodes.These results demonstrate that the GO/PEDOT composite is a kind of effective anode modifying materials for improving electricity generation of MFC.2.Preparation and application of GO/PPy composite anode for MFC: The GO/PPy-CF anode which was prepared by constant current electrodeposition of graphene oxide/polypyrrole in one step,had better performance as MFC electrode as compared to reduced graphene oxide(rGO)/PPy-CF anode.In addition,the GO/PPy-CF anode preparation method was effective and environmentally-friendly for the preparation of MFC anode,which was simple and need no strong reducing agent.