Preparation Of TiO₂-Metal Composite Nanoarrays And Its Application In Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cell?MFC?is technology that can synchronize the sewage treatment with electricity generation.It is a water treatment technology and power generation technology with broad prospects,which uses microbes to convert biochemical energy into electricity.However,due to the low power generated by MFC,materials have a great influence on MFC performance in many MFC limiting factor.Therefore,it is of great theoretical and practical significance to develop high performance MFC anode materials and study their properties.The anodic oxidation method was used to prepare TiO₂ nanotube arrays.TiO₂nanotube arrays were used in the MFC anode materials and study of the COD degradation efficiency and the relationship between the morphology and properties of the TiO₂ nanotube arrays.For the simulated wastewater treatment process,the TiO₂nanotube array with an average diameter of 80¹50 nm is more conducive to the growth and attachment of microbes,reducing the electron transfer between microorganisms,and enhancing the electron transfer ability between microorganisms and electrode materials.Ni/TiO₂,Co/TiO₂ and Ag/TiO₂ composite nanoarrays were prepared by elecreochemical deposition on the basis of TiO₂ nanotube arrays with good properties.The electrical properties and COD degradation efficiency of MFC anode materials were studied.The experimental results show that the performance of Ni/TiO₂,Co/TiO₂and Ag/TiO₂ composite nanoarrays are better than those of Ti O₂ nanotube arrays,and the Ag/TiO₂ composite nanoarrays as the MFC electrode materials can improve the performance of MFC.The effect of Ag load on the performance of MFC was studied.The experimental comparison was made on the simulated wasterwater of Ag/TiO₂ composite nanoarrays with different deposition time.It was found that the content of Ag was higher in Ag/TiO₂-10 with the electrochemical deposition time of 10 min,and it had the better performance.Ag nanoparticles with nanoscale diameter less than 100 nm were then synthesized by the method of polyethylene glycol,and Ag⁰/TiO₂ nanoarrays were synthesized by ultrasonic assisted synthesis.The comparison of Ag/TiO₂-10 and Ag⁰/TiO₂ by degradation of actual fiber wastewater showed that Ag⁰/TiO₂ was slightly better in the property of electricity production and COD degradation in MFC.In MFC,TiO₂ nanotube arrays and their composites as electrode materials had an obvious increasing trend of COD degradation.The possible reason is that the TiO₂nanotube arrays has photocatalytic properties under visible light conditions,the electrode materials using its own photocatalytic performance to degrade the organic pollutants in wastewater.The TiO₂ nanotube arrays are combined with other materials to improve the separation of photoelectron hole pairs and improve the photocatalytic efficiency.are combined with other materials to improve the separation of photogenerated electron hole pairs and improve the photocatalytic efficiency.The photocatalytic properties of TiO₂ nanotube arrays and their composites were compared by the photocatalytic effect of methylene blue solution under visible light.Under the same conditions,the photocatalytic properties of the composite nanomaterials in 120 min are better than that of the TiO₂ nanotube arrays.In the composite nanomaterials,the photocatalytic properties of the Ag⁰/TiO₂ composite nanomaterials are slightly better than those of the other composite nanomaterials,and the photocatalytic properties of the surface composite materials in the visible light can be improved.In summary,the TiO₂ nanotube arrays and their composites are MFC electrode materials,which greatly improve the MFC power generation and COD degradation performance.Meanwhile,the combination of TiO₂ nanomaterials and other materials improves the photocatalytic activity of nanomaterials under visible light.This material can improve the performance of MFC.At the same time,this kind of preparation method can be used to enlarge the electrode materials,promote the expansion and industrialization of MFC,alleviate the pressure of water pollution and energy crisis,and provide a new direction for the direction and preparation of MFC electrode materials.