Comparative study of microbial fuel cell’s performance using three different electrodes; [Kajian perbandingan bagi prestasi sel bahan bakar mikrob menggunakan tiga elektrod yang berbeza]

• Published in: Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences
• Main Author: Alkhair K.B.; Hassan O.H.; Mohamed S.A.S.; Andrew Y.K.C.; Rahman Z.A.; Kudin T.I.T.; Ali A.M.M.; Yahya M.Z.A.; Zainal M.H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malaysian Society of Analytical Sciences 2018
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85050124550&doi=10.17576%2fmjas-2018-2203-18&partnerID=40&md5=0c1b40d55720c90d3602a6064b9785b3

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) is an alternative method of renewable energy which have gained considerable attention due to its capability to generate electricity and treat wastewater such as palm oil mill effluent (POME). MFC’s mechanism on its electrochemical process is still lacking and further studies is needed. The objectives of this study are (1) to determine the compatibility of MFC device in generating electricity by using three different electrodes and (2) to study the effect of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to MFC’s performance. In this work, the MFC device is associated with 3 different electrodes which are carbon brush (CB), carbon cloth (CC) and pre-treated carbon cloth (PCC) on its anode chamber. There are 2 types of substrates used in this experiment which are POME with the presence of bacteria (POME+) and POME without bacteria in it (POME-). The experiment was carried out for 120 hours and its power generation was monitored. The experimental result shows that PCC with POME+ yielded the highest power density of 49.88 mW/m2 at 27 hours as compared to the others. In addition, CC with POME-has the highest chemical oxygen demand (COD) deduction which indicates the POME treatment was deducted by 45.93%. NaOH affected the performance of MFC but is insignificant to influence the redox reaction of MFC. © 2018, Malaysian Society of Analytical Sciences. All rights reserved.