Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering , The Pennsylvania State University , 231Q Sackett Building , University Park , Pennsylvania 16802 , United States.
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Center for Micro-Engineered Materials (CMEM) , University of New Mexico , Advanced Materials Lab, 1001 University Boulevard Southeast, Suite 103 , MSC 04 2790, Albuquerque , New Mexico 87131 , United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2019 Apr 2;53(7):3977-3986. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b06004. Epub 2019 Mar 12.
Direct comparisons of microbial fuel cells based on maximum power densities are hindered by different reactor and electrode sizes, solution conductivities, and materials. We propose an alternative method here, the electrode potential slope (EPS) analysis, to enable quantitative comparisons based on anode and cathode area-based resistances and operating potentials. Using EPS analysis, the brush anode resistance ( R = 10.6 ± 0.5 mΩ m) was shown to be 28% lower than the resistance of a 70% porosity diffusion layer (70% DL) cathode ( R = 14.8 ± 0.9 mΩ m) and 24% lower than the solution resistance ( R = 14 mΩ m) (acetate in a 50 mM phosphate buffer solution). Using a less porous cathode (30% DL) did not impact the cathode resistance but did reduce the cathode performance due to a lower operating potential. With low-conductivity domestic wastewater ( R = 87 mΩ m), both electrodes had higher resistances [ R = 75 ± 9 mΩ m, and R = 54 ± 7 mΩ m (70% DL)]. Our analysis of the literature using EPS analysis shows how electrode resistances can easily be quantified to compare system performance when the electrode distances are changed or the sizes of the electrodes are different.
基于最大功率密度的微生物燃料电池的直接比较受到不同的反应器和电极尺寸、溶液电导率和材料的阻碍。在这里，我们提出了一种替代方法，即电极电位斜率 (EPS) 分析，以便能够基于阳极和阴极面积的电阻和工作电位进行定量比较。使用 EPS 分析表明，刷状阳极的电阻 ( R = 10.6 ± 0.5 mΩ m) 比 70% 孔隙率扩散层 (70% DL) 阴极的电阻 ( R = 14.8 ± 0.9 mΩ m) 低 28%，比溶液电阻 ( R = 14 mΩ m) 低 24%（乙酸盐在 50 mM 磷酸盐缓冲溶液中）。使用孔隙率较低的阴极 (30% DL) 不会影响阴极电阻，但由于工作电位降低，会降低阴极性能。对于低电导率的生活污水 ( R = 87 mΩ m)，两个电极的电阻都更高[ R = 75 ± 9 mΩ m，和 R = 54 ± 7 mΩ m (70% DL)]。我们使用 EPS 分析对文献的分析表明，当改变电极距离或电极尺寸不同时，如何通过量化电极电阻来比较系统性能。
