Optimal Metal Dose of Alternative Cathode Catalyst Considering Organic Substances in Single Chamber Microbial Fuel Cells

Abstract

Optimal preparation guidelines of a cathode catalyst layer by non-precious metal catalysts were evaluated based on electrochemical performance in single-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Experiments for catalyst loading rate revealed that iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) can be a promising alternative, comparable to platinum (Pt) and cobalt tetramethoxyphenylporphyrin (CoTMPP), including effects of substrate concentration. Results showed that using an optimal FePc loading of 1 mg/cm2 was equivalent to a Pt loading of 0.35 mg/cm2 on the basis of maximum power density. Given higher loading rates or substrate concentrations, FePc proved to be a better alternative for Pt than CoTMPP. Under the optimal loading rate, it was further revealed that 40 wt% of FePc to carbon support allowed for the best power generation. These results suggest that proper control of the non-precious metal catalyst layer and substrate concentration are highly interrelated, and reveal how those combinations promote the economic power generation of single-chamber MFCs. Keywords: Alternative catalyst, Cobalt tetramethoxyphenylporphyrin, Iron(II) phthalocyanine, Microbial fuel cells, Optimization