Macroporous and Monolithic Anode Based on Polyaniline Hybridized Three-Dimensional Graphene for High-Performance Microbial Fuel Cells

• Published in: ACS nano Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 2394 - 2400
• Main Authors: Yong, Yang-Chun, Dong, Xiao-Chen, Chan-Park, Mary B, Song, Hao, Chen, Peng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 27-03-2012
• Subjects: Aniline Compounds - chemistry; Anodes; Bacteria; Biochemical fuel cells; Bioelectric Energy Sources - microbiology; Electrochemistry; Electrodes; Electron transfer; Graphene; Graphite - chemistry; Microorganisms; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Multiplexing; Polyanilines; Porosity; Shewanella - metabolism; Three dimensional; nanotechnology; microbial fuel cell; graphene; green energy
• ISSN: 1936-0851; 1936-086X
• DOI: 10.1021/nn204656d

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is of great interest as a promising green energy source to harvest electricity from various organic matters. However, low bacterial loading capacity and low extracellular electron transfer efficiency between the bacteria and the anode often limit the practical applications of MFC. In this work, a macroporous and monolithic MFC anode based on polyaniline hybridized three-dimensional (3D) graphene is demonstrated. It outperforms the planar carbon electrode because of its abilities to three-dimensionally interface with bacterial biofilm, facilitate electron transfer, and provide multiplexed and highly conductive pathways. This study adds a new dimension to the MFC anode design as well as to the emerging graphene applications.