Modified graphene oxide anode: A bioinspired waste material for bioremediation of Pb2+ with energy generation through microbial fuel cells

[Display omitted] •Natural lignin biomass – derived materials is the potential source for synthesis of graphene derivatives.•Lignin-based GO and its metallic composite-derived anode for MFCs is successfully fabricated.•The modified anode offered higher power density (1350 × 10−3 mW/m2) than the unmodified GO-anode.•Pb2+ reduction from synthetic waster was 91.07% in case of the modified anode. Nowadays, Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) technology has received a great attention as a promising and sustainable technology to generate electricity and reduce environmental pollution. However, low energy generation and fabrication cost-issue of anode material hamper the commercial viability of MFCs. In this study, oil palm biomass waste-derived graphene derivatives (L-GO) was used as an anode in a double chamber of MFCs. Furthermore, to improve the electron transportation rate, composite based anode (L-GO/ZnO) was fabricated to generate energy and concurrently remediate the Pb2+ supplemented wastewater. The setup with L-GO/ZnO anode showed 91.07% removal efficiency of metal ions (Pb2+) while 85% removal efficiency was exhibited by L-GO anode. Moreover, the composite anode (L-GO/ZnO) delivered maximum power density (1350 × 10−3 mW/m2) and current density (142.98 mA/m2) which are higher than L-GO anode (power density = 20 × 10−3 mW/m2 and current density = 17.54 mA/m2). The anode performance was well supported by electrochemical and physicochemical analyses. The results of the fabricated anodes showed that oil palm biomass can be used as a promising and low-cost material to enhance the anode performance of MFCs.