Improving Performance of Microbial Fuel Cell by Using Polyaniline-Coated Carbon–Felt Anode

Abstract The combined effect of polyaniline (PANI) coating on the carbon felt anode material and anodic inoculum pretreatment using Chaetoceros was evaluated in this study. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a PANI modified anode could generate a maximum power density of 216 mW/m2 (20.52 W/m3). Similarly, MFC with a pretreated inoculum in the anodic chamber and an unmodified or PANI modified anode generated significantly higher coulombic efficiency (CE) compared with MFCs without any inoculum pretreatment and anode modification, owing to the effective inoculum pretreatment for the enrichment of electrogens. A 17% increase in CE was noted in MFC with a PANI modified anode (42.45%) compared with MFCs using a bare carbon felt anode (35.98%) due to the enhanced bioelectrochemical activity of the anode. The oxidative current was found to be higher in MFC with a PANI modified anode, which further supports the difference in power density. Reduction in charge transfer resistance was also observed in MFCs with a PANI modified anode during electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The findings of this study reveal that electricity generation in MFCs can be enhanced by PANI modification of the anode and inoculum pretreatment using Chaetoceros marine algae.