Nanocomposite membrane and microbial community analysis for improved performance in microbial fuel cell

[Display omitted] •S-SiO2 creates negative ion channels which enable better ion transfer than SiO2.•Lower Ko reduced the emergence of aerobic and facultative microbes.•Biofilm showed the predominance of enriched microbes with greater diversity.•Key contributors include Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, Bacilli and Clostridium species. To improve the performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC), four variations of sulphonated silicon dioxide (S-SiO2) was incorporated into sulphonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) membranes. S-SiO2 was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to confirm morphological, physical and chemical characteristics. The prepared membranes were incorporated into a fabricated tubular MFC of 300 mL holding capacity. Membrane characterizations such as water uptake, ion exchange capacity (IEC) and proton conductivity were determined. The highest maximum output of 154 ± 1.5 mW m−2 is produced by SPEEK +7.5 wt% S-SiO2 with an IEC of 1.82 ± 0.08 meq g-1 and an oxygen mass transfer coefficient of 1.42 × 10−6 cm s-1. Microbial community studies show the prevalence of novel microbial strains with the predominance of 3 distinct phyla, namely Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria and Firmicutes. The results suggest that the prepared nanocomposite membrane proves to be an efficient and sustainable alternative for improving the performance of a MFC without abating the essential membrane characteristics.