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Bioresource Technology xxx (2008) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Bioresource Technology
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biortech

Effects of the Pt loading side and cathode-biofilm on the performance

of a membrane-less and single-chamber microbial fuel cell
Shaoqiang Yang a, Boyang Jia a, Hong Liu b,*
a
Department of Environmental Engineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 100083 Beijing, China
b
Department of Bioengineering, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 37 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In order to analyze the effect of cathode’s Pt loading side on the performance of single-chamber microbial
Received 4 June 2008 fuel cells (MFCs), power generation of a bamboo charcoal membrane-less air-cathode MFC was exam-
Received in revised form 5 August 2008 ined. The maximum power outputs obtained were 0.144 and 1.16 mW, while the maximum voltage out-
Accepted 5 August 2008
puts were 0.400 and 0.500 V (external resistance was 500 X), respectively, when the Pt loading side
Available online xxxx
facing to the air and to the anode chamber solution; after a long time of operation with the side of cath-
ode loaded Pt facing to anode chamber solution, a biofilm was developed on the inner side of cathode.
Keywords:
With the formation of this biofilm, the power outputs of MFC increased first, and then decreased to
Microbial fuel cells
Bamboo charcoal
0.8 mW; oxidation–reduction potentials (ORP) dropped first, and then achieved the level of stability. Cou-
Pt loading side lombic efficiency (CE) increased at a certain extent. In addition, the impact of cathode-biofilm on the loss
Cathode-biofilm of water in anode chamber solution was determined.
Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Microbial fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy
stored in the organic matter to electricity using microorganisms as
the biocatalyst, while at the same time accomplishes biological
wastewater treatment. Presently, the studies are focused on
improving the electricity generation and reducing the cost. Sin-
gle-chamber MFC has the advantages of higher power generation
and is of smaller volume than double-chamber’, it becomes the
mainstream of MFCs’ development (Cheng et al., 2006; Liu and Lo-
gan, 2004; Liu et al., 2005; Ghangrekar and Shinde, 2007; Kim
et al., 2007; Mohan et al., 2008; Zhao et al., 2008).
Using a single-chamber microbial fuel cell with an improved
cathode structure could get a maximum power density of
766 mW/m2 (Cheng et al., 2006); Logan et al. (2007) designed a
cube air-cathode MFC with a graphite fiber brush as the anode,
and got a maximum power density of 2400 mW/m2 (normalized
to the cathode projected surface area). Liu et al. (2005) investigated
the electricity generation of a single-chamber MFC, and found that
power generated with acetate (800 mg/L) was up to 66% higher
than that fed with butyrate (1000 mg/L); and the power generated
here without a PEM was over 54% (acetate) and 57% (butyrate)
higher than the power levels obtained using a MFC in the presence
of the PEM. Other performances were also investigated, that about
55% of COD was removed using the MFC with a PEM, and 75% using
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 010 82339837.
E-mail address: LH64@buaa.edu.cn (H. Liu).
the MFC without a PEM. Coulombic efficiency was 40–55% without
PEM and 9–12% with the PEM. The main disadvantages of using a
MFC without a PEM were the significant oxygen diffusion into the
anode chamber and the loss of water in the anode chamber solu-
tion (Liu and Logan, 2004), but the material numerical values were
not calculated, and the effects of cathode-biofilm were not ana-
lyzed. There are still some divarications about the functions of
PEM in single-chamber MFCs. The performance of this type MFC
is affected by many factors, such as long time operation after the
PEM removed, cathode-biofilm, Pt loading side, and those that
have not been reported yet.
In this paper, bamboo charcoal was used as the anode of a mem-
brane-less, single-chamber MFC, and the effects of Pt loading side
on electricity generation of the MFC, the electricity generation in
short period and long period operations, the loss of water in anode
chamber solution, the diffusion of O2 into anode chamber, and the
functions of cathode-biofilm were investigated.
2. Methods
2.1. MFC construction
The membrane-less, single-chamber MFC consisted of an anode
in the anode chamber and a cathode placed on the top of a plastic
(Plexiglas) cylindrical chamber 120 mm long by 100 mm in diam-
eter (empty bed volume of 942 mL). The anode electrodes were
made of bamboo charcoals, external connection was guaranteed
by placing a graphite rod through the anodic compartment. The

0960-8524/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2008.08.005

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2 S. Yang et al. / Bioresource Technology xxx (2008) xxx–xxx

cathode electrode was a carbon paper electrode containing 0.5 mg/
cm2 of Pt as the catalyst on only one side. The anodic rod and cath-
ode were connected through an external resistor to close the
circuit.
2.2. Anode electrode material, anaerobic sludge and wastewater
The anode electrodes were made of ‘‘JinHao” brand bamboo
charcoals selected by resistance values lower than 10 X by mul-
timeter. There is a compact protective layer on the surface of bam-
boo, which is consisting of a gelatinous layer and a corneum on the
surface of caudex; after carbonization, it remains on the surface of
bamboo (Zhang et al., 2006), so bamboo charcoals were burnished
first, submerged overnight in 1 N HCl, washed with deionized
water, then submerged overnight in 1 N NaOH and finally washed
several times in deionized water.
Anaerobic activated sewage sludge was collected from Gaobei-
dian Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant, Beijing, China. Con-
centration of the sludge was 12 g/L. An artificial wastewater was
used throughout the study. Glucose (1000 mg/L) was used as an
energy source in a nutrient solution (pH 7.0) containing (per liter):
NH4Cl 0.31 g; KCl 0.13 g; NaH2PO4  H2O 4.97 g; Na2HPO4  H2O
2.75 g; and a mineral (12.5 mL) and vitamin (12.5 mL) as reported
by Lovley and Phillips (1988).
2.3. MFC operation
The anaerobic sludge was first pre-processed by filtration to re-
move impurities, and then 392.5 mL sludge and 549.5 mL artificial
wastewater were taken into MFC to keep the sludge concentration
at 5 g/L. Because of the loss of water in the anode chamber solu-
tion, deionized water was filled in termly to keep the close contact
where Cp is the total coulombs calculated by integrating the cur-
rent over time. CT is the theoretical amount of coulombs that can
be produced from glucose, calculated as CT = FbSV/M, where F is
Faraday’s constant (96,485 C/mol electrons), b = 8 is the number
of moles of electrons produced per mol of glucose substrate, S is
the substrate concentration, V is the liquid volume, and M = 180
is the molecular weight of glucose (Min et al., 2005; Ieropoulos
et al., 2005). The loss of water in anode chamber solution equaled
to the quantity of deionized water filled in, so it could be measured
by measuring cylinder.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Effect of the Pt loading side on electricity generation
3.1.1. Effect of reversing Pt loading side on voltage outputs and power
outputs
The effect of reversing Pt loading side on voltage outputs of MFC
with the same external resistor is shown in Fig. 1. The maximum
voltage outputs obtained were higher by 25% when the Pt loading
side facing to the anode chamber solution than to the air, which
were 0.500 and 0.400 V at the time of 25th hour every cycle,
respectively.
When a stable electricity generation achieved before and after
the reversal of Pt loading side, external resistance in the circuit var-
0.51
0.48
0.45
Facing to anode cham ber solution
0.42
Voltage (V)

of cathode and anode chamber solution, so that the protons could Facing to air

get better transferred. The Pt loading side of cathode was first fac- 0.39
ing to the air. Operating temperature was controlled at 25 °C. An-
ode chamber was always obturated to maintain the anaerobic 0.36
state.
0.33
The oxidation–reduction potentials of anode chamber solution
and the voltage outputs of MFC (500 X resistor unless stated other- 0.30
wise) were measured on-line. The system was run in fed-batch
mode until a stable cycle of power generation was achieved. To ob- 0.27
tain the maximum power output under fixed conditions, the exter- 01 15 30 45 60 75 90 105
nal resistance in the circuit varied from 0 to 10,000 X; COD of the Time (hour)
anodic influent and the effluent were also analyzed. Fig. 1. Variation of voltage outputs with time (both external resistances were
Then the Pt loading side of cathode was changed to facing the 500 X).
anode chamber solution. After electricity generation was stabi-
lized, the maximum power output and COD were measured. Then
the MFC was operated for several cycles until the cathode-biofilm
0.8 0.16
was formed, while the electricity generations of MFC were re- Voltage
corded synchronously. 0.7 Power 0.14

0.6 0.12
2.4. Analysis and calculation
Voltage (V)

Power (mW)

0.5 0.10
COD was measured by COD reactor (produced by HACH Com-
pany, USA) (Yao et al., 2006). ORP was measured by quick ORP 0.4 0.08
measuring apparatus (produced by WTW Company, Germany).
0.3 0.06
Voltage was measured using a data acquisition system (PMD-
1608FS, NORTON, USA) and converted to power density, P (W), 0.2 0.04
according to
0.1 0.02
P ¼ U 2 =R ð1Þ
0.0 0.00
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4
where U (V) is the voltage and R (X), the external resistance.
Current ( mA)
The Coulombic efficiency was calculated as
Fig. 2. Polarization curve and power–current curve when Pt loading side facing to
CE ¼ C p =C T  100% ð2Þ air.

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S. Yang et al. / Bioresource Technology xxx (2008) xxx–xxx
0.8
Voltage
0.7 Power
0.6
0.5
Voltage (V)
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Current ( mA)
Fig. 3. Polarization curve and power–current curve when Pt loading side facing to
anode chamber.
ied from 0 to 10,000 X, and the polarization curves were obtained
as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.
The maximum power reached 0.144 mW producing a current of
0.6 mA (400 X) (Fig. 2). The MFC with the Pt loading side of cath-
ode facing to anode chamber solution generated the maximum
power of 1.16 mW with a current of 6 mA (33 X) (Fig. 3). This is
due to the great decrease of MFC’s internal resistance (from 400
to 33 X, or by 91.8%). The internal resistance is much lower when
the Pt loading side facing to anode chamber solution than to the
air. Both the open circuit voltages were about 0.76 V.
Three kinds of resistances could affect the electricity generation
of MFCs (resistance of electrochemistry, resistance of mass transfer
and ohmic resistance). Ohmic resistance is defined as the resis-
tance of transfer of protons in electrolyte and electrons close to
electrode surface, including resistance of membrane, electrodes
and other contacting resistances (Liang et al., 2007). According to
the theory of MFCs’ electricity generation, organic matters are de-
graded to protons, electrons and metabolized matters by electrici-
gens. Electrons are transferred to the anode and flow to the
cathode linked by a conductive material containing a resistor; pro-
tons flow to the cathode through the anode chamber solution (Ra-
baey and Verstraete, 2005). There are three approaches by which
protons transferred in solution, electromigration, diffusion and
convection. In MFCs, electromigration can be neglected, and pro-
tons leave from the reacting point to cathode mainly relies on dif-
fusion and convection. Carbon paper is made of carbon (charcoal,
bamboo charcoal, active carbon, etc.), and has a high porosity. In
this experimental air-cathode MFC, the carbon paper has the thick-
ness of only 0.22 mm, and has contact a to the air, so the oxygen is
abundant. When the Pt loading side facing to the air and to the an-
ode chamber solution, the concentrations of oxygen around Pt (de-
fined as COA and COB, respectively) are approximate equal; the
number of protons is the limiting factor. When the Pt loading side
facing to the air, protons need to flow from liquid-phase (anode
chamber solution) to solid-phase (carbon paper); then reach to
the surface of catalyst to react with oxygen and electrons, existing
the resistance of electrode. Facing to the other side not, so
C Hþ A < C Hþ B When other conditions are identical, increasing the
concentration of reactant means the increasing of active molecules
per unit volume. The effective collisions increase, so the reaction
rate accelerates. Thus, when the Pt loading side of cathode was fac-
ing to anode chamber solution, the electricity generation of MFC
was improved.
In neutral medium, the reduction processes of oxygen on cath-
ode using Pt as the catalyst are
O2 þ 2Hþ þ 2e ! H2 O2
Please cite this article in press as: Yang, S. et al., Effects of the Pt loading side and cathode-biofilm on the performance ..., Bioresour. Tech-
nol. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2008.08.005
3
H2 O2 þ 2Hþ þ 2e ! H2 O or H2 O2 ! O2 þ H2 O
1.2
ðJae etal:; 2003; Zhang etal:; 2005Þ
1.0 When the Pt loading side facing to the air, the intermediate
product (H2O2) was easily degraded, affecting the following reac-
0.8 tions. After the reversal of cathode, H2O2 could keep stable in an-
Power (mW)
ode chamber solution in a short time, ensuring the following
0.6 reactions, so the power generation enhanced.
The polarity of medium also has effect on reaction rate. If the
0.4 resultant’s polarity is stronger than the reactant’s in polar medium,
reaction rate will increase; otherwise, it will decrease. In the half-
reaction of MFC’s cathode, both the reactants were non-polar mol-
0.2
ecules; the resultant is polar (H2O), the same as the medium. So the
reaction rate increased when the Pt loading side facing to anode
0.0
chamber solution.
3.1.2. Unstable voltage outputs of MFC without a PEM
Fig. 1 shows the voltage outputs of MFC in short period opera-
tion. Compared to other similar MFCs previously reported (Min and
Logan, 2004; Min and Cheng, 2005; Oh et al., 2004), the voltage
outputs here were unstable. This result was in accordance with
the investigation of Liu’s membrane-less and single-chamber
MFC fed with glucose (600 mg/L) (Liu and Logan, 2004).
There are three functions of PEM in MFCs, preventing the loss of
water from anode chamber solution; restricting the diffusion of
oxygen into anode chamber; transferring protons (Liu and Logan,
2004). The maximum transfer capacity of a PEM under fixed condi-
tions is calculated as
jðkÞ ¼ ð4:43 þ 0:0179TÞ  f0:0108 þ 0:2365½1
 expð0:0285kÞg ð3Þ
where j(k) is the proton transfer velocity, k is the moisture content
of a PEM, T is reaction temperature (Nguyen and White, 1993). To a
given PEM, k is a constant, and if the reaction temperature is
changeless, j(k) would be a fixed value. As the transfer of protons
is in fixed sulfo groups of Nafion-membrane, if we do not consider
other limiting factors, neglect the convection, the diffusion overpo-
tential theory could be used to calculate the current density output
of MFC. The current density of oxygen’s reduction on cathode is
calculated as
nFADHþ b
I¼ ðC Hþ  C sHþ Þ ð4Þ
dM
where I is the current density; n, the electron number in reaction;
F, Faraday’s constant (96,485 C mol1 electrons); A, the area of a
PEM; DHþ , the diffusion coefficient of protons through PEM; C bHþ ,
the concentration of protons in anode chamber solution; C sHþ , the
concentration of protons close to the surface of a PEM; dM, the
thickness of a PEM (Yu et al., 2001; Wu and LI, 1995). Based on
U = RI, the voltage output of MFC is
nRFADHþ b
U¼ ðC Hþ  C sHþ Þ ð5Þ
dM
where n, R, F are all constants, and to a given Nafion-117 PEM, A,
DHþ and dM are also fixed values, respectively. So if we neglect
other factors, the voltage output of MFC only has the relation with
the difference of protons’ concentration between the surface of
PEM and the anode chamber solution.
It has been proved that in the early time of an operating cycle of
MFCs, the biodegrade velocity of COD in anode chamber solution is
very fast (Li et al., 2008). The organic compounds were anaerobic
biodegraded to various organic acids by microorganisms, protons
were produced simultaneously. In the presence of a PEM, the con-
centration of protons in anode chamber solution ðC bHþ Þ would be
much higher than on surface of the PEM ðC sHþ Þ. So at the early time
of an operating cycle, the voltage output of MFC was high
 ARTICLE IN PRESS

4 S. Yang et al. / Bioresource Technology xxx (2008) xxx–xxx

according to formula (5). When the protons’ concentration around

the PEM’s surface was too high which exceeds j(k), protons were -360
surplus. And when the protons’ amount in the anode chamber
solution was reduced by lower COD value or other factors, the gra- -375
dient between C bHþ and C sHþ would be decreased. Then the PEM’s
transmission quantity was lower than j(k), and surplus protons
-390

produced previously would reinforce it. So the transmission quan-
tity increased, which kept on the voltage output of MFC stable.
When the surplus protons used up, protons were in short supply,
and the electricity generation of MFC decreased.
In the absence of a PEM, the protons produced by microorgan-
isms diffused to cathode directly, and then took reaction with oxy-
gen using Pt as the catalyst. At the early time of an operating cycle,
a great number of protons transferred to cathode. Oxygen enough,
so the reaction of proton and oxygen was fast, which led to a higher
voltage output comparatively. When the amount of protons re-
duced for some reason, voltage output decreased quickly because
there were no surplus protons. That is one reason the electricity
generation was unstable.
On the other hand, the cathode was on the top of this experi-
mental MFC, and evaporated water from anode chamber solution
would affect the contact of cathode and anode chamber solution.
Fig. 4 shows the effect of water evaporation on voltage output in
a single cycle. Voltage output raised up by 0.1 V after new water
reinforced into anode chamber solution.
3.2. Functions of cathode-biofilm
3.2.1. ORP in anode chamber solution
In the absence of a PEM, the cathode of MFC contacted with
anaerobic sludge in the anode chamber. After a long period opera-
tion, there was a biofilm developed in the inner side of carbon pa-
per. Fig. 5 describes the variation of ORP values in anode chamber
with time in different cycles. ORP expresses a state of oxidation or
the reduction of a solution, the lower it is, the weaker oxidative the
solution has. The general water body is not a unitary but a mixed
system; while the anode chamber solution in this experimental
MFC was artificial, it could be considered that oxygen is the only
alterable oxidant, so ORP could reflect the diffusion velocity of oxy-
gen in anode chamber solution here.
In a single operating cycle, the diffusion velocity of oxygen in
anode chamber solution decreased over the first 4 days, then stabi-
lized over next 3 days or more (Fig. 5). The stabilized values of ORP
decreased as the operating cycles increasing, cycle 1 was 410 mV,
ORP (mV)
-405
Cycle 1
-420
Cycle 2
-435 Cycle 6
Cycle 7
-450
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Time (day)
Fig. 5. Variation of ORP values in anode chamber with time in different cycles.
cycle 2 was 430 mV, and after cycle 6, it stabilized at around
435 mV.
3.2.2. Electricity generation in different cycles
After a long period operation with the Pt loading side facing to
anode chamber solution, the voltage, power outputs and internal
resistance were measured in different cycles. The results are
shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
The voltage outputs of MFC were increasing at first 6 cycles and
then decreasing to a stable level until cycle 20 (Fig. 6). The maxi-
mum voltages obtained at cycles 1, 6 and 20 were 0.500, 0.533
and 0.335 V, respectively; at the time of 135th hour at cycles 1,
6, 12, 18, 20 and 25, the voltage outputs decreased to 0.440,
0.512, 0.292, 0.196, 0.228 and 0.212 V, respectively. In general,
the curves of voltage outputs became more and more smooth as
the operating cycles increase, indicating that the power outputs
were more stable. The variation curves of MFC internal resistances
raised at first and then dropped down, which was opposite to the
voltages. Cycle 1 was 33 X, cycle 6 was 30 X, and then increased
to about 50 X after cycle 20. There was a close correlation between
internal resistance and power output, the maximum powers were
1.16 and 1.25 mW at cycle 1 and 6, respectively; and at last stabi-
lized at 0.8 mW.
In the absence of a PEM, oxygen diffused into anode chamber
easily; organic matters were biodegraded by aerobic microorgan-
isms partially, that led to a low value of CE (Zhan et al., 2007). As

Add water Add water

0.56
0.40
Cycle 6
0.52
0.35
0.48 Cycle 1
0.30
0.44
Voltage (V)

0.25
Voltage / V

Cycle 12
0.40 Cycle 18
0.20 0.36
Cycle 20
0.15 0.32

0.28 Cycle 25
0.10
0.24
0.05
0.20
0.00
0 40 80 120 160 200 240 280 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Time / h Time (hour)

Fig. 4. Effect of water evaporation on voltage output in a single cycle. Fig. 6. Variation of voltage outputs with time in different cycles.

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S. Yang et al. / Bioresource Technology xxx (2008) xxx–xxx 5

1.3 the first aspect was dominating, represented as the increasing of

Cycle 1 MFC’s power outputs from cycle 1 to 6. When the thickness of
1.2 Cycle 6
cathode-biofilm was thick enough, the other aspect was dominat-
Cycle 12
1.1 Cycle 18 ing, represented as the decreasing of MFC’s power outputs after cy-
Cycle 20 cle 6. But the negative effect of cathode-biofilm on electricity
1.0
Power (mW)

Cycle 25 generation did not always exist; when the biofilm developed to
0.9 some determinate thickness, the outputs of power and voltage
stabilized.
0.8

0.7 3.2.3. Water evaporative capacity from anode chamber

From cycle 1 to 25, the water evaporative capacity from anode
0.6
chamber was degressive, from 0.594 to 0.236 mL/h (0.630 to
0.5 0.251 mL/L h, normalized to the anode chamber volume) (Fig. 8).
0.4
After cycle 24, it was almost stabilized. That is also due to the
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 development of cathode-biofilm.
External Resistance ( Ω )
4. Conclusions
Fig. 7. Variation of power outputs with external resistance in different cycles.

Electricity generation performance of a membrane-less and sin-

gle-chamber MFC was better when the Pt loading side of cathode
the operating time prolonged, cathode-biofilm developed, which
facing to anode chamber solution than to the air, the maximum
increased the thickness of cathode, and restricted the diffusion of
power outputs were 1.16 and 0.144 mW, respectively. The Pt
oxygen into anode chamber. Also, it was proved that the microor-
loaded side determined the electrode resistance’s existing or not;
ganisms on cathode-biofilm were mostly amphimicrobes (Liu and
moreover, facing to the anode chamber solution was also propi-
Logan, 2004; Ghangrekar and Shinde, 2007), that could use up the
tious to the reduction processes of oxygen on cathode.
oxygen diffused in. Fig. 5 shows the curves of cycle 6 and 7 were
Cathode-biofilm was developed on the inner side of cathode
nearly in the same shape, showing that no oxygen diffused into
after a long time running, which could prevent the diffusion of oxy-
the anode chamber after cycle 6. The ORP values maintained at a
gen into anode chamber; decrease the ORP values in anode cham-
low level accorded with the requirement of anaerobic microorgan-
ber; and thus increase the power output and CE values of MFC;
isms. Some cozymase of anaerobic microorganisms such as code-
augment the ohmic resistance; lead to a stable ORP and power out-
hydrogenase I, ferredoxin and flavoprotein needs a low ORP
put after a certain cycle, respectively. Besides, it reduces the loss of
value to keep active (Li et al., 2001; Zhou et al., 2000). The two fac-
water from anode chamber solution.
tors mentioned above promoted the increase of the use ratio of or-
ganic matters and CE. When the Pt loading side facing to anode
Acknowledgements
chamber solution, CE in cycle 1 was 6.87%, and cycle 6 up to
14.3%; then stabilized to 15.8% after cycle 18.
This research was sponsored by the Ministry of Science and
The effects of cathode-biofilm on power output of MFC mainly
Technology of China Grant 2006DFB81140.
reflected at two aspects, one is preventing the diffusion of oxygen
into anode chamber; increasing the use ratio of organic matters,
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