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Development of a 3D porous sponge as a bioanode coated with polyaniline/sodium alginate/nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube composites for high-performance microbial fuel cells

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Abstract

The structure and biocompatibility of anode materials significantly affect the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). A biocompatible polyaniline–sodium alginate (PANI–SA) composite was prepared in situ oxidation polymerization on the 3D porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube/sponge (NCNT/S) to construct a high-performance microbial fuel cell in this investigation. The SEM showed that PANI–SA composite anode had a three-dimensional macroporous structure, and nitrogen-doped nanotubes were wound around the sponge skeleton, which had a large specific surface area, provided more places for the attachment and growth of microorganisms. A dual-chamber MFC equipped with a PANI–SA/NCNT/S bioanode to achieve a power density of 4380 mW m−3, which was much greater than the other MFCs. During the charge–discharge time of 60–90 min, the PANI–SA/NCNT/S bioanode had the highest total charge value of 26,617.86 C m−2, which was 3.23 times higher than that of NCNT/S (8231.87 C m−2). High-throughput sequencing results showed that the PANI–SA/NCNT/S bioanode exhibited high community diversity and selective enrichment of electrogenic bacteria. The excellent performance of the MFC equipped with PANI–SA/NCNT/S anode was attributed to the composite materials, which could be attributed to the large-pore network structure, better biocompatibility, large capacitance and high specific surface area.

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Illustration of the process for the preparation of PANI–SA

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Acknowledgements

The project was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (21878060 and 21476053), Research Fund of State Key Laboratory for Marine Corrosion and Protection of Luoyang Ship Material Research Institute under the contract No. 6142901180401 and China Scholarship Council (201806685019), Research Project Fund of Harbin University of Commerce (2019DS082).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Superlight Materials and Surface Technology of Ministry of Education, College of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 15001, China

    Yuyang Wang, Ye Chen, Qing Wen, Shuang Wang, Haitao Xu & Lijuan Qi

  2. College of Light Industry, Harbin University of Commerce, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 15001, China

    Yuyang Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory for Marine Corrosin and Protection, Luoyang Ship Material Research Institute (LSMRI), Qingdao, 266237, China

    Yuyang Wang, Cunguo Lin, Jiyong Zheng & Qing Wen

  4. College of Power and Energy Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 15001, China

    Hongtao Zheng

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  1. Yuyang Wang
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Correspondence to Ye Chen or Qing Wen.

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Wang, Y., Zheng, H., Lin, C. et al. Development of a 3D porous sponge as a bioanode coated with polyaniline/sodium alginate/nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube composites for high-performance microbial fuel cells. J Appl Electrochem 50, 621–630 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-020-01410-7

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