A Better Microbial Fuel Cell Made With Paper

The microbial fuel cells work on a very simple concept, a bacteria generates an electrical impulse and leads to further events. It is almost a century old idea, but the efforts of turning this concept into a useful tool have been in vain till date. However, a ray of hope is seen with Microbial Fuel Cell or MFCs which seem quite reassuring as compared to all prior effort. A challenge that counters this reassurance is that these need to be both cost-effective and highly efficient to be adopted in or by mainstream users. The issue was recently addressed by a team of researchers working at the University of Rochester who claim to have made quite some progress in this direction. A duo, Kara Bren and Peter Lamberg came up with an electrode that makes use of a common domestic material – paper. Kara is a professor of Chemistry while Peter happens to be a postdoctoral fellow. The catalyst used in this process is a bacteria that is generally present in wastewater.

Better Microbial Fuel Cell Made With Paper

Till date, most electrodes that were used in wastewater were created either with metal or carbon. Out of the two, carbon is more cost-effective but it is more prone to clogging and porous. The best solution was to replace carbon felt with paper that layered with carbon paste. It is a much simpler combination that has mineral oil and graphite as its constituents. Along with, it is also much simpler to prepare and performs way better as compared with carbon felt. Bren adds, “The paper electrode has more than twice the current density than the felt model.” Carbon paste has a special role in the process for it can attract electrons that are released by the bacteria. Lamberg says, “We’ve come up with an electrode that’s simple, inexpensive, and more efficient. As a result, it will be easy to modify it for further study and applications in the future.”