MICROBIAL FUEL CELL WITH Ni-Co CATHODE

摘要

With the increasing standard of living, the energy consumption increases as well. So, waste production, like wastewater, increases as well too. But, there is a possibility to combine energy production and wastewater treatment. Technical device that can accomplish this task is a microbial fuel cell. In microbial fuel cells activated sludge bacteria can be used for electricity production during wastewater treatment. One of the problems of this solution is a low current density obtained in microbial fuel cells. Nonetheless, it is possible to increase the current density by using the catalyst for electrodes. The possibility of wastewater treatment using the Ni-Co alloy as cathode catalyst for microbial fuel cells is presented in this paper. The measurements included a preparation of catalyst and comparison of changes in the concentration of COD, NHand N0_3 in the reactor with aeration and with using a microbial fuel cell (with Ni-Co cathode). The reduction time for COD with the use of microbial fuel cell with the Ni-Co catalyst is similar to the reduction time with aeration. The current density (0.26 mA/cm~2) and amount of energy (0.94 Wh) obtained in reactor (151) are low. But, the obtained amount of energy allows elimination of the energy needed for reactor aeration. It has been shown that the Ni-Co can be used as cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells.