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Title:	Carbon nanostructure as electrode and composite proton exhange membrane for production of electricity in microbial fuel cell
Authors:	Mustafa Ghasemi Baboli (P49945)
Supervisor:	Manal Ismail, Dr.
Keywords:	Renewable natural resources -- Materials Fuel cells -- Electrodes Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia -- Dissertations Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia
Issue Date:	23-Jul-2012
Description:	Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that uses microorganisms from the waste water as the biocatalyst to generate electricity through the oxidation-reduction of the organic and inorganic materials while simultaneously reducing the COD. The performance of the MFC depends on a certain key components such as electrode (anode and cathode), proton exchange membrane (PEM), microorganisms and substrate. The impetus of the work is to study the effects of employing nanocomposite cathode catalyst and PEM that would directly influence the current production by oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and proton transfer. The most common catalyst used in cathodes is platinum (Pt) but the high cost of Pt limits its application. Therefore, a more economical, catalytically active carbon nanofibres (ACNFs) has been chosen as an alternative to Pt and fabricated by means of electrospinning. The CNFs were characterized by TEM, SEM, XRD and BET for the morphology analyses. Prior to the MFC operation, the ACNFs was activated by KOH reagent for chemical activation and CO2 gas for physical activation to increase their surface area and catalytic activity. The dual chamber MFC with the new CNF cathode was run on POME (palm oil mill effluent) as the sludge, glucose as the substrate, carbon paper as the anode and Nafion 117 PEM. It was found that the MFC with the chemically activated carbon nanofibres (ACNFs) exhibited better catalytic activity than that of the physically activated ACNFs. Chemically ACNFs with 8 M KOH was deemed to be one of the most promising candidates for the ORR and could generate up to 3.17 times more power than the carbon paper and exhibited 78% more power generation than that of the physically ACNFs. The power per cost of ACNFs with 8 M KOH was also 2.65 times greater than the conventional platinum cathode. The full attachment of microbes on anode electrode that acted as biocatalyst was also observed under SEM and such behaviour warranted for effective electron transfer from anode to cathode to complete the circuit at 1000 load. Another key component of the MFC is the PEM that takes up nearly 38% of the capital cost of the MFC when Nafion 117 is adopted in the unit operation. In order to further minimize the MFC cost, self-made CNF/Nafion and ACNF(8 M KOH)/Nafion nanocomposite PEM membranes were fabricated by dispersing the nanofibres in Nafion solution. The solution was then stabilized and dried yielding the new membranes, which were characterized by AFM for the size and roughness. The performances of the two membranes were compared with the commercial Nafion 117 and Nafion 112. The results revealed that the system, which was operated by the ACNF/Nafion membrane produced the relatively highest power of 57.64 mV/m2 over CNF/Nafion at 47.48 mW/m2, Nafion 117 at 38.3 mW/m2 and Nafion 112 at 13. 99 mW/m2. Its coulombic efficiency also reached up to 18.3 % that was highest among all other PEMs studied. The best cathode catalyst and PEM were then incorporated into the MFC and compared with other PEM and cathode configurations for further optimization. The generated power was 45.3% more than the MFC with ACNF electrode and Nafion 117 and 54.5% more than the MFC operated with CNF/Nafion PEM and Pt cathode catalyst and 24% more than traditional MFC operated with Nafion 117 PEM and Pt cathode catalyst making it a competitive unit for a real time operation.,Certification of Master's / Doctoral Thesis" is not available
Pages:	178
Call Number:	TK2931.B334 2012 3 tesis
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment / Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina

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