Comparison in performance of sediment microbial fuel cells according to depth of embedded anode

Abstract

Five rigid graphite plates were embedded in evenly divided sections of sediment, ranging from 2 cm (A1) to 10 cm (A5) below the top sediment layer. The maximum power and current of the MFCs increased in depth order; however, despite the increase in the internal resistance, the power and current density of the A5 MFC were 2.2 and 3.5 times higher, respectively, than those of the A1 MFC. In addition, the anode open circuit potentials (OCPs) of the sediment microbial fuel cells (SMFCs) became more negative with sediment depth. Based on these results, it could be then concluded that as the anode-embedding depth increases, that the anode environment is thermodynamically and kinetically favorable to anodophiles or electrophiles. Therefore, the anode-embedding depth should be considered an important parameter that determines the performance of SMFCs, and we posit that the anode potential could be one indicator for selecting the anode-embedding depth. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.