Enhanced Oxygen and Hydroxide Transport in a Cathode Interface by Efficient Antibacterial Property of a Silver Nanoparticle-Modified, Activated Carbon Cathode in Microbial Fuel Cells

A biofilm growing on an air cathode is responsible for the decreased performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). For the undesired biofilm to be minimized, silver nanoparticles were synthesized on activated carbon as the cathodic catalyst (Ag/AC) in MFCs. Ag/AC enhanced maximum power density by 14.6% compared to that of a bare activated carbon cathode (AC) due to the additional silver catalysis. After operating MFCs over five months, protein content on the Ag/AC cathode was only 38.3% of that on the AC cathode, which resulted in a higher oxygen concentration diffusing through the Ag/AC cathode. In addition, a lower pH increment (0.2 units) was obtained near the Ag/AC catalyst surface after biofouling compared to 0.8 units of the AC cathode, indicating that less biofilm on the Ag/AC cathode had a minor resistance on hydroxide transported from the catalyst layer interfaces to the bulk solution. Therefore, less decrements of the Ag/AC activity and MFC performance were obtained. This result indicated that accelerated transport of oxygen and hydroxide, benefitting from the antibacterial property of the cathode, could efficiently maintain higher cathode stability during long-term operation.