Porous α-Fe2O3 nanofiber combined with carbon nanotube as anode to enhance the bioelectricity generation for microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a potential technology for bioelectricity generation from waste. Unfortunately, it is still a challenge for practical application due to the low power density. Immense efforts have been extended to boost the design of bioanode, mainly including the improvement on bacterial adhesion and extracellular electron transfer (EET) between bacteria and anode. Herein, electrospun porous α-Fe2O3 nanofibers integrated with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are developed for MFC. Benefiting from the good electricity, ultrahigh porosity and three-dimensional interpenetrated network of fabricated CNTs/α-Fe2O3, the decorated anode is capable of enriching active bacteria and promoting effective EET rate. Consequently, the MFC based on CNTs/α-Fe2O3 nanofibers as anode achieves the eminent power density of 1959 mW/m2 and high COD removal efficiency of 85.04%, superior to that of α-Fe2O3 anode (940 mW/m2; 81.66%) and bulk carbon cloth anode (432 mW/m2; 65.83%). More importantly, the CNTs/α-Fe2O3 modified anode is favorable for electrogenic active bacteria attachment, thus improving the bioelectricity performance. The consequence suggests that this strategy can offer a potential application in power production and pollutant removal.