Eureka AIR delivers breakthrough ideas for toughest innovation challenges, trusted by R&D personnel around the world.

Single-chamber microbial fuel cell without metal catalyst

A fuel cell and catalyst technology, applied in biochemical fuel cells, battery electrodes, biological water/sewage treatment, etc., can solve the problems of expensive metal platinum, complicated operation process, complicated preparation process, etc., and achieve high oxygen reduction characteristics, And the effect of stable oxygen reduction characteristics and simple activation process

Inactive Publication Date: 2010-05-05
ZHEJIANG UNIV
View PDF11 Cites 21 Cited by
  • Summary
  • Abstract
  • Description
  • Claims
  • Application Information

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

However, most single-chamber microbial fuel cells use metal platinum as the cathode catalyst with high electrocatalytic activity and good chemical stability. However, the high price and scarcity of metal platinum limit its wide application.
Transitional metal macrocyclic complexes, such as iron phthalocyanine (FePC) and tetraphenylphenyl (COTMPP), have oxygen reduction activity comparable to that of platinum, but their stability is not high, and the preparation process is complicated, and the cost price is still high
Other relatively cheap cathode catalytic materials such as manganese dioxide, iron ions and manganese ions have also been studied, but these materials are unstable and will dissolve into the solution after long-term operation, requiring regeneration or replacement, which not only complicates the operating process, but also Secondary pollution caused by the dissolution of metal ions

Method used

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
View more

Image

Smart Image Click on the blue labels to locate them in the text.
Viewing Examples
Smart Image
  • Single-chamber microbial fuel cell without metal catalyst
  • Single-chamber microbial fuel cell without metal catalyst
  • Single-chamber microbial fuel cell without metal catalyst

Examples

Experimental program
Comparison scheme
Effect test

specific Embodiment 1

[0037] see figure 1 In this embodiment, the microbial fuel cell is composed of a battery housing 1, an anode 2, a cathode 3,4, a cathode fixing plate 5,6, a water outlet 7, a water inlet 8, and a cathode wire (titanium wire) 9,10. The anode 2 is a carbon fiber brush with a titanium core, which is placed in the center of the side of the battery case. The carbon fiber brush with titanium core is made of several groups of activated carbon fibers intertwined with the titanium wire in the center. Its shape is similar to a test tube brush, so it is called a carbon fiber brush with titanium core (see figure 1 ). Two cathodes 3, 4 are placed at both ends of the battery case 1 and fixed with cathode fixing plates 5, 6. The catalytic layer of the cathode 3 and 4 faces the solution, and the diffusion layer faces the air. The cathode wires 9, 10 and the anode 2 are connected to an external circuit. The battery can operate in two modes of gap and continuous flow. When running in gap mo...

specific Embodiment 2

[0040] Compared with the specific embodiment 1, this embodiment is the same as the specific embodiment 1 in terms of structure, connection and operation except that only one cathode is installed on one side of the battery casing and the other side is sealed. When the battery is started, change the load resistance to measure the power curve of the battery (see image 3 ). The maximum output power of the battery is 1540mW / m 2 .

specific Embodiment 3

[0041] The difference between this embodiment and the specific embodiment 2 is: when the battery is started, the electrolyte is completely replaced with actual domestic sewage for operation. Other structures and connections are the same as in Example 2. The result of the operation is as follows Figure 4 shown.

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

PUM

No PUM Login to View More

Abstract

The invention relates to a fuel cell and aims at providing a single-chamber microbial fuel cell without a metal catalyst. The cell comprises a cell shell, cathodes and an anode. Electrolyte is water which is filled in the cell shell and contains organic matters. The anode is a titanium core carbon fiber brush made by winding titanium wires and active carbon fibers; the cathodes are carbon cloths or stainless steel meshes with both sides respectively coated by diffusion layers and catalyst layers; and the diffusion layers are contacted with the air and the catalyst layers are contacted with the electrolyte. The cathodes of the invention are composed of multiple diffusion layers and catalyst layers, reduce loss of water due to evaporation and improve stability of the electrodes. One side of each cathode directly faces the air and oxygen is directly diffused to the catalytic surface of the cathode without additional air supply devices and driving force, thus greatly lowering the operation cost and improving the stability. The catalytic materials of the cathodes are active carbons featuring wide sources and low prices, without any metal catalyst, thus greatly reducing the constructive cost. The cell has the characteristics of simple structure, low cost and easy expansion.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a fuel cell, in particular to a metal catalyst-free single-chamber microbial fuel cell. Background technique [0002] Microbial fuel cell is a new type of power generation device that uses microorganisms to catalyze the oxidation of biomass. It can use almost all organic matter, including various waste water such as domestic sewage, industrial waste water and animal waste, as fuel, and the treatment of waste water can realize energy recovery and purify sewage at the same time. It is considered to be an innovative technology with great application prospects. [0003] Microbial fuel cells can be designed as dual-chamber and single-chamber. The dual-chamber microbial fuel cell uses an ion-exchange membrane to separate the battery into a cathode chamber and an anode chamber, such as the Chinese patent "a biofuel cell using wastewater and activated sludge for wastewater treatment (publication number CN1164509C), "a microbial Fuel...

Claims

the structure of the environmentally friendly knitted fabric provided by the present invention; figure 2 Flow chart of the yarn wrapping machine for environmentally friendly knitted fabrics and storage devices; image 3 Is the parameter map of the yarn covering machine
Login to View More

Application Information

Patent Timeline
no application Login to View More
Patent Type & Authority Applications(China)
IPC IPC(8): H01M8/16H01M4/86H01M4/96H01M4/90C02F3/34
CPCY02E60/527Y02E60/50
Inventor 成少安
Owner ZHEJIANG UNIV
Who we serve
  • R&D Engineer
  • R&D Manager
  • IP Professional
Why Eureka
  • Industry Leading Data Capabilities
  • Powerful AI technology
  • Patent DNA Extraction
Social media
Eureka Blog
Learn More
PatSnap group products