Comparison of performance and ionic concentration gradient of two-chamber microbial fuel cell using ceramic membrane (CM) and cation exchange membrane (CEM) as separators

Ceramic membranes (CMs) with different pore sizes (0.14 μm CM1, 150 kDa CM2 and 5 kDa CM3) were tested as separators in two-chamber microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The performance and ionic gradient concentration of MFCs using CMs were compared with that of cation exchange membrane (CEM), Nafion 117. MFC with CMs exhibited a higher performance than that of CEM under batch operation. The highest power density of 1790 ± 60 mW/m2, columbic efficiency (CE) of 41 ± 10% and internal resistance of 102 ± 13 Ω were obtained for MFC with CM3 under batch mode operation. The highest power density, columbic efficiency and internal resistance of MFC with CEM were found to be 1225 ± 20 mW/m2, 21 ± 1% and 400 ± 10 Ω, respectively. The highest performance of MFC with CM3 was expected due to a higher porosity of CM3 (13.8%) compared with that of CM1 (11.0%) and CM2 (11.05%). MFCs operated with catholyte containing salt solution, phosphate buffer basal medium without carbon source and yeast extract (PBBM-SA), generated lower current than with phosphate buffer (PB) as catholyte. This difference was more significant in the MFCs with the CEM Nafion 117 than with ceramic membranes. The non-selective porous ceramic membranes improved the diffusion of protons in the presence of other high concentration cations and resulted in MFC with higher performance. Hence, the porous ceramic membrane is a potential candidate separator for the development of commercial scale MFCs.