Development of low cost ceramic separator using mineral cation exchanger to enhance performance of microbial fuel cells

This study deals with the development of ceramic separator (CS) made from red soil blended with cation exchanger, Montmorillonite and Kaolinite, for its application in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The separators were characterized in terms of conductivity, oxygen, acetate and proton diffusion, and ion transport ability. Performance of MFCs using different CS was evaluated under batch mode of operation. MFC M-20 (CS blended with 20% Montmorillonite) exhibited maximum power density of 7.5 W/m3 which was 48% higher than MFC without exchanger (Control) and 30%, 9%, 27% higher than MFC M-10 (10% Montmorillonite), MFC M-15 (15% Montmorillonite), MFC K-20 (20% Kaolinite), respectively. Coulombic efficiency of MFC M-20 (30%) and MFC K-20 (23%) was higher compared to control (18%). Use of cation exchangers improved properties of ceramic separators compared to control. Higher cation exchange capacity (CEC) of Montmorillonite (150 meq/100 g) resulted in 4 fold decrease in charge transfer resistance (3.4 Ω) and 1.8 fold increase in conductivity (5.56 × 10−4 S/cm) of CS as compared to Kaolinite. This study demonstrates that Montmorillonite incorporated CS proved to be suitable alternative to replace costly polymeric membrane to increase power output of MFC at reduced cost.