Characteristics of a single chamber microbial fuel cell equipped with a low cost membrane

•A low cost membrane (LCM) was developed and tested in an air-cathode MFC, LCM–MFC.•The performance of an LCM–MFC was compared to one equipped with NF(NF–MFC).•Rint was similar and low (ca. 100 Ω) for both LCM– and NF–MFC.•PV,max were 2146 and 14,246 mW/m3 for LCM– and NF–MFC, respectively.•There is a trade-off between lower power but achieving 99.2% savings in PEM costs.

The aims of this research were: (i) to develop and test a new, low cost, organic membrane (LCM) in an air-cathode, single chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC), and (ii) to compare its characteristics with those of an MFC equipped with a Nafion® 117 membrane (NF). The internal resistances (Rint) were 112 and 110 Ω using LCM and NF, respectively, whereas the maximum volumetric powers (PV,max) were 2146 and 14,246 mW/m3 for LCM and NF, respectively. The relatively low value of Rint of the MFC equipped with LCM was encouraging. Furthermore, the Rint of the NF-equipped MFC was of the same order.PV,max delivered with LCM was 15% of that with NF. However, the cost ratio LCM/NF was very low, ($14/m2)/($1733/m2) ∼ 0.8%. These results point out to a trade-off between sacrificing some power output of the cell (85%) but achieving outstanding savings on membrane costs (99.2%).