Synthesis and application of polypyrrole/carrageenan nano-bio composite as a cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells

Chakavak Esmaeili; Mostafa Ghasemi; Lee Yook Heng; Sedky H A Hassan; Mahnaz M Abdi; Wan Ramli Wan Daud; Hamid Ilbeygi; Ahmad Fauzi Ismail

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.07.072

Synthesis and application of polypyrrole/carrageenan nano-bio composite as a cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells

Carbohydr Polym. 2014 Dec 19:114:253-259. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.07.072. Epub 2014 Aug 13.

Authors

Chakavak Esmaeili¹, Mostafa Ghasemi², Lee Yook Heng¹, Sedky H A Hassan³, Mahnaz M Abdi⁴, Wan Ramli Wan Daud⁵, Hamid Ilbeygi⁶, Ahmad Fauzi Ismail⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemical Sciences and Food Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-UKM, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
² Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-UKM, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-UKM, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: mostafag@eng.ukm.my.
³ Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, New Valley Branch, New Valley, Egypt; Department of Biological Environment, Kangwon National University, 200-701 Chuncheon, Kangwon-do, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor D.E., Malaysia.
⁵ Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-UKM, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-UKM, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
⁶ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, QLD, Australia.
⁷ Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia.

PMID: 25263889
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.07.072

Abstract

A novel nano-bio composite polypyrrole (PPy)/kappa-carrageenan(KC) was fabricated and characterized for application as a cathode catalyst in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). High resolution SEM and TEM verified the bud-like shape and uniform distribution of the PPy in the KC matrix. X-ray diffraction (XRD) has approved the amorphous structure of the PPy/KC as well. The PPy/KC nano-bio composites were then studied as an electrode material, due to their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) ability as the cathode catalyst in the MFC and the results were compared with platinum (Pt) as the most common cathode catalyst. The produced power density of the PPy/KC was 72.1 mW/m(2) while it was 46.8 mW/m(2) and 28.8 mW/m(2) for KC and PPy individually. The efficiency of the PPy/KC electrode system is slightly lower than a Pt electrode (79.9 mW/m(2)) but due to the high cost of Pt electrodes, the PPy/KC electrode system has potential to be an alternative electrode system for MFCs.

Keywords: Cathode catalyst; Kappa-carrageenan; Microbial fuel cell; Nano-bio composite; Polypyrole.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bioelectric Energy Sources*
Carrageenan / chemistry*
Catalysis
Nanocomposites / chemistry*
Polymers / chemistry*
Pyrroles / chemistry*

Substances

Polymers
Pyrroles
polypyrrole
Carrageenan