Alizarin-graphene nanocomposite for calibration-free and online pH monitoring of microbial fuel cell

Yaohong Ma; Leilei Xiao; Yunwei Wei; P Senthil Kumar; Yang Tan; Yiwei Li; Hengchang Zang

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132277

Alizarin-graphene nanocomposite for calibration-free and online pH monitoring of microbial fuel cell

Chemosphere. 2022 Jan;287(Pt 3):132277. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132277. Epub 2021 Sep 20.

Authors

Yaohong Ma¹, Leilei Xiao², Yunwei Wei³, P Senthil Kumar⁴, Yang Tan⁵, Yiwei Li⁶, Hengchang Zang¹

Affiliations

¹ NMPA Key Laboratory for Technology Research and Evaluation of Drug Products, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, 250012, PR China; Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), Shandong University, Jinan, 250012, PR China.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, PR China; Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250103, China. Electronic address: llxiao@yic.ac.cn.
³ Shandong Key Laboratory of Biophysics, Institute of Biophysics, Dezhou University, Dezhou, 253023, Shandong, PR China.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Chennai, 603110, India.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, PR China.
⁶ Biology Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250103, China.

PMID: 34826938
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.132277

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are sensitive to acidity variations in both bioelectricity generation and biochemical digestion aspects, therefore online pH monitoring is of necessity to guarantee optimal function of MFCs. Present pH meters hardly fulfill this special need. In this work, we designed a novel voltammetric pH sensor based on electrochemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO) modified screen printed electrode. By surface doping of alizarin, good linearity of pH sensing over the range of 4.0-9.0 can be realized. Fast readout can be acquired within 15 s for each test. pH monitoring for artificial wastewater with inoculum of granular activated sludge in a MFC was successfully illustrated. Specially, it was verified that the performance was improved with alizarin doping due to the enhanced rGO surface proton diffusion. This approach provides an online, calibration-free and long stable pH monitoring method for the future MFC development.

Keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Nanomaterial; Online detection; Sensor; Wastewater.

MeSH terms

Anthraquinones
Bioelectric Energy Sources*
Electrodes
Graphite*
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Nanocomposites*

Substances

Anthraquinones
alizarin
Graphite