A Nanofiber-Based Gas Diffusion Layer for Improved Performance in Air Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells

Giulia Massaglia; Tommaso Serra; Fabrizio Candido Pirri; Marzia Quaglio

doi:10.3390/nano13202801

A Nanofiber-Based Gas Diffusion Layer for Improved Performance in Air Cathode Microbial Fuel Cells

Nanomaterials (Basel). 2023 Oct 21;13(20):2801. doi: 10.3390/nano13202801.

Authors

Giulia Massaglia^{1

2}, Tommaso Serra^{1

2}, Fabrizio Candido Pirri^{1

2}, Marzia Quaglio^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico of Turin, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 29, 10129 Torino, Italy.
² Center for Sustainable Future and Technologies, Italian Institute of Technology, Via Livorno 60, 10100 Torino, Italy.

Abstract

This work investigates a new nanostructured gas diffusion layer (nano-GDL) to improve the performance of air cathode single-chamber microbial fuel cells (a-SCMFCs). The new nano-GDLs improve the direct oxygen reduction reaction by exploiting the best qualities of nanofibers from electrospinning in terms of high surface-area-to-volume ratio, high porosity, and laser-based processing to promote adhesion. By electrospinning, nano-GDLs were fabricated directly by collecting two nanofiber mats on the same carbon-based electrode, acting as the substrate. Each layer was designed with a specific function: water-resistant, oxygen-permeable polyvinylidene-difluoride (PVDF) nanofibers served as a barrier to prevent water-based electrolyte leakage, while an inner layer of cellulose nanofibers was added to promote oxygen diffusion towards the catalytic sites. The maximum current density obtained for a-SCMFCs with the new nano-GDLs is 132.2 ± 10.8 mA m^-2, and it doubles the current density obtained with standard PTFE-based GDL (58.5 ± 2.4 mA m^-2) used as reference material. The energy recovery (EF) factor, i.e., the ratio of the power output to the inner volume of the device, was then used to evaluate the overall performance of a-SCMFCs. a-SCMFCs with nano-GDL provided an EF value of 60.83 mJ m^-3, one order of magnitude higher than the value of 3.92 mJ m^-3 obtained with standard GDL.

Keywords: electrospinning; fuel cell; gas diffusion layer; laser-induced nanomaterials; microbial fuel cells; oxygen reduction reaction; triple phase boundary.

Grants and funding

Tommaso Serra’s Ph.D. grant was funded by National Operational Program (PON) Research and Innovation 2014–2020 (CCI 2014IT16M2OP005), resources FSE REACT-EU, Action IV.5 “Dottorati su tematiche Green”. This publication is part of the project NODES-, which has received funding from the MUR—M4C2 1.5 of PNRR funded by the European Union—Next Generation EU (Grant agreement no. ECS00000036). This study was carried out within the MICS (Made in Italy–Circular and Sustainable) Extended Partnership and received funding from the European Union Next-Generation EU (PIANO NAZIONALE DI RIPRESA E RESILIENZA (PNRR)–MISSIONE 4 COMPONENTE 2, INVESTIMENTO 1.3–D.D. 1551.11-10-2022, PE00000004). This manuscript only reflects the authors’ views and opinions, and neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be considered responsible for them.