MODIFICATION OF MEMBRANE, CATHODE ELECTROLITE AND ANODIC MATERIALS IN MICROBIAL FUEL CELL (MFC) SYSTEM

I Nyoman P. Aryantha1,2 and Jamilah2

1Microbiology-Genetics-Cell Molecular Biology Division, School of Life Sciences and Technology
2Center for Life Sciences, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jalan Ganesha 10, Bandung 40132

Email : nyoman@sith.itb.ac.id

Abstract

The study of Microbial Fuel Cell system has been increasing rapidly. Current MFC system consists of microbial culture as anodic electrolyte, Nafion as proton exchange membrane, Potassium Ferricyanide as cathode electrolyte and both anode and cathode components use graphite as electrode. Nafion membrane and Potassium Ferricyanide are relatively expensive which may inhibit the research development on MFC. Electrodes for anode and cathode components using the same material (graphite) produce relatively low electrical voltage. This research tries to develop a modified system which is cheaper and results in a higher electrical voltage. Hydrogen bacteria (Hydrogenophaga palleronii and Pseudomonas hydrogenovora) from previous research at Center for Life Sciences ITB were used as anode component in this research. These bacteria were grown on modified medium containing Sidoarjo sludge as a primary substrate supplemented with CO(NH2)2 and NaHCO3 with initial pH of 7-8 and inoculum concentration of 15% v/v (Jamilah and Aryantha, 2008). Polyalumunium chloride, Sodium hypochlorite and Acetic acid were evaluated for their potency as cathode electrolyte to substitute Potassium Ferricyanide. A combination of zeolite, Plered clay soil, gypsum, kaoline sediment, Sidoarjo sludge and cement were evaluated their potency as membrane formula to substitute Nafion membrane. Carbon (graphite) based cathode (catho-electrode) was combined with zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and tin (Sn) materials as an anode (ano-electrode), to substitute graphite in previous system. The result with the best value of electrical voltage (1743,6 mV) was achieved by a combination of zeolit-clay soil-cement (zeclace) as a membrane formula, carbon as catho-electrode and zinc as ano-electrode. This arrangement was combine with acetic acid (acticid) as cathode electrolyte (catho-electolyte) to substitute Potassium Ferricyanide in previous system. This result is a significant improvement on MFC system which is much cheaper and produce much higher electrical voltage than previous system.

Keywords: Modified MFC system, Hydrogenophaga palleronii, Pseudomonas hydrogenovora, zeolite-clay-cement (zeclace), zinc, acetic acid.
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