Study of the Effect of Biomass-Derived N-Self Doped Porous Carbon in Microbial Fuel Cell

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) has great potential as a green and alternative form of energy. The main disadvantage of MFC is low power generation. The present work aims at developing biomass-derived nitrogen self doped porous carbon to be used in the cathode of MFC to increase its power output. Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) underwent hydrothermal treatment along with pyrolysis at 700 °C using CaCl₂ as the activating agent for the preparation of nitrogen self doped porous carbon (AWL). The BET surface area of the AWL was found to be 555.672 m²/g with a mesoporous structure which was also confirmed with SEM image obtained from the AWL. XPS analysis showed that the nitrogen content of AWL was 3.64% along with the presence of graphitic, pyridinic and pyrrolic nitrogen. The presence of C–N and O–H group in AWL was detected by FTIR analysis. Dual-chamber MFC was developed using kitchen waste as a substrate in the anode chamber. AWL was coated in the stainless steel electrode and was then used as a cathode. Open-Circuit Voltage and power densities of MFC were recorded for a period of 10 days. A comparative study was also made of AWL coated electrode with plain electrode and also non-activated carbon (WL) coated electrode. MFC using AWL coated cathode exhibited maximum open-circuit voltage of 696 mV along with the increase in power density by nearly 3 times.