Multifactorial evaluation of the electrochemical response of a microbial fuel cell

Abstract

A lab-scale microbial fuel cell (MFC) with a reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) anode and a non-catalyzed multi-layered carbon air-cathode was electrochemically characterized under various physicochemical factors: temperature (15–25 °C), phosphate buffer concentration (4–8 mM), acetate concentration (7.1–14.3 mM), and equivalent solution conductivity (2.5–5 mS cm⁻¹). A fundamental step was undertaken to identify and characterize the electrochemical mechanisms through multifactorial evaluation of the simultaneous effect of such factors on the functioning of the MFC. This type of analysis of cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy parameters revealed complementary features to model the electrochemical response. This multifactorial approach finds broad application in a wide variety of MFC and environmental technology studies.