Enhanced Performance of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) with nickel (II) oxide nanocathode obtained by nickel anodizing

One of the newest methods for producing electricity is the microbial fuel cell (MFC), which uses microorganisms to oxidize organic molecules. The low output electrical power level of these cells, which is mostly due to the weak performance of the electrochemical systems used as the cathode, represents one of the key obstacles to their development and potential for widespread usage. The reduction reaction of dissolved oxygen in water (ORR) and its transformation into hydroxide ions at a biological pH close to ۷ is one of the most frequent cathodic reactions in MFCs. This is accomplished using appropriate electrochemical catalysts made of expensive noble metals such as Pt and Pd. These fuel cell efficiencies can be significantly increased if a low-cost, widely accessible, and efficient cathode catalyst is created for the ORR process. Taking intoaccount these issues, in this study, nickel (П) oxide nano-structures were produced on a nickel foam using nickel foam anodizing, and these nano-structures were employed as cathodes in MFC. The results showed that anodized nickel (П) oxide nano-structures lead to a significantly higher power output compared to the bare nickel electrode owing to its higher surface area and nanoscale effects.

Keywords:

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) , Nano-structured Cathode , Oxidation Reduction Reaction (ORR) , Nickel (П) Oxide