Characterization of a microbial fuel cell with reticulated carbon foam electrodes

A microbial fuel cell with open-pore reticulated vitreous carbon electrodes is studied to assess the suitability of this material in a batch mode, in the perspective of flow-through reactors for wastewater treatment with electricity generation. The cell shows good stability and fair robustness in regards to substrate cycles. A power density of 40 W/m3 is reached. The cell efficiency is mainly limited by cathodic transfers, representing 85% of the global overpotential in open circuit. Through impedance spectrocopy, equivalent circuit modeling reveals the complex nature of the bioelectrochemical phenomena. The global electrical behavior of the cell seems to result in the addition of three anodic and two cathodic distinct phenomena. On the cathode side, the Warburg element in the model is related to the diffusion of oxygen. Warburg resistance and time are respectively 2.99 kΩ cm2 and 16.4 s, similar to those published elsewhere.