Easily-prepared macroporous-mesoporous carbon from palm fiber as a sustainable anode for high-performance microbial fuel cells

Authors：Song, Jing; Yan, Zhang; Nong, Xin; Li, Ye; Huang, Junsong; Yi, Jiancheng; Ma, Jiangming; Huo, Qiang; Lu, Zujun; Su, Chengyuan; Ai, Chenbing^*

Source：Fuel, 2024, 360: 130514.

DOI：10.1016/j.fuel.2023.130514

• Microbial fuel cells
• Palm fiber
• Anode
• H3PO4 activation
• Power density

Anode material plays a pivotal role in increasing the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this study, macroporous-mesoporous carbon derived from palm fiber (PF) as sustainable anode material was easily prepared via H3PO4 activation followed by carbonization. The MFC with palm fiber derived anode achieved a maximum power density of 718.15 mW m-2, which was 3.89 times higher than that of carbon cloth anode (146.78 mW m-2). P element was doped on PF anode by H3PO4 activation, which significantly improved the anodic hydrophilicity. The specific surface area (SSA), microporous structure, and P content of PF anode were significantly increased while O content was decreased when carbonization temperature increased from 500 degrees C to 900 degrees C. Collectively, PF anode was characteristic with high electrochemical performance and facile fabrication, which exhibiting great application potentials as an ideal MFC anode material in future.