학술논문

High performance paper-based microbial fuel cells using nanostructured polymers
Document Type
Conference
Source
2016 IEEE SENSORS SENSORS, 2016 IEEE. :1-3 Oct, 2016
Subject
Components, Circuits, Devices and Systems
Computing and Processing
General Topics for Engineers
Robotics and Control Systems
Signal Processing and Analysis
Plastics
Fuel cells
Anodes
Biomembranes
Substrates
Batteries
Current measurement
microbial fuel cells
disposable biobatteries
paper-based batteries
nanostructured polymers
Language
Abstract
In this work, we report paper-based microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that produce high power and current densities from one drop of bacteria-containing liquid. The devices feature (i) a simple and versatile fabrication technique by using paper as a substrate and (ii) an exceptional performance by incorporating novel nanostructured polymers, PAA-Poly (amic) acid) and PPDD-Poly(pyromellitic dianhydride-p-phenylene diamine), into the paper substrate. Four 3-D MFC configurations were designed by using different numbers of 2-D sheets of paper layers. Each device integrated four functional compartments (i.e. anode, reservoir, proton exchange membrane, and air-cathode) into one, two, three or four paper layers, respectively. The nanostructured polymers were engineered as a proton exchange membrane to enhance ion traveling efficiency or an oxygen mitigating layer to prevent diverting electrons away from the anode. Among the four MFC devices with different numbers of layers, two-layer paper-based MFC generated the highest current density of 47|UA/cm 2 and power density of 4|UW/cm 2 , both of which are substantially greater than achieved by previous paper-based MFCs and even comparable to that of conventional micro-sale counterparts.