Publications

In microbial fuel cell (MFC), a proton exchange membrane (PEM) is an important part that affects the cost of the operation and the performance in contaminants elimination and electricity production. Various types of porous materials have been studied as alternatives to ion separators including ceramic. In this work, a novel model of ceramic-separator microbial fuel cell (CMFC) consisted of air-cathode based on coconut coir with laccase producing yeast Galactomyces reessii on stainless steel net, the carbon cloth anode and ceramic plate with 0.2 cm of thickness. The rubber wastewater (initial 500 mg/L sulfate concentration and 1,000 mg/L COD concentration) was used as an anolyte. The maximum power density of 310.78±1.94 mW/m3, the maximum current density of 3,392.09±16.07 mA/m3 and the internal resistance of 330 Ω were obtained for CMFC by laccase-based cathode under batch processing. Moreover, the COD removal of 78.70±0.56% and the sulfate removal of 88.85±0.50% were achieved. Hence, the ceramic-separator microbial fuel cell with a laccase-based cathode are potential candidate for the development of industrial-scale wastewater treatment plants.