In this work, the electrodes of a microbial desalination cell (MDC) are investigated as the positive and negative electrodes of an internal supercapacitor. The resulting system has been named a supercapacitive microbial desalination cell (SC-MDC). The electrodes are self-polarized by the red-ox reactions and therefore the anode acts as a negative electrode and the cathode as a positive electrode of the internal supercapacitor. In order to overcome cathodic losses, an additional capacitive electrode (AdE) was added and short-circuited with the SCMDC cathode (SC-MDC-AdE). A total of 7600 discharge/self-recharge cycles (equivalent to 44 h of operation) of SC-MDC-AdE with a desalination chamber filled with an aqueous solution of 30 g L−1 NaCl are reported. The same reactor system was operated with real seawater collected from Pacific Ocean for 88 h (15,100 cycles). Maximum power generated was 1.63 ± 0.04Wm−2 for SC-MDC and 3.01 ± 0.01Wm−2 for SC-MDC-AdE. Solution conductivity in the desalination reactor decreased by ∼50% after 23 h and by more than 60% after
Carlo, S., Fernando Benito Abada, ., Alexey, S., Mounika, K., Howe, K.J., Soavi, F., et al. (2017). Supercapacitive microbial desalination cells: New class of power generating devices for reduction of salinity content. APPLIED ENERGY, 208, 25-36 [10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.056].
Supercapacitive microbial desalination cells: New class of power generating devices for reduction of salinity content
SOAVI, FRANCESCA;
2017
Abstract
In this work, the electrodes of a microbial desalination cell (MDC) are investigated as the positive and negative electrodes of an internal supercapacitor. The resulting system has been named a supercapacitive microbial desalination cell (SC-MDC). The electrodes are self-polarized by the red-ox reactions and therefore the anode acts as a negative electrode and the cathode as a positive electrode of the internal supercapacitor. In order to overcome cathodic losses, an additional capacitive electrode (AdE) was added and short-circuited with the SCMDC cathode (SC-MDC-AdE). A total of 7600 discharge/self-recharge cycles (equivalent to 44 h of operation) of SC-MDC-AdE with a desalination chamber filled with an aqueous solution of 30 g L−1 NaCl are reported. The same reactor system was operated with real seawater collected from Pacific Ocean for 88 h (15,100 cycles). Maximum power generated was 1.63 ± 0.04Wm−2 for SC-MDC and 3.01 ± 0.01Wm−2 for SC-MDC-AdE. Solution conductivity in the desalination reactor decreased by ∼50% after 23 h and by more than 60% afterI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
