López Zavala, Miguel ÁngelBorja Maldonado, Fátima Jessica Milagros2023-09-192023-09-192023-05-10Borja Maldonado, F. J. M. (2023). Evaluation of electrode materials and external resistance in microbial fuel cells to improve wastewater treatment and bioenergy production [Tesis Doctorado]. Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Recuperado de: https://hdl.handle.net/11285/651162https://hdl.handle.net/11285/651162https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5166-6983Dual chamber microbial fuel cells (DC-MFCs) are a technological alternative that can be applied to both wastewater treatment and bioenergy generation. This research evaluated the influence of new carbon-based electrode materials, catholytes, and external resistances on the performance of a DC-MFC. The evaluations were carried out using graphite, graphene and hydrophilic-treated graphene (HTG) electrodes in a DC-MFC. Additionally, different external resistance of 10 Ω, 100 Ω, 1 kΩ, and 2.2 kΩ were also evaluated. For the entire evaluation, a 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution and deionized water were used in the cathodic chamber. Domestic wastewater served as a substrate, and a DuPont TM Nafion 117 membrane acted as the proton exchange membrane. The results showed that HTG has a large superficial area and high conductive properties compared to graphene and graphite. The findings are in agreement with the maximum power density obtained, which was 32.07 mW·m−2 using HTG electrodes, HCl as catholyte, and an external resistances of 100 Ω. In addition, an assessment of external resistances of 10 Ω, 100 Ω, 1,000 Ω, 2,200 Ω in a DC-MFC revealed the effect these resistance exert on anodic potential, the development of microbial communities, overpotential losses, and COD removal. These results indicated that the use of a 100 Ω external resistance, HTG electrodes and HCl as catholyte was the conditions that best favored energy production by treating 3.4 L of domestic wastewater in DC-MFC. Based on these results, it is highly recommended to continue investigating large-scale MFCs for their feasible application.TextoengopenAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0INGENIERÍA Y TECNOLOGÍA::CIENCIAS TECNOLÓGICAS::TECNOLOGÍA ENERGÉTICA::OTRASScienceTesis de doctoradoUna sección de la Tesis es material que esta en proceso de publicación como artículo científicohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1768-4299Microbial fuel cellElectrodeExternal resistanceGrapheneGraphite42524157813191700