摘要：Aluminium mesh is a cheap option for oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), but there is a need for improving its power production and longevity. This study showed the effect of aluminium mesh as cathode in a MFC system for wastewater derived from food sources. Maximum dissolved solutes removal was around 58%, which was initially 570±20 mg/L and decreased to 360±5 mg/L within ten days of operation. Open circuit voltage (OCV) was around 520 ± 30 mV and decreased in the next five days of operation. Graphene (active surface area of 8.5 cm2) was used as the anode owing to its good conductivity; reactor housing was an inexpensive polyethylene terephthalate (PET) system. These results show that aluminium mesh can be a simple and effective material to improve cathode performance. Power density calculations have been normalized by the anode surface area, further improvement in performance would be a key to low cost MFC markets.
