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Gas diffusion electrodes modified with binary doped polyaniline for enhanced CO₂ conversion during microbial electrosynthesis

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jean-Marie Fontmorin, Paniz Izadi, Dr Da Li, Swee Su Lim, Professor Eileen Yu

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

© 2021. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is a promising technology to convert CO2 into value-added chemicals. Enhancing the interactions between biofilms and electrodes is the key of bioelectrochemical systems (BES). In this work, we studied the conversion of CO2 by MES in reactors equipped with novel gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) modified with a polyaniline (PANI) polymer binary doped with H2SO4 and ammonium lauryl sulfate. The enhanced conductive and hydrophilic properties of the polymer increased the biocompatibility of the PANI-modified GDEs compared to the non-modified carbon GDEs. This increased biocompatibility resulted in faster start-up and higher bioproduction of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) such as acetate and butyrate. Up to 4400 ppm acetate was produced in PANI-modified reactors after 24 days of operation, compared to 408 ppm in reactors equipped with non-modified GDEs. A maximum acetate concentration of 7500 ppm (production rate of 554.8 ± 267.5 ppm day−1) was reached in reactors equipped with PANI-GDEs. After 60 days, apart from acetate, 245 ppm butyrate was produced in reactors equipped with the electrodes modified with PANI, while less than 60 ppm was produced with non-modified GDEs. SEM analysis revealed the development of biofilms on both modified and non-modified electrodes, but the images also suggest differences in compositions.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Fontmorin J-M, Izadi P, Li D, Lim SS, Farooq S, Bilal SS, Cheng S, Yu EH

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Electrochimica Acta

Year: 2021

Volume: 372

Print publication date: 10/03/2021

Online publication date: 27/01/2021

Acceptance date: 23/01/2021

Date deposited: 06/10/2023

ISSN (print): 0013-4686

Publisher: Elsevier Ltd

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2021.137853

DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2021.137853

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