Electrochemical oxidization of PAN-based carbon fibers for enhancing performance of microbial fuel cells

摘要

Effects of electrochemical pre-oxidization of PAN-based carbon fibers on the performance of microbial fuel cells were studied in the present work. Experimental results show that electrochemical pre-oxidization can improve the electrochemical properties of PAN-based carbon fibers by forming micro-cavities and functional groups on the surface of fibers. Pre-treated PAN-based carbon fibers were showed to be more suitable for MFC anode. Compared with the raw fibers, electrochemically treated carbon fiber anode could enhance the electricity production by a factor of nearly 100 %. The limiting current of MFCs can also be doubled by using the carbon fibers pre-oxidized electrochemically.