Bifunctional quaternary ammonium compounds to inhibit biofilm growth and enhance performance for activated carbon air-cathode in microbial fuel cells

The slow diffusion of hydroxyl out of the catalyst layer as well as the biofouling on the surface of cathode are two problems affecting power for membrane-less air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In order to solve both of them simultaneously, here we simply modify activated carbon air-cathode using a bifunctional quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) by forced evaporation. The maximum power density reaches 1041 +/- 12 mW m(-2) in an unbuffered medium (0.5 g L-1 NaCl), which is 17% higher than the control, probably due to the accelerated anion transport in the catalyst layer. After 2 months, the protein content reduced by a factor of 26 and the power density increases by 33%, indicating that the QAC modification can effectively inhibit the growth of cathodic biofilm and improve the stability of performance. The addition of NaOH and QAC epoxy have a negative effect on power production due to the clogging of pores in catalyst layer. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.