Facile Fabrication of Graphene-Containing Foam as a High-Performance Anode for Microbial Fuel Cells

Facile fabrication of novel three-dimensional anode materials to increase the bacterial loading capacity and improve substrate transport in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is of great interest and importance. Herein, a novel graphene-containing foam (GCF) was fabricated easily by freeze-drying and pyrolysis of a graphene oxide-agarose gel. Owing to the involvement of graphene and stainless-steel mesh in the GCF, the GCF shows high electrical conductivity, enabling the GCF to be a conductive electrode for MFC applications. With the aid of agarose, the GCF electrode possesses a supermacroporous structure with pore sizes ranging from 100-200m and a high surface area, which greatly increase the bacterial loading capacity. Cell viability measurements indicate that the GCF possesses excellent biocompatibility. The MFC, equipped with a 0.4mm-thick GCF anode, shows a maximum area power density of 786mWm(-2), which is 4.1 times that of a MFC equipped with a commercial carbon cloth anode. The simple fabrication route in combination with the outstanding electrochemical performance of the GCF indicates a promising anode for MFC applications.