Impact of cathodic electron acceptor on microbial fuel cell internal resistance

Ferricyanide is often used in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to avoid oxygen intrusion that occurs with air cathodes. However, MFC internal resistances using ferricyanide can be larger than those with air cathodes even though ferricyanide results in higher power densities. Using a graphite fiber brush cathode and a ferricyanide catholyte (FC-B) the internal resistance was 62 ± 4 mΩ m², with 84 ± 8 mΩ m² obtained using ferricyanide and a flat carbon paper cathode (FC-F) and only 51 ± 1 mΩ m² using a 70% porosity air cathode (A-70). The FC-B MFCs produced the highest maximum power density of all configurations examined: 2.46 ± 0.26 W/m², compared to 1.33 ± 0.14 W/m² for the A-70 MFCs. The electrode potential slope (EPS) analysis method showed that electrode resistances were similar for ferricyanide and air-cathode MFCs, and that higher power was due to the larger experimental working potential (500 ± 12 mV) of ferricyanide compared to the air cathode (233 ± 5 mV).