Anodic degradation of salicylic acid and simultaneous bio-electricity recovery in microbial fuel cell using waste-banana-peels derived biochar-supported MIL-53(Fe)-metal-organic framework as cathode catalyst

This research was aimed to synthesize waste banana peel biochar (BC) supported MIL-53(Fe) metal-organic framework (MOF) (MIL-53(Fe)/BC) as an efficient cathode catalyst for application in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) for the treatment of salicylic acid (SA)-laden wastewater. This investigation marks the first application of such a catalyst in a MFC for SA degradation. The results revealed an increment in power density of MFC-MIL-53(Fe)/BC by 2.34-folds (142.2 +/- 1.5 mW/m2) as compared to MFC-MIL-53(Fe) (60.6 +/- 1.8 mW/m2). Removal of chemical oxygen demand in MFC-MIL-53(Fe)/BC (93.8 +/- 2.2 %) was found to be comparable to MFC-Pt/C (94.6 +/- 1.5 %). The MFC-MIL-53(Fe)/BC demonstrated a 91.5 +/- 2.0 % biodegradation of SA. The power recovery per unit cost by MFC-MIL-53(Fe)/BC was found to be 380.21 mW/US$, which is significantly higher than MFC-Pt/C (6.08 mW/US$), indicating that MIL-53(Fe)/BC could be an affordable replacement to pricey Pt as cathode catalyst for efficient oxygen reduction reaction.