Fabrication of polyaniline nanocomposites as electrode material for power generation in microbial fuel cells

Industrial revolution and population growth has resulted in the creation of energy scarcity. It is high time that there should be an efficient technique or source to derive sustaining electrical energy. Recent studies show that electrical energy can be generated using waste material through the fabrication of Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). This study includes the fabrication of new MFC electrodes with nanocomposite coating in which the base material is a conducting polymer polyaniline (PANI). PANI is a highly conductive polymer and its nanocomposites will enhance the surface area of the electrodes and act as an efficient electrocatalyst. For the analysis, we had synthesized PANI, PANI - ZnO, and PANI - Cu/ZnO by methods of chemical polymerization, in-situ polymerization respectively. ZnO and Cu/ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized by co-precipitation method. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD analysis, FTIR analysis and UV-Visible spectroscopy. We have successfully fabricated dual chambered MFC using polyaniline nanocomposites coated electrodes and comparative study has been done for the power generation in MFC using these electrodes. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.