Graphene-loaded nickel oxide nanocomposite as anode material for microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cell is considered one of the tremendous technologies as this possesses a potential to utilize waste for energy as well as for wastewater treatment-related environmental pollution. In present work, wet chemical method was adopted to synthesize Ni/G nanocomposite. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was employed for studying the morphology, phase, and elemental analysis which were done using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and EDS, respectively. Malvern zeta particle sizer was used to determine the particle size of synthesized powder, and by using electrochemical station application, studies were carried out, i.e., cyclic voltammetry and chronocoulometry, and compared with previous studies. In addition, newly developed anode material was used for microbial fuel cell. Saccharomyces cerevisiae sp. was utilized as biocatalyst while 180 μmol l−1 of methylene blue as a mediator in anode and 350 μmol l−1 potassium ferricyanide was used as an oxidizing agent in cathode chamber for treatment of spent wash. All experiments were carried out through balancing the volume of 1 l for power generation from spent wash in MFC under an optimized parameter of 10% agarose, pH 8, aeration rate 200 ml/min, and 50% substrate concentration. The maximum current and a power density obtained at an optimized concentration are approximately 54.21 mA/m2 and 71.12 mW/m2, respectively. The maximum voltage of (1130 mv) was obtained per liter of processed spent wash.