Electrochemical recovery of metal copper in microbial fuel cell using graphene oxide/polypyrrole cathode catalyst
Satish S. Rikame, Alka A. Mungray, Arvind Kumar Mungray
Abstract
The graphene oxide and conducting polypyrrole composite modified cathodes is prepared by electro-polymerization. The microscopic images of the graphene oxide/polypyrrole composite confirmed that the active carbon support was entirely covered by polypyrrole. The ascertain graphene oxide/polypyrrole composite is characterized through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. The graphene oxide/polypyrrole composite exhibited higher open circuit voltage. The Cyclic voltammetry and Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis suggest the improved performance of graphene oxide/polypyrrole as compared to polypyrrole and bare graphite in terms of lower internal resistance and better electro-catalytic activity. The large amount of active spots with continual hauler networks of graphene oxide/polypyrrole compound showed an improved microbial fuel cell power output of 600.25 mW/m3. Graphene oxide/polypyrrole as a cathode catalyst is proved to be sustainable for the effective remediation of metal copper. The maximum copper recovery is 98.88% with simultaneous % Chemical oxygen demand reduction of 98.6%. These research findings suggest the possible knowledge for the synthesis of graphene based composites by electro-polymerization.