Effective strategies for anode surface modification for power harvesting and industrial wastewater treatment using microbial fuel cells

This study investigates three different strategies for anode surface treatment by doping superficial nitrogen groups on the anode surfaces of carbon cloth (CC) and carbon paper (CP). The chosen anodes were hydrothermally treated in the presence of an ammonia solution (AST), a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric acid (AHT), and solid urea (UT) at 180 °C for 3 h. The utilized characterization techniques confirmed doping of nitrogen on the anode surfaces and a decrease in the oxygen-bonded carbon content. Furthermore, the results showed that the power and current densities were significantly affected by the surface modification techniques. Interestingly, the AST strategy achieved the highest power density of 159.3 mW⁻² and 91.6 mWm⁻², which revealed an increase in power of 115% and 56.8% for CC-AST and CP-AST, respectively. Additionally, the maximum coulombic efficiencies were 63.9% and 27.5% for the CC-AST and CP-AST anodes, respectively. Overall, these results highlight the significance of anode surface modification for enhancing MFC performance to generate electricity and treat actual wastewater.