Abstract
Four air-cathodes with different oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity were made using different catalysts and microbial fuel cells (MFCs) were operated with them. For the enrichment process of electrogenic bacteria, MFCs with high ORR activity showed earlier growth. However, after electrogenic bacteria grown well, all MFCs showed almost the same power density, 4.5A/m2. Additionally, in the MFC with the cathode of the lowest ORR activity, microbial community of anode was different from other MFCs. Moreover, the polarization curve of the anode was also different from the other anodes. These results indicate the difference in ORR activity of cathode in this study affected on the growth speed and microbial community of anode microbe, but did not affect on the power production after anode bacteria grown.
