Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Publication
    Microbial fuel cell operation using monoazo and diazo dyes as terminal electron acceptor for simultaneous decolourisation and bioelectricity generation
    ( 2017-03-05)
    Oon Yoong Sin
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    ; ; ;
    Oon Yoong Ling
    ;
    Harvinder Kaur Lehl
    ;
    Thung Wei Eng
    ;
    Noradiba Nordin
    Monoazo and diazo dyes [New coccine (NC), Acid orange 7 (AO7), Reactive red 120 (RR120) and Reactive green 19 (RG19)] were employed as electron acceptors in the abiotic cathode of microbial fuel cell. The electrons and protons generated from microbial organic oxidation at the anode which were utilized for electrochemical azo dye reduction at the cathodic chamber was successfully demonstrated. When NC was employed as the electron acceptor, the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and dye decolourisation efficiencies obtained at the anodic and cathodic chamber were 73 Â± 3% and 95.1 Â± 1.1%, respectively. This study demonstrated that the decolourisation rates of monoazo dyes were ∼50% higher than diazo dyes. The maximum power density in relation to NC decolourisation was 20.64 mW/m 2 , corresponding to current density of 120.24 mA/m 2 . The decolourisation rate and power output of different azo dyes were in the order of NC > AO7 > RR120 > RG19. The findings revealed that the structure of dye influenced the decolourisation and power performance of MFC. Azo dye with electron-withdrawing group at para substituent to azo bond would draw electrons from azo bond; hence the azo dye became more electrophilic and more favourable for dye reduction.
  • Publication
    Comparison of Different Cathode Materials for Degradation of Reactive Red 120 and Electricity Generation in Photocatalytic Fuel Cell
    ( 2020-10-01)
    Mariaswamy, Alan Jay
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    ; ;
    In this study, a photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) based on immobilized zinc oxide (ZnO) on carbon felt photoanode and activated carbon flakes as cathode was designed for the treatment of azo dye, reactive red 120 (RR120) containing wastewater and simultaneous electricity generation. Under light irradiation, generated electron-hole pairs at the photoanode travel via the external circuit to the cathode, thus generating electricity. This was the first attempt where activated carbon flakes were applied as cathode material in PFC. This study examined the influence of parameters such as light irradiation, cathode material, initial dye concentration, supporting electrolytes, pH and concentration of oxidizing agent and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) on the efficiency of PFC to degrade azo dye of RR120 while generating electricity. Complete decolourization of up to 50 mg/L of RR120 dye was achieved but increased dye concentration significantly reduced the PFC efficiency. The PFC efficiency improved using an amalgamation of supporting electrolytes, pH and oxidizing agent at optimum levels, achieving total dye removal and producing a maximum power density of 18.58 mW/cm2.
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  • Publication
    Revealing the influences of functional groups in azo dyes on the degradation efficiency and power output in solar photocatalytic fuel cell
    ( 2020-12-01)
    Khalik, Wan Fadhilah
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    ; ;
    Yusoff N.A.
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    ;
    Lee, Sin-Li
    In this study, the degradation efficiency and electricity generation of the azo dyes affected by the functional groups and molecular structure in a solar photocatalytic fuel cell (PFC) system were investigated and discussed in detail. Four different azo dyes such as, Acid Orange 7 (AO7), Acid Red 18 (AR18), Reactive Black 5 (RB5), Reactive Red 120 (RR120) with different molecular structure were evaluated. The degradation efficiency of AO7, AR18, RB5 and RR120 achieved 5.6 ± 0.3%, 11.1 ± 0.6%, 41.9 ± 0.9% and 52.1 ± 1.3%, respectively, after 6 h irradiated under solar light. In addition, the maximum power density, Pmax for AO7, AR18, RB5 and RR120 was 0.0269 ± 0.01, 0.111 ± 0.03, 1.665 ± 0.67 and 4.806 ± 1.79 mW cm−2, respectively. Meanwhile, the concentration of COD for AO7, AR18, RB5 and RR120 reduced to 16 ± 0.1, 10 ± 0.3, 7 ± 0.6 and 3 ± 0.9 mg L−1, respectively. The concentration ratio of benzene / naphthalene, benzene / azo bond and naphthalene / azo bond, respectively, was analyzed to investigate the impact of the functional groups over photodegradation of the azo dyes in PFC. Electron releasing groups (-OH and –NH2) and electron withdrawing groups (-SO3Na) which attached to the naphthalene or benzene ring also played a pivotal role in the degradation mechanism.
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