• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1263-1269
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• 2005

Horseradish peroxidase, had the phenol degradation rate of 95% in aqueous phase, was covalently immobilized on the surface of reticulated vitreous carbon(RVC) and the degradation of phenol was performed with in situ generated $H_2O_2$-immobilized HRP complex in an electrochemical reactor. The incorporation of carboxylic group on the RVC surface was confirmed by FT/IR spectrometry and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride(EDC) was used for peptide bonds between the carboxylic groups on the RVC surface and amine groups from HRP. The optimal conditions of in situ $H_2O_2$ generation such as concentration($10{\sim}200$ mM) and pH($5.0{\sim}8.0$) of electrolyte, supply of $O_2(10{\sim}50$ mL/min) and applied voltage($-0.2{\sim}-0.8$ volt, vs. Ag/AgCl) from potentiostat/galvanostat were determined by concentration of hydrogen peroxide and current efficiency. It was observed that the RVC immobilized HRP was stable maintaining 89% of the initial activity during 4 weeks. The phenol degradation rate of 86% was attained under the optimal condition of in situ $H_2O_2$ generation.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.168-172
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• 2008

A microbial fuel cell is a noble green technology generating electricity from biomass and is expected to find applications in a real world. One of main hurdles to this purpose is the low power density. In this study, we constructed a prototype microbial fuel cell using Proteus vulgaris to study the effect of various reaction conditions on the performance. Main focus has been made on the modification of the anode with electropolymerized polypyrrole (Ppy). A dramatic power enhancement was resulted from the Ppy deposition onto the reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) electrode. Our obtained maximum power density of 1.2 mW cm-3 is the highest value among the reported ones for the similar system. Further power enhancement was possible by increasing the ionic strength of the solution to decrease internal resistance of the cell. Other variables such as the deposition time, kinds of mediators, and amount of bacteria have also been examined.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 2010

Two types of microbial fuel cells(MFC) were continuously operated using synthetic wastewater. One was conventional two-chambered MFC using proton exchange membrane(PEM-MFC), the other was upflow type membraneless MFC(ML-MFC). Graphite felt was used as a anode in PEM-MFC. In membraneless MFC, two MFCs were operated using porous RVC(reticulated vitreous carbon) as a anode. Graphite felt was used as a cathode in all experiments. In experiment of PEM-MFC, the COD removal rate based on the surface area of anode was about $3.0g/m^2{\cdot}d$ regardless of organic loading rate. And the coulombic efficiency amounted to 22.4~23.4%. The acetic acid used as a fuel was transferred through PEM from the anodic chamber to cathodic chamber. The COD removal rate in ML-MFC were $9.3{\sim}10.1g/m^2{\cdot}d$, which indicated the characteristics of anode had no significant effects on COD removal. Coulombic efficiency were 3.6~3.7 % in both cases of ML-MFC experiments, which were relatively small. It was also observed that the microbial growth in cathodic chamber had an adverse effects on the electricity generation in membraneless MFC.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.591-596
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• 2011

Surface floating air cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) having horizontal flow was developed for the application of MFC technology. RVC (Reticulated vitreous carbon) coated with anyline was used as anode electrode and carbon cloth coated with Pt (5.0 g Pt/$m^2$, GDE LT250EW, E-TEK) was used as cathode electrode. As results of continuous operation with changing the flow rate from 4.3 mL/min to 9.5 mL/min, maximum power density of 4.5 W/$m^3$ was acquired at 5.4 mL/min, which was at 0.35 m/hr of flow velocity under anode electrode. When the ratio of cathode surface area to anode surface area($A_c/A_a$) was changed to 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25, the maximum power density of 2.7 W/$m^3$ was shown at the ratio of 1.0. As the ratio decreased from 1.0 to 0.25, the power density also decreased, which is caused by increasing the internal resistance resulted from reducing the surface area to contact with oxygen. Actually, internal resistances of the ratio of 1.0, 0.5, and 0.25 were 63.75${\Omega}$, 142.18${\Omega}$, and 206.12${\Omega}$, respectively.