Crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) membrane as separator for domestic wastewater fed dual chambered microbial fuel cells

Abstract The use of Nafion as a proton exchange membrane in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is expensive with operational issues like biofouling and fuel crossover limiting the practical application of the device to harvest energy from wastewaters. In this connection, a facile route is adapted to fabricate a Nafion-alternative membrane using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) crosslinked with glutaraldehyde (GA) as a relatively low-cost, effective membrane for MFCs. The crosslinking of the PVA membrane resulted in a reduction in hydroxyl groups and the formation of the acetal ring and ether linkage demonstrated by controlled water uptake and swelling ratio with enhanced thermo-mechanical stability. The crosslinked membrane displayed higher power density than those typically reported for domestic wastewater fed MFCs, reaching a maximum of 158.28 mW/m2 for the fabricated membrane. The PVA-GA membrane with antimicrobial activity, high power performance, and negligible fuel crossover shows its potential as a separator in future MFCs based on its performance and low cost of installation.