Cellulose Derived Graphene/Polyaniline Nanocomposite Anode for Energy Generation and Bioremediation of Toxic Metals via Benthic Microbial Fuel Cells

Benthic microbial fuel cells (BMFCs) are considered to be one of the eco-friendly bioelectrochemical cell approaches nowadays. The utilization of waste materials in BMFCs is to generate energy and concurrently bioremediate the toxic metals from synthetic wastewater, which is an ideal approach. The use of novel electrode material and natural organic waste material as substrates can minimize the present challenges of the BMFCs. The present study is focused on cellulosic derived graphene-polyaniline (GO-PANI) composite anode fabrication in order to improve the electron transfer rate. Several electrochemical and physicochemical techniques are used to characterize the performance of anodes in BMFCs. The maximum current density during polarization behavior was found to be 87.71 mA/m² in the presence of the GO-PANI anode with sweet potato as an organic substrate in BMFCs, while the GO-PANI offered 15.13 mA/m² current density under the close circuit conditions in the presence of 1000 Ω external resistance. The modified graphene anode showed four times higher performance than the unmodified anode. Similarly, the remediation efficiency of GO-PANI was 65.51% for Cd (II) and 60.33% for Pb (II), which is also higher than the unmodified graphene anode. Furthermore, multiple parameters (pH, temperature, organic substrate) were optimized to validate the efficiency of the fabricated anode in different environmental atmospheres via BMFCs. In order to ensure the practice of BMFCs at industrial level, some present challenges and future perspectives are also considered briefly.