Hydrophilic modified of expanded polytetrafluroethylene membrane and its application in microbial fuel cell

Expanded Polytetrafluroethylene membrane (ePTFE) is constructed by biaxial tensed Polytetrafluroethylene (PTFE) in order to form a fibrous tunnel, which has the same excellent characteristics as PTFE. In this study, ePTFE membrane was hydrophilic modification by a feasible method, and then fitted into a single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cell (MFC) for examining the electrochemical performance of the cell. The MFC with hydrophilic ePTFE membrane generated cell voltage of 761 mV and maximum power density of 1303 mW/m² (3.0 A/m²), which is higher than other MFCs. The result shows ePTFE membrane can be used as the separator and it can increase the performance of MFC by improving the proton exchange efficiency and reduce oxygen permeation.