Oxygen vacancy tungsten oxide modified carbon cloth anode for enhancing microbial fuel cell performance.

To mitigate the adverse effects of binders in the anode of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and to enhance the performance of WO3 anodes, the WO3-X/CC, serving as a high-performance anode for MFCs, was developed using magnetron sputtering to apply tungsten oxide onto carbon cloth. The WO3-X/CC anode significantly reduces the charge transfer resistance (Rct) to 9.05 Ω, compared to 43.12 Ω for CC anode. The designed anode also enhances electron transport and extracellular electron transfer (EET), reaching a peak power density of 2644 mW m-2, which is 1.67 times greater than that of uncoated CC (1586 mW m-2). Additionally, it demonstrates good wettability and microbial adhesion, which increases the population of electrogenic bacteria Geobacter to 79% on the electrode. These results demonstrate the potential of MFC constructed with oxygen-vacancy-rich WO3-X/CC anodes for wastewater treatment.