Reticulated carbon foam derived from a sponge-like natural product as a high-performance anode in microbial fuel cells

In this paper, we report a reticulated carbon foam prepared by direct carbonization of the sponge-like natural product Pomelo peel, and its application as an anode in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Electrochemical measurements show that the carbon foam anode generates a high projected current density of over 4.0 mA cm−2 and a volumetric current density of 18.7 mA cm−3, which is five times that of commercial Reticulated Vitreous Carbon Foam (RVC) and 2.5 times that of graphite felts with similar electrode size. The high current density could be attributed to the wrinkled electrode surface, large pore size and high porosity of over 97% in the carbon foam.