The performances of single chamber microbial fuel cells (SCMFCs) can be drastically enhanced by using nitrogen-doped electrospun carbon nanofibers (N–CNFs) as a surface coating material in composite anodes. The crucial step is the fine-tuning of the surface properties to improve bacteria growth on the anodic electrode. Two different pyrolysis treatments, conducted under inert atmosphere at 600 °C and 900 °C are analyzed in order to optimize the thermal treatment able to balance the surface chemistry of N–CNFs with respect to their electrical conductivity. N–CNFs treated at 600 °C result to be the best performing surface coating material in composite anodes, minimizing the process costs together while keeping excellent properties towards application. Morphological, physical and chemical features of the material are analyzed. The optimized N-doped CNFs show good interaction with microorganisms. All these features enhance the SCMFC performances. The SCMFCs with composite anode achieve power densities of 2.153 ± 0.011 W m⁻², an order of magnitude higher than the results reached by using commercial carbon fibers. These performances are better than the ones obtained with activated CNFs proposed in the literature, where maximum pyrolysis temperature is up to 1100 °C and further chemical treatments are needed to ensure optimal surface chemistry, improving biofilm growth.

通过使用氮掺杂的电纺碳纳米纤维（N–CNFs）作为复合阳极的表面涂层材料，可以大大提高单室微生物燃料电池（SCMFC）的性能。关键步骤是微调表面性能，以改善细菌在阳极电极上的生长。为了优化能够平衡N–CNFs的表面化学性质和电导率的热处理，分析了在惰性气氛下分别在600°C和900°C下进行的两种不同的热解处理。经过600°C处理的N–CNFs成为复合阳极中性能最好的表面涂层材料，可将工艺成本减至最低，同时保持优异的应用性能。分析了材料的形态，物理和化学特征。优化的氮掺杂CNF与微生物具有良好的相互作用。所有这些功能增强了SCMFC的性能。具有复合阳极的SCMFC的功率密度为2.153±0.011 W m^-2，比使用商业碳纤维获得的结果高一个数量级。这些性能优于文献中提出的活化CNF获得的性能，后者的最高热解温度高达1100°C，需要进一步的化学处理以确保最佳的表面化学性能，从而改善生物膜的生长。