Corncob pyrochar activated with steam (CCA) and nonactivated corncob pyrochar (NCC) were produced and characterized. The performance of the best material was tested in a dual‐chambered microbial fuel cell (MFC) as an electrode for bioelectricity generation using wet torrefaction wastewater as substrate. Pyrolysis of 80.3 g of dried corncobs was carried out at 600°C under a constant N₂ flow of 3 L min⁻¹ for 30 min and the resulting pyrochar was activated using steam also at 600°C. Voltage and current outputs from the MFC were recorded daily for 18 days. The proximate and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area analyses revealed that CCA had the highest fixed carbon content of 71.9 % and higher surface area of 104.0 m² g⁻¹ respectively. A larger pore diameter of 1.9 × 10⁻³ µm was also recorded with the CCA than 1.2 × 10⁻³ µm for NCC. The MFC produced a maximum power output of 21.5 mW. The physicochemical analyses of the wastewater effluent revealed an increased electrical conductivity from 1724 to 3460 µS cm⁻¹ with a significant decrease by 91.9% in the total organic carbon (TOC) from 3700 to 298 mg L⁻¹. Steam activation increases the surface area, porosity, stability and redox reversibility of the corncob pyrochar. Therefore, steam‐activated corncob pyrochar performed well in MFCs due to the high power output observed.

中文翻译：

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湿法焙烧废水和局部开发的玉米芯电极在微生物燃料电池中发电

制备并表征了用蒸汽活化的玉米芯焦炭（CCA）和未活化的玉米芯焦炭（NCC）。最佳材料的性能已在双室微生物燃料电池（MFC）中作为湿生焙烧废水作为基质的生物发电电极进行了测试。在600℃，恒定的N ₂流为3 L min ^-1的条件下，将80.3 g干燥的玉米芯进行热解30分钟，并且同样在600°C的条件下使用蒸汽活化得到的焦炭。每天记录MFC的电压和电流输出，持续18天。最近的和Brunauer-Emmett-Teller（BET）的表面积分析表明，CCA的最高固定碳含量为71.9％，较高的表面积为104.0 m ² g ^-1分别。的1.9×10较大的孔径^-3微米还记录了与CCA大于1.2×10 ^-3微米为NCC。MFC产生的最大功率输出为21.5 mW。废水流出物的理化分析表明，电导率从1724提高到3460 µS cm ^-1，总有机碳（TOC）从3700降低到298 mg L ^-1显着下降了91.9％。蒸汽活化增加了玉米芯焦炭的表面积，孔隙率，稳定性和氧化还原可逆性。因此，由于观察到高功率输出，蒸汽活化的玉米芯焦炭在MFC中表现良好。