The use of biopolymers as alternative proton exchange membranes (PEMs) is receiving significant attention in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) due to their attractive and competitive physico-chemical properties, eco-friendly behavior and biodegradable nature. In this study we developed the biopolymer-based blend PEMs using chitosan (Cs) alginate (Alg) for bioelectricity production and simultaneous wastewater treatment and also investigated the effect of blending ratio of the membrane and ionic crosslinking between the two biopolymers on MFC performance. The membranes of Cs:Alg were fabricated in volume ratio of 100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 50:50, 40:60, 20:80, and 0:100 via a solution casting and solvent evaporation method followed by crosslinking with phosphoric acid to avoid excess swelling of the hydrophilic polymers and increase the mechanical strength. Among these, the 50:50 ratio membranes exhibited the highest power generation (115 mW/m²) with 1340% water uptake, however the membrane with 40:60 ratio displayed maximum COD removal (78.6%) compared to other membranes. The structure and surface morphology of obtained membranes were examined using Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Sorption and cation exchange capacity, and tensile strength. Sorption, cation exchange capacity and mechanical properties of Cs membranes increased with the addition of Alg with near to stoichiometric ratio.

生物聚合物作为替代质子交换膜（PEMs）的使用，由于其具有吸引力和竞争性的理化特性，环保行为和可生物降解的性质，在微生物燃料电池（MFCs）中受到了广泛的关注。在这项研究中，我们开发了使用壳聚糖（Cs）海藻酸盐（Alg）的生物聚合物基混合PEM，用于生物电生产和同步废水处理，还研究了两种生物聚合物之间膜的混合比例和离子交联对MFC性能的影响。通过溶液流延和溶剂蒸发法，然后以100：0、80：20、60：40、50：50、40：60、20：80和0：100的体积比制备Cs：Alg膜与磷酸交联可避免亲水性聚合物过度溶胀并提高机械强度。²）具有1340％的吸水率，但是与其他膜相比，具有40∶60比例的膜显示出最大的COD去除率（78.6％）。使用红外光谱（FTIR），X射线衍射（XRD），扫描电子显微镜（SEM）结合能量色散X射线光谱（EDX），吸附和阳离子交换能力对所得膜的结构和表面形态进行了检查，和拉伸强度。Cs膜的吸附，阳离子交换能力和力学性能均随化学计量比接近Alg的增加而增加。