Preparation of CdS doped carbon nanotubes and their electrochemical properties

Abstract

A CdS doped carbon nanotube sol was synthesised by the sol-gel technique and applied to a titanium plate to synthesise a composite electrode. Energy dispersion X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that the electrodes contain CdS. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the carbon nanotubes were uniformly dispersed on the surface of the plate. A two-chamber microbial fuel cell was constructed using the electrode as the anode, flexible graphite as the cathode and glucose solution as the substrate in the anode chamber. The effects of CdS dose, glucose concentration and temperature on the cell efficiency and organic degradation have been analysed. At 313 K, the two-chambered fuel cell possessed the optimum output voltage of 906 mV, with a power of 19·6 mW m⁻² and a removal rate of 81 for chemical oxygen demand in treatment of wastewater. The composite electrode was found to be stable and to perform reproducibly.