Carbon felt was used as the electrodes (anode and cathode). The
total surface area of each carbon felt for anode and cathode
electrodes was 280 cm2. Carbon felts and gravels were inoculated
in the mixed culture sludge which was collected from a glove
manufacturing factory wastewater plant for a month before the
system start operation. During the inoculation period, synthetic
wastewater was fed to the aerobic and anaerobic inoculation tank
to support the growth of microbial community.
In order to ensure MFC function efficiently, it is important that
the anode compartment maintains in anaerobic condition.
Therefore, anode was positioned at 8, 23 and 38 cm from the
bottom of the reactor fulfilling the suitability of anodic reaction
in MFC. While at cathode compartment, oxygen must be easily
obtained as it will combine with protons from anode and electron
fromexternal circuit to complete the circuit (Zhao et al., 2013).