Binder-free nitrogen-doped graphene catalyst air-cathodes for microbial fuel cells

“… 1 , 2 , 35 − 37 The investigations varied from activated carbon that is commercially available at relatively low cost to modified activated carbon or carbon black modified with nitrogen functional groups. 38 − 46 Other, even more, sophisticated and lab-made carbonaceous materials such as aerogel, 47 carbon nanotubes (CNT), 48 carbon nanofibers (CNF), 49 and graphene 50 − 53 have also been recently evaluated, providing relatively high power output despite their cost is relatively higher compared to commercial AC. Unfortunately, as mentioned above carbon-based materials still carry on the majority of drawbacks for ORR such as high overpotential and low kinetics that are typical for cathodic catalysts operating in neutral media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts Derived from Iron Salt and Benzimidazole and Aminobenzimidazole Precursors and Their Application in Microbial Fuel Cell Cathodes

Mecheri

Gokhale

Santoro

et al. 2018

ACS Appl. Energy Mater.

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In this work, benzimidazole (BZIM) and aminobenzimidazole (ABZIM) were used as organic-rich in nitrogen precursors during the synthesis of iron–nitrogen–carbon (Fe–N–C) based catalysts by sacrificial support method (SSM) technique. The catalysts obtained, denoted Fe-ABZIM and Fe-BZIM, were characterized morphologically and chemically through SEM, TEM, and XPS. Moreover, these catalysts were initially tested in rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) configuration, resulting in similar high electrocatalytic activity toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) having low hydrogen peroxide generated (<3%). The ORR performance was significantly higher compared to activated carbon (AC) that was the control. The catalysts were then integrated into air-breathing (AB) and gas diffusion layer (GDL) cathode electrode and tested in operating microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The presence of Fe–N–C catalysts boosted the power output compared to AC cathode MFC. The AB-type cathode outperformed the GDL type cathode probably because of reduced catalyst layer flooding. The highest performance obtained in this work was 162 ± 3 μWcm–2. Fe-ABZIM and Fe-BZIM had similar performance when incorporated to the same type of cathode configuration. Long-term operations show a decrease up to 50% of the performance in two months operations. Despite the power output decrease, the Fe-BZIM/Fe-ABZIM catalysts gave a significant advantage in fuel cell performance compared to the bare AC.

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“…Among these, the construction of anode and cathode stands out as the most important factor influencing the MFC performance. In particular, the sluggish ORR kinetics at the cathode has been recognized as a primary bottleneck that limits the MFC performance . Platinum‐based catalysts have been widely used to facilitate the ORR process, but their high cost, scarcity and low durability hinder their practical utilization .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facile Synthesis of Fe/N/S‐Doped Carbon Tubes as High‐Performance Cathode and Anode for Microbial Fuel Cells

Yang

Lan

et al. 2019

ChemCatChem

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As a renewable energy technology, microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been attracting increasing attention in recent decades. However, practical applications of MFCs has been hampered by the unsatisfactory electrode performance, in particular, at the cathode. Herein, Fe/N/S-doped carbon hollow tubes were prepared by a facile two-stage procedure involving hydrothermal treatment and pyrolysis at controlled temperatures. Electrochemical studies showed that the obtained samples exhibited an apparent electrocatalytic activity towards oxygen reduction reaction in both alkaline and acidic media, a performance comparable to that of commercial Pt/C, and the sample prepared at 800°C stood out as the best among the series with a half-wave potential of + 0.81 V vs. RHE and an electron transfer number of 3.98 at + 0.6 V vs. RHE. The Fe/N/S-doped carbon tubes also exhibited a remarkable performance as an MFC anode by facilitating bacterial growth and electron transfer between the biofilm and electrode. In fact, an MFC based on the carbon tubes as both cathode and anode showed a markedly higher performance (maximum power density 479 W m À 3 ) than the control MFC based on a graphene aerogel anode and Pt/C cathode (359 W m À 3 ). These results suggest that Fe/N/S-doped carbon composites can be used for the fabrication of high-efficiency MFC electrodes.[a] Dr.

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Binder-free nitrogen-doped graphene catalyst air-cathodes for microbial fuel cells

Abstract: A binder-free N-doped graphene catalyst layer was synthesized in situ on a nickel mesh for air-cathodes in microbial fuel cells, which achieved 32% higher power density than the commonly used Pt/C air-cathode.

Cited by 51 publications

References 39 publications

Air Breathing Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cell using Mn-, Fe-, Co- and Ni-containing Platinum Group Metal-free Catalysts

Air Breathing Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cell using Mn-, Fe-, Co- and Ni-containing Platinum Group Metal-free Catalysts

Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts Derived from Iron Salt and Benzimidazole and Aminobenzimidazole Precursors and Their Application in Microbial Fuel Cell Cathodes

Facile Synthesis of Fe/N/S‐Doped Carbon Tubes as High‐Performance Cathode and Anode for Microbial Fuel Cells

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