Iron based catalysts from novel low-cost organic precursors for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction in neutral media microbial fuel cells

Santoro, Carlo; Serov, Alexey; Stariha, Lydia; Kodali, Mounika; Gordon, Jonathan; Babanova, Sofia; Bretschger, Orianna; Artyushkova, Kateryna; Atanassov, Plamen

doi:10.1039/c6ee01145d

Cited by 160 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…52 Activated carbon (AC, Norit SX plus), carbon black (CB, 50% acetylene, Alfa Aesar) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, 60% emulsion, Sigma Aldrich) were mixed in a blender for at least 5 minutes. The ratio of the three ingredients was 70%, 10%, and 20% respectively.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The anodes were well operating from previously experiments and already colonized with electroactive bacteria. 52 The MFCs tests were done at room temperature quantified in 22 ±1…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[48][49][50] Particularly, iron-aminoantipyrine (Fe-AAPyr) has been successfully used in double chamber MFC (DCMFC), 14 ceramic based MFC 44 and single chamber MFC. 45 Further advancements have been shown with the investigation of iron-based catalysts 52 In this present work, catalyst formulation and preparation was changed from previously reported studies, and no SSM was applied. In the current report, pyrolysis of polymer salt with iron salt 53 was performed for the first time to synthesize novel catalysts utilized in neutral media and applied in MFC studies.…”

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confidence: 99%

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High Performance Platinum Group Metal-Free Cathode Catalysts for Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

Kodali

Gokhale

Santoro

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode is usually the limiting step in microbial fuel cells and improvements have to be done to increase the performances and reduce the cost. For the first time, iron-based catalysts were synthesized utilizing the polymerization-pyrolysis method and tested successfully in neutral media and in working microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The catalysts were synthesized using polymerization, salt formation, mixed with iron salt and pyrolyzed at 850 • C (PABA-850) and 950 • C (PABA-950) respectively. To study the kinetics, electro-activity of the catalysts was investigated using rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE). Results showed that PABA-850 had higher catalytic activity compared to that of PABA-950. Both Fe-catalysts had much better activity compared to activated carbon (AC) used as a baseline. Catalysts were then integrated into air breathing cathodes (loading 1 mg cm −2 ) and tested in single chamber MFC. The power peak obtained was 178 ± 3 μWcm −2 for PABA-850. Comparable power was produced from PABA-950 (173 ± 3 μWcm −2 ). AC power output was 131 ± 4 μWcm −2 that was roughly 40% lower compared to Fe-based catalysts. Those results demonstrated that the addition of platinum group metal free (PGM-free) catalysts increased the output of the MFCs substantially. Fe-based catalysts seem to be suitable for large-scale MFC applications.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The anodes were well operating from previously experiments and already colonized with electroactive bacteria. 52 The MFCs tests were done at room temperature quantified in 22 ±1…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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High Performance Platinum Group Metal-Free Cathode Catalysts for Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

Kodali

Gokhale

Santoro

et al. 2016

J. Electrochem. Soc.

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“…Other catalysts reduce oxygen to hydrogen peroxide (Equation (2)), which then chemically decomposes (Equation (4)) leading to a two e − process [31]. Although it is known that Pt and Pt-alloys can catalyze the direct ORR (four e − ), they also increase the total cost of the MFCs and suffer from fast poisoning from sulfide present in wastewater [32,33]. As a consequence, the investigation on alternative Pt-free catalysts has been thorough [34,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon-Based Air-Breathing Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cells

et al. 2016

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Abstract:A comparison between different carbon-based gas-diffusion air-breathing cathodes for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is presented in this work. A micro-porous layer (MPL) based on carbon black (CB) and an activated carbon (AC) layer were used as catalysts and applied on different supporting materials, including carbon cloth (CC), carbon felt (CF), and stainless steel (SS) forming cathode electrodes for MFCs treating urine. Rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) analyses were done on CB and AC to: (i) understand the kinetics of the carbonaceous catalysts; (ii) evaluate the hydrogen peroxide production; and (iii) estimate the electron transfer. CB and AC were then used to fabricate electrodes. Half-cell electrochemical analysis, as well as MFCs continuous power performance, have been monitored. Generally, the current generated was higher from the MFCs with AC electrodes compared to the MPL electrodes, showing an increase between 34% and 61% in power with the AC layer comparing to the MPL. When the MPL was used, the supporting material showed a slight effect in the power performance, being that the CF is more powerful than the CC and the SS. These differences also agree with the electrochemical analysis performed. However, the different supporting materials showed a bigger effect in the power density when the AC layer was used, being the SS the most efficient, with a power generation of 65.6 mW·m −2 , followed by the CC (54 mW·m −2 ) and the CF (44 mW·m −2 ).

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“…On the other hand, the cathode electrode, which is also the supporting material for catalysts, has not been studied in detail like that of catalysts. Carbonaceous materials (e.g., carbon paper, graphite granules) are the most widely utilized cathode electrode materials in MFCs, owing to their strong mechanical strength and high porosity to scaffold a large amount of catalysts for better ORR performance [19]. Among those materials, carbon cloth (CC) is commonly used as cathode electrodes [20], and the CC coated or pressed with AC (AC/CC) has been proved to have long-term stability and outstanding electrochemical performance to treat the real wastewater [1,6,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ni-Coated Carbon Fiber as an Alternative Cathode Electrode Material to Improve Cost Efficiency of Microbial Fuel Cells

Luo

2016

Electrochimica Acta

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Keywords:Microbial fuel cell cathode electrode material Ni-coated carbon fiber electrochemical analysis cost efficiency A B S T R A C T Electrode material is a key component in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), and exploring cost-effective electrode materials will greatly help with MFC development, especially the scaling up. In this study, a commercially available material -nickel-coated carbon fiber (Ni-CF) has been investigated as an alternative cathode electrode material to carbon cloth (CC). Both three-electrode cell and MFC tests are carried to examine electrochemical performance and actual electricity generation of the prepared cathode electrodes. It is found that Ni-CF exhibited higher current generation in linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and lower resistance in electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests than those of CC and CF. When being coated with AC, Ni-CF has the highest actual loading amount among the tested materials. As a result, AC/Ni-CF leads to lower charge transfer resistance (95.1 V) and higher current density (8.07 mA m À2 ) than AC/CC (115.3 V and 3.40 mA m À2 ). In the MFC test, the cathode using AC/Ni-CF results in the maximum power density of 6.50 W m À3 , higher than AC/CC at 4.29 W m À3 . This high power output gives cost efficiency of AC/Ni-CF at 299.0 mW $ À1 , nearly twice that of AC/CC (151.7 mW $ À1 ). The initial AC coating amount of 4 g is found to be the optimal amount to achieve optimally actual AC loading amount on the cathode electrode with balanced catalytic ability and (possible) oxygen transfer. Those results encourage further investigation of Ni-CF for MFC applications towards improved performance and cost efficiency.

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Iron based catalysts from novel low-cost organic precursors for enhanced oxygen reduction reaction in neutral media microbial fuel cells

Abstract: Fe-based catalysts based on ricobendazole and niclosamide showed higher performance compared to Pt (20–25%) and AC (90–99%) and more durability in long terms operations.

Cited by 160 publications

References 39 publications

High Performance Platinum Group Metal-Free Cathode Catalysts for Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

High Performance Platinum Group Metal-Free Cathode Catalysts for Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)

Carbon-Based Air-Breathing Cathodes for Microbial Fuel Cells

Ni-Coated Carbon Fiber as an Alternative Cathode Electrode Material to Improve Cost Efficiency of Microbial Fuel Cells

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