Immobilization of a Metal-Nitrogen-Carbon Catalyst on Activated Carbon with Enhanced Cathode Performance in Microbial Fuel Cells.
Wulin YangBruce E LoganPublished in: ChemSusChem (2016)
Applications of microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are limited in part by low power densities mainly due to cathode performance. Successful immobilization of an Fe-N-C co-catalyst on activated carbon (Fe-N-C/AC) improved the oxygen reduction reaction to nearly a four-electron transfer, compared to a twoelectron transfer achieved using AC. With acetate as the fuel, the maximum power density was 4.7±0.2 W m(-2) , which is higher than any previous report for an air-cathode MFC. With domestic wastewater as a fuel, MFCs with the Fe-N-C/AC cathode produced up to 0.8±0.03 W m(-2) , which was twice that obtained with a Pt-catalyzed cathode. The use of this Fe-N-C/AC catalyst can therefore substantially increase power production, and enable broader applications of MFCs for renewable electricity generation using waste materials.
Keyphrases
- reduced graphene oxide
- metal organic framework
- ion batteries
- solar cells
- electron transfer
- induced apoptosis
- visible light
- room temperature
- gold nanoparticles
- cell cycle arrest
- ionic liquid
- highly efficient
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- cell death
- oxidative stress
- pi k akt
- risk assessment
- cell proliferation
- anaerobic digestion
- sewage sludge