Nickel oxide and carbon nanotube composite (NiO/CNT) as a novel cathode non-precious metal catalyst in microbial fuel cells

Through one-step pyrolysis, non-noble-metal oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts were constructed from ferric trichloride, melamine, and graphene nanoribbon@carbon nanotube (GNR@CNT), in which a portion of the multiwall carbon nanotube is unwrapped/unzipped radially, and thus graphene nanoribbon is exposed. In this study, Fe-N/GNR@CNT materials were used as an air-cathode electrocatalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for the first time. The Fe-N/C shows similar power generation ability to commercial Pt/C, and its electron transfer number is 3.57, indicating that the ORR process primarily occurs with 4-electron. Fe species, pyridinic-N, graphitic-N, and oxygen-containing groups existing in GNR@CNT frameworks are likely to endow the electrocatalysts with good ORR performance, suggesting that a GNR@CNT-based carbon supporter would be a good candidate for the non-precious metal catalyst to replace Pt-based precious metal.

Download Full-text

Co0.85Se/Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composite as Alternative Cathode Catalyst for Microbial Fuel Cells

Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ◽

10.1166/jnn.2017.12697 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 1438-1442 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Chao-Hai Ding ◽

Jie-Jian Tang ◽

Shuang Chen ◽

Zhao-Qing Liu ◽

Nan Li

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Cathode Catalyst ◽

Multi Walled Carbon Nanotube ◽

Carbon Nanotube Composite

Download Full-text

High stability pyrolyzed vitamin B12 as a non-precious metal catalyst of oxygen reduction reaction in microbial fuel cells

RSC Advances ◽

10.1039/c3ra42517g ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 3 (35) ◽

pp. 15375 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Chen-Hao Wang ◽

Chin-Tsan Wang ◽

Hsin-Chih Huang ◽

Sun-Tang Chang ◽

Fan-Ying Liao

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Oxygen Reduction Reaction ◽

Vitamin B12 ◽

Oxygen Reduction ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Precious Metal ◽

High Stability ◽

Reduction Reaction ◽

Metal Catalyst

Download Full-text

Multi-walled carbon nanotube/SnO2 nanocomposite: a novel anode material for microbial fuel cells

Electrochimica Acta ◽

10.1016/j.electacta.2014.03.011 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 130 ◽

pp. 512-518 ◽

Cited By ~ 88

Author(s):

Ali Mehdinia ◽

Ehsan Ziaei ◽

Ali Jabbari

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Anode Material ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Multi Walled Carbon Nanotube

Download Full-text

Polyelectrolyte–single wall carbon nanotube composite as an effective cathode catalyst for air-cathode microbial fuel cells

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2014.416 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 70 (10) ◽

pp. 1610-1616 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Huanan Wu ◽

Min Lu ◽

Lin Guo ◽

Leonard Guan Hong Bay ◽

Zheng Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Carbon Nanotube ◽

Oxygen Reduction ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Reduction Process ◽

Air Cathode ◽

Single Wall Carbon Nanotube ◽

Single Wall Carbon ◽

Cathode Catalysts ◽

Metal Free

Polyelectrolyte–single wall carbon nanotube (SCNT) composites are prepared by a solution-based method and used as metal-free cathode catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this study, two types of polyelectrolytes, polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (PDDA) and poly[bis(2-chloroethyl)ether-alt-1,3-bis[3-(dimethylamino)propyl]urea] (PEPU) are applied to decorate the SCNTs and the resulting catalysts exhibit remarkable catalytic ability toward ORR in MFC applications. The enhanced catalytic ability could be attributed to the positively charged quaternary ammonium sites of polyelectrolytes, which increase the oxygen affinity of SCNTs and reduce activation energy in the oxygen reduction process. It is also found that PEPU–SCNT composite-based MFCs show efficient performance with maximum power density of 270.1 mW m−2, comparable to MFCs with the benchmark Pt/C catalyst (375.3 mW m−2), while PDDA–SCNT composite-based MFCs produce 188.9 mW m−2. These results indicate that PEPU–SCNT and PDDA–SCNT catalysts are promising candidates as metal-free cathode catalysts for ORR in MFCs and could facilitate MFC scaling up and commercialization.

Download Full-text