scholarly journals Improving the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cells with Modified Carbon Aerogel Based Cathode Catalysts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bálint Lóránt ◽  
Krisztina László ◽  
Gábor Márk Tardy
Keyword(s):  
Graphene Oxide ◽  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Noble Metal ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Carbon Aerogel ◽  
Carbon Powder ◽  
Carbon Cloth ◽  
Cathode Catalysts ◽  
Metal Free ◽  
Co Doping

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are capable of converting the chemical energy of biodegradable organic matter directly into electricity, thus they can be applied in various fields: waste elimination, biosensor industry and production of renewable energy. In this study, the efficiency of noble metal free carbon aerogel based cathode catalysts was investigated and compared to plain glassy carbon cloth without catalyst (CC ) and platinum containing carbon powder catalyst ( PtC ) in H-type MFCs. Surface extension by carbon aerogel (CA ) enhanced the maximum power density by 34 % compared to CC, to 14.1 W m−3. With nitrogen doped carbon aerogel (NCA) the performance was further increased to 15.7 W m−3. Co-doping the resorcinol-melamine-formaldehyde based aerogel with graphene oxide (GNCA) resulted in an additional power increase of 70 %, indicating that the electrocatalytic activity of NCAs can be considerably improved by co-doping with graphene oxide. Although the performance of GNCA remained below that of PtC (50.2 W m−3) in our investigations, it can be concluded that GNCA based coatings may provide a noble metal free, and therefore competitive and sustainable alternatives for cathode catalysis in MFC based technologies.

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

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (10) ◽  
pp. 1610-1616 ◽  
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.

Pomelo peel-derived, N-doped biochar microspheres as an efficient and durable metal-free ORR catalyst in microbial fuel cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1642-1653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuyuan Zhang ◽  
Lifang Deng ◽  
Huawen Hu ◽  
Yu Qiao ◽  
Haoran Yuan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Noble Metal ◽  
Electrocatalytic Activity ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Free Carbon ◽  
Metal Free ◽  
Pomelo Peel ◽  
Carbon Based

Naturally abundant pomelo peels were explored for the preparation of the metal-free carbon-based microspheres with high electrocatalytic activity and long-term durability toward ORR, holding potential for replacing noble metal-based catalysts.

KOH activated N-doped novel carbon aerogel as efficient metal-free oxygen reduction catalyst for microbial fuel cells

2018 ◽  
Vol 348 ◽  
pp. 775-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyu Tian ◽  
Minghua Zhou ◽  
Chaolin Tan ◽  
Ming Li ◽  
Liang Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Oxygen Reduction ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Carbon Aerogel ◽  
Free Oxygen ◽  
Metal Free ◽  
Oxygen Reduction Catalyst

scholarly journals Sewage sludge-derived carbon-doped manganese as efficient cathode catalysts in microbial fuel cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (8) ◽  
pp. 1399-1406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingjing Huang ◽  
Huajun Feng ◽  
Yufeng Jia ◽  
Dongsheng Shen ◽  
Yingfeng Xu
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Sewage Sludge ◽  
Power Density ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Catalytic Performance ◽  
Reduction Reaction ◽  
Air Cathode ◽  
Cathode Catalysts ◽  
Co Doping

Abstract Searching for efficient and inexpensive catalysts to replace precious metal-based catalyst in air-cathode microbial fuel cells is crucial for the practical application and commercialization in wastewater treatment and energy generation. Here, through a simple pyrolysis process, sewage sludge could be converted into carbon material with hierarchically porous structure, which demonstrates oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic performance. Subsequently, co-doping Mn and N species on the carbonized sewage sludge matrix could further improve the ORR catalytic performance, which even demonstrates comparable performance to the commercial expensive Pt/C catalyst in air-cathode microbial fuels cells (MFC). The highest maximum power density of MFC with Mn-N/SC air-cathode is as high as 1,120 mW m−2, which is similar to the power density of the air-cathode MFC equipped commercialized Pt/C catalyst (1,240 mW m−2). Considering the simple operation, significant cost-saving and easy scale-up of the proposed ‘trash-to-treasure’ method, it is promising to convert harmful sewage sludge into efficient non-platinum cathode catalysts in microbial fuel cells.

The high enrichment of Geobacter by TiN nanoarray anode catalyst for efficient microbial fuel cells

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 7726-7735
Author(s):  
Da Liu ◽  
Weicheng Huang ◽  
Qinghuan Chang ◽  
Lu Zhang ◽  
Ruiwen Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Dft Calculation ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Carbon Cloth ◽  
Anode Catalyst ◽  
High Enrichment

TiN nanoarrays, in situ grown on carbon cloth gather 97.2% of the model exoelectrogen Geobacter, greatly enhancing the MFCs' performance. The experimental results and DFT calculation certify the importance of the micro–nano-hierarchical structure.

scholarly journals Bimetallic platinum group metal-free catalysts for high power generating microbial fuel cells

2017 ◽  
Vol 366 ◽  
pp. 18-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mounika Kodali ◽  
Carlo Santoro ◽  
Sergio Herrera ◽  
Alexey Serov ◽  
Plamen Atanassov
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cells ◽  
High Power ◽  
Microbial Fuel Cells ◽  
Platinum Group Metal ◽  
Metal Free ◽  
Group Metal ◽  
Platinum Group
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