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Bamboo charcoal as a cost-effective catalyst for an air-cathode of microbial fuel cells

[Display omitted] •Bamboo charcoals were used as the cost-effective ORR catalyst for SCMFCs.•BC-HT and BC-NP-HT exhibited a comparable Pmax value to that of Pt/C.•BC-HT-NP-HT achieved a 65% higher Pmax value than Pt/C.•Poisoning species in MFCs had little effect on the ORR activity of BC catalysts.•...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Electrochimica acta 2017-01, Vol.224, p.585-592
Main Authors: Yang, Wei, Li, Jun, Ye, Dingding, Zhu, Xun, Liao, Qiang
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:[Display omitted] •Bamboo charcoals were used as the cost-effective ORR catalyst for SCMFCs.•BC-HT and BC-NP-HT exhibited a comparable Pmax value to that of Pt/C.•BC-HT-NP-HT achieved a 65% higher Pmax value than Pt/C.•Poisoning species in MFCs had little effect on the ORR activity of BC catalysts.•Pt/C was severely poisoned in MFC relevant conditions. In this study, bamboo charcoals (BCs) obtained by carbonizing bamboo branches (Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel) in a N2 atmosphere were used as high-performance, cost-effective catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). The obtained catalyst (BC-HT) showed a maximum power density (Pmax) of 1056±38mWm−2, which was comparable to that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (1039±15mWm−2). Additional N and P doping by soaking the carbonized BC in a (NH4)3PO4 solution (BC-HT-NP-HT) resulted in a 65% higher Pmax (1719±82mWm−2) compared to that of Pt/C. This improvement can be attributed to not only the high electrical conductivity, the sufficient amount of N- and P-containing groups, and the presence of many effective active sites (i.e., pyridinic-N, graphitic-N, P-N and P-O-CO3) but also the high tolerance of BC-HT-NP-HT to the poisoning species under the relevant MFC conditions. These results demonstrated that easily available BCs can be cost-efficient and high-performing catalysts for ORR in air-cathode MFCs.
ISSN:0013-4686
1873-3859
DOI:10.1016/j.electacta.2016.12.046