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In this work, platinum‐free based cathodes are investigated for their application in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Carbon cloth and stainless steel grid were employed as different supporting materials for the electrodeposition of three types of inert carriers, for example, clay, silica, and aluminum‐nickel alloy, all of them combined with nickel. This work evaluates the potential of this technique in order to elaborate active MFC cathodes. The voltammograms obtained confirm both the reduction of protons, with the adsorption of hydrogen from −0.5 to −1.8 V, and the oxidation of water, producing sufficient current intensity to reduce oxygen. Among the options investigated, cathodes based on aluminum‐nickel alloy/nickel achieved the highest catalytic activity, being carbon cloth the most suitable supporting material. Thus, aluminum‐nickel alloy/nickel electrocodeposited onto carbon cloth exhibited the highest levels of power output (150 mW.m−3) when tested in MFCs fed with wastewater. This type of low cost cathodes also offers promising results for wastewater treatment reaching up to 90% of chemical oxygen demand removal. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 38:e13083, 2019

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising technology that generates electricity from several biodegradable substrates and wastes. The main drawback of these devices is the need of using a catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode, which makes the process relatively expensive. In this work, two low cost materials are tested as catalysts in MFCs. A novel iron complex based on the ligand n-phenyledenparaethoxy aniline has been synthesized and its performance as catalyst in single chamber MFCs containing ionic liquids has been compared with a commercial inorganic material such as Raney nickel. The results show that both materials are suitable for bioenergy production and wastewater treatment in the systems. Raney nickel cathodes allow MFCs to reach a maximum power output of 160 mW.m, while the iron complex offers lower values. Regarding the wastewater treatment capacity, MFCs working with Raney nickel-based cathodes reach higher values of chemical oxygen demand removal (76%) compared with the performance displayed by the cathodes based on Fe-complex (56%).

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