Cu₂O@Co/N-doped carbon as antibacterial catalysts for oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells

Abstract

Biofouling and sluggish kinetics on the cathode surface reduce the power generation of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Herein, ZIF-derived Cu2O@Co/N-doped carbon (Cu2O@Co/NC) was used as an antibacterial oxygen reduction reaction...

Bimetallic CoSn nanoparticles anchored on N-doped carbon as antibacterial oxygen reduction catalysts for microbial fuel cells

“…The high resolution of N 1s could be deconvoluted into four characteristic peaks with four nitrogen species: pyridinic-N (398.6 eV), Co-N (399.1 eV), pyrrolic-N (399.8 eV) and graphitic-N (401.1 eV). 40 The peak of Co-N further confirmed that the bimetallic CoSn nanoparticles anchored on the carbon matrix by Co-N bonds. The relative amounts of pyridinic-N, graphitic-N, pyrrolic-N and Co-N were listed (Fig.…”

“…The Co 2+ (781.6 and 796.6 eV), Co 0 (779.9 and 794.9 eV) and satellite peaks (787.3 and 802.3 eV) are the characteristic peaks of CoSn@NC. 40 A positive shift in the peak of Co 2+ revealed that Sn gained electrons from Co and modulated the electron redistribution between Co and Sn, endowing Co 2+ with a high oxidation state. The characteristic peaks of Sn 2+ (487.0 and 495.4 eV) and Sn 0 (486.5 and 494.9 eV) were identified in the Sn 3d spectrum of Sn@NC, while those of Sn 2+ (486.9 and 495.3 eV) and Sn 0 (486.4 and 494.8 eV) could be identified for CoSn@NC.…”

“…Tafel plots reflected the ORR kinetics within the mixed kinetic-diffusion controlled region. 40 The small Tafel slope value indicated fast kinetics for the ORR. CoSn@NC displayed a lower Tafel slope of 158 mV dec −1 compared with that of Co@NC (169 mV dec −1 ), Sn@NC (315 mV dec −1 ) and NC (407 mV dec −1 ), verifying that the introduction of Sn reduced the energy barrier of the RDS and accelerated the ORR kinetics (Fig.…”

“…where C dl was obtained by measuring the CV curves at different scanning rates (20,40,60,80, and 100 mV s −1 ) and C s is defined as the specific capacitance of a smooth and planar electrode measured under the same experimental conditions. For C s the value of 0.04 mF cm −2 was used, which is based on the typical value for a metal electrode in KOH solution.…”

“…28 Exogenous ROS • OH and • O 2 − are regarded as efficient and nonselective oxidants, which could damage bacterial membranes and inactivate bacterial regulation according to oxidative stress via electrostatic interactions. [29][30][31] Oxidative stress damage is considered to be one of the most important antibacterial mechanisms for ROS. They cause bacterial death by bacterial lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation and DNA damage.…”