Novel Porous Nitrogen Doped Graphene/Carbon Black Composites as Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalyst for Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cell

Abstract

To improve the power generation of a microbial fuel cell (MFC), a porous nitrogen-doped graphene/carbon black (NG/CB) composite as efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst was successfully synthesized by pyrolyzing graphene oxide (GO) encapsulated CB with cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide as a bridge. This concept-to-proof synthesis can be considered as a template-like method. Based on this method, one composite named as NG/CB-10 was acquired using the optimized GO-to-CB mass ratio of 10:1. Electrochemical tests demonstrate that NG/CB-10 can catalyze ORR in neutral-pH medium through a four-electron pathway with positively shifted the onset potential, the enhanced current density and reduced charge transfer resistance. CB addition also prolongs the stability of NG/CB-10. The enhancement in electrochemical performance of NG/CB-10 was attributed to the enlarged surface area, abundant mesopores and high content of pyridinic nitrogen. The maximum power density of MFC equipping NG/CB-10 as cathode electrocatalyst reached 936 mW·m−2, which was 26% higher than that of NG and equal to that of platinum/carbon. The cost of NG/CB-10 was reduced by 25% compared with that of NG. This work provides a novel method to synthesize promising ORR electrocatalyst for MFC in the future.

Metal Organic Framework Derived MnO2-Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction and Arsenic Removal from Contaminated Water

“…Therefore, there have been intensive efforts by researchers to develop low-cost and durable non-PGM electro-catalysts. These efforts resulted in promising ORR catalysts which can be broadly classified into three categories: non-PGM metal catalysts [2], metal-free catalysts especially hetero-atom doped carbons [3] and hybrids of non-PGM catalysts with carbon nano-structures [4]. Amongst these three, the third type of carbon-metal hybrids which consists of nano sized non-PGM metal compounds of iron [5], cobalt [6], manganese [7] etc.…”

N8− Polynitrogen Stabilized on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

“…Although nonprecious metal catalysts, such as Fe-, Co-, Cu-, and Ni-based materials, can lower the cost, activity and metal leaching are the two major issues to be solved [14][15][16]. Inspired by the pioneering work from Dai group [17], many studies were conducted to develop metal-free materials as alternative ORR catalysts [18][19][20]. Most of these types of materials are composed of heteroatom-doped carbon, which could dramatically reduce the cost as well as increase the efficiency [21][22][23][24][25].…”

Reverse Microemulsion Synthesis of Mesopore Phloroglucinol‐Resorcinol‐Formaldehyde Carbon Aerogel Microsphere as Nano‐Platinum Catalyst Support for ORR

“…Pt‐based catalysts have been regarded as the essential materials in electrocatalyst for ORR, and currently the most research concentration is focusing on introducing secondary transition metals through the formation of Pt alloy (PtNi, PtCo, PtCu or PtPb) catalysts to improve the electrocatalytic activity of Pt‐based catalysts . However, choosing suitable material as Pt‐based catalyst support is an effective method for enhancing the electrocatalytic activity of Pt‐based catalysts, such as carbon nanotube, graphene, carbon aerogel. Among them, carbon aerogels (CAs) are attracting the attention of researchers due to their unique structure and high conductivity .…”