Zhuang S, Li B, Wang X. Engineering the electronic structure of high performance FeCo bimetallic cathode catalysts for microbial fuel cell application in treating wastewater.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2023;
216:114542. [PMID:
36228689 DOI:
10.1016/j.envres.2022.114542]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The development of high-performance, strong-durability and low-cost cathode catalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of great significance for microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this study, a series of bimetallic catalysts were synthesized by pyrolyzing a mixture of g-C3N4 and Fe, Co-tannic complex with various Fe/Co atomic ratios. The initial Fe/Co atomic ratio (3.5:0.5, 3:1, 2:2, 1:3) could regulate the electronic state, which effectively promoted the intrinsic electrocatalytic ORR activity. The alloy metal particles and metal-Nx sites presented on the catalyst surface. In addition, N-doped carbon interconnected network consisting of graphene-like and bamboo-like carbon nanotube structure derived from g-C3N4 provided more accessible active sites. The resultant Fe3Co1 catalyst calcined at 700 °C (Fe3Co1-700) exhibited high catalytic performance in neutral electrolyte with a half-wave potential of 0.661 V, exceeding that of the commercial Pt/C (0.6 V). As expected, the single chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC) with 1 mg/cm2 loading of Fe3Co1-700 catalyst as the cathode catalyst afforded a maximum power density of 1425 mW/m2, which was 10.5% higher than commercial Pt/C catalyst with the same loading (1290 mW/m2) and comparable to the Pt/C catalyst with 2.5 times higher loading ( 1430 mW/m2). Additionally, the Fe3Co1-700 also displayed better long-term stability over 1100 h than the Pt/C. This work provides an effective strategy for regulating the surface electronic state in the bimetallic electro-catalyst.
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