Ohmic resistance and constant phase element effects on cyclic voltammograms using a combined model of mass transport and equivalent circuits

Compositionally Tunable Mn-V-Fe Phosphoselenide Nanorods with Minimal Ion-Diffusion Barrier as High Energy Density Battery Electrode Materials

The design and synthesis of novel heterostructured electrode materials are crucial to enable the fabrication of efficient supercapacitor devices. In this regard, transition metal phosphochalcogenides (S, Se) are promising candidates owing to their exotic electronic properties. Herein, a facile two-step hydrothermal protocol was used to synthesize binary and ternary metal phospho-selenide electrodes (Mn-Fe-P-Se, V-Fe-P-Se, Mn-V-P-Se, and Mn-Fe-V-P-Se). The chemical composition, morphology, and structure of the as-fabricated materials were fully investigated. The three-electrode electrochemical evaluation at 1.0 A g-1 demonstrated that the ternary metal electrode (MFVP-Se) exhibits a high capacity of 1968.63 C g-1. To assess the practical value of the rationally designed Mn-Fe-V-P-Se electrode material, Mn-Fe-V-P-Se was used as a positive electrode coupled with activated carbon (AC) as a negative electrode to assemble a hybrid supercapacitor device. This Mn-Fe-V-P-Se//AC device delivers a power density of 1999.96 W kg-1 with a high energy density of 149.88 Wh kg-1 coupled with no capacity loss after 5000 charging/discharging cycles. Additionally, density functional theory calculations revealed that our electrode exhibits suitable adsorption energy for OH- ions with a minimal diffusion barrier for ions.

BaTiO3 Functional Perovskite as Photocathode in Microbial Fuel Cells for Energy Production and Wastewater Treatment

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) provide new opportunities for the sustainable production of energy, converting organic matter into electricity through microorganisms. Moreover, MFCs play an important role in remediation of environmental pollutants from wastewater with power generation. This work focuses on the evaluation of ferroelectric perovskite materials as a new class of non-precious photocatalysts for MFC cathode construction. Nanoparticles of BaTiO₃ (BT) were prepared and tested in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) as photocathode catalytic components. The catalyst phases were synthesized, identified and characterized by XRD, SEM, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, P-E hysteresis and dielectric measurements. The maximum absorption of BT nanoparticles was recorded at 285 nm and the energy gap (Eg) was estimated to be 3.77 eV. Photocatalytic performance of cathodes coated with BaTiO₃ was measured in a dark environment and then in the presence of a UV-visible (UV-Vis) light source, using a mixture of dairy industry and domestic wastewater as a feedstock for the MFCs. The performance of the BT cathodic component is strongly dependent on the presence of UV-Vis irradiation. The BT-based cathode functioning under UV-visible light improves the maximum power densities and the open circuit voltage (OCV) of the MFC system. The values increased from 64 mW m^-2 to 498 mW m^-2 and from 280 mV to 387 mV, respectively, showing that the presence of light effectively improved the photocatalytic activity of this ceramic. Furthermore, the MFCs operating under optimal conditions were able to reduce the chemical oxygen demand load in wastewater by 90% (initial COD = 2500 mg L^-1).