Multi-walled carbon nanotube and carbide-derived carbon supported metal phthalocyanines as cathode catalysts for microbial fuel cell applications

Xerogel-Derived Manganese Oxide/N-Doped Carbon as a Non-Precious Metal-Based Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst in Microbial Fuel Cells for Energy Conversion Applications

Current study provides a novel strategy to synthesize the nano-sized MnO nanoparticles from the quick, ascendable, sol-gel synthesis strategy. The MnO nanoparticles are supported on nitrogen-doped carbon derived from the cheap sustainable source. The resulting MnO/N-doped carbon catalysts developed in this study are systematically evaluated via several physicochemical and electrochemical characterizations. The physicochemical characterizations confirms that the crystalline MnO nanoparticles are successfully synthesized and are supported on N-doped carbons, ascertained from the X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopic studies. In addition, the developed MnO/N-doped carbon catalyst was also found to have adequate surface area and porosity, similar to the traditional Pt/C catalyst. Detailed investigations on the effect of the nitrogen precursor, heat treatment temperature, and N-doped carbon support on the ORR activity is established in 0.1 M of HClO4. It was found that the MnO/N-doped carbon catalysts showed enhanced ORR activity with a half-wave potential of 0.69 V vs. RHE, with nearly four electron transfers and excellent stability with just a loss of 10 mV after 20,000 potential cycles. When analyzed as an ORR catalyst in dual-chamber microbial fuel cells (DCMFC) with Nafion 117 membrane as the electrolyte, the MnO/N-doped carbon catalyst exhibited a volumetric power density of ~45 mW m2 and a 60% degradation of organic matter in 30 days of continuous operation.

Carbide-derived carbon as an extraordinary material for the removal of chromium from an aqueous solution

In the present work, the adsorptive removal of chromium (Cr) from water by carbide-derived carbon (CDC) was investigated. The morphology and structure of the CDC were characterized by using FTIR, SEM, TEM, XRD, and N₂ adsorption-desorption measurements. The effect of adsorption parameters including contact time, initial Cr concentration, temperature, initial solution pH, and CDC dosage was examined on the removal of Cr ions. The kinetic analysis revealed that the experimental data on the removal of Cr ions on CDC is well correlated with the pseudo-second order kinetic model (with R² > 0.999), while the equilibrium data were fitted by the Redlich-Peterson isotherm model (with R² > 0.992). The Langmuir and Sips models were also in good compliance with the equilibrium data, indicating a monolayer coverage of Cr ions onto the CDC surface with some heterogeneous active adsorption sites. The CDC revealed a notable Langmuir adsorption capacity of 159.1 mg/g for Cr ions at pH 6 and room temperature. The thermodynamic analysis illustrated that the Cr ions elimination by CDC is a feasible adsorption process and endothermic in nature. After five adsorption/desorption cycles, less than 18% reduction in the adsorption capacity was obtained indicating the stability and reusability of the CDC. Moreover, the CDC demonstrated an excellent potential in removing the Cr ions from real brackish water. According to the adsorption data, both physical and chemical adsorption processes occurred, and the adsorption was mainly controlled by electrostatic interactions with a possible reduction of hexavalent Cr to trivalent Cr at acidic conditions.

Recent Advances in the Use of CoPc-MWCNTs Nanocomposites as Electrochemical Sensing Materials

Cobalt phthalocyanine multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CoPc-MWCNTs), a nanocomposite, are extraordinary electrochemical sensing materials. This material has attracted growing interest owing to its unique physicochemical properties. Notably, the metal at the center of the metal phthalocyanine structure offers an enhanced redox-active behavior used to design solid electrodes for determining varieties of analytes. This review extensively discusses current developments in CoPc-MWCNTs nanocomposites as potential materials for electrochemical sensors, along with their different fabrication methods, modifying electrodes, and the detected analytes. The advantages of CoPc-MWCNTs nanocomposite as sensing material and its future perspectives are carefully reviewed and discussed.

Bifunctional Oxygen Electrocatalysis on Mixed Metal Phthalocyanine-Modified Carbon Nanotubes Prepared via Pyrolysis

Non-precious-metal catalysts are promising alternatives for Pt-based cathode materials in low-temperature fuel cells, which is of great environmental importance. Here, we have investigated the bifunctional electrocatalytic activity toward the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) of mixed metal (FeNi; FeMn; FeCo) phthalocyanine-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) prepared by a simple pyrolysis method. Among the bimetallic catalysts containing nitrogen derived from corresponding metal phthalocyanines, we report the excellent ORR activity of FeCoN-MWCNT and FeMnN-MWCNT catalysts with the ORR onset potential of 0.93 V and FeNiN-MWCNT catalyst for the OER having EOER = 1.58 V at 10 mA cm-2. The surface morphology, structure, and elemental composition of the prepared catalysts were examined with scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The FeCoN-MWCNT and FeMnN-MWCNT catalysts were prepared as cathodes and tested in anion-exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). Both catalysts displayed remarkable AEMFC performance with a peak power density as high as 692 mW cm-2 for FeCoN-MWCNT.

High-valent iron-oxo species on pyridine-containing MWCNTs generated in a solar-induced H2O2 activation system for the removal of antimicrobials

The overuse of antimicrobials has resulted in serious damage to the ecosystem and human health. Therefore, the development of an efficient, stable, and reusable catalyst to eliminate antimicrobials under mild conditions is highly desired. Drawing inspiration from the metabolism of drugs by the enzymes in the human body, such as heme catalase, we developed a simulated enzyme catalyst, perchloride iron phthalocyanine (FePcCl₁₆), immobilized on pyridine-modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (FePcCl₁₆-Py-MWCNTs). In the catalyst, FePcCl₁₆ worked as the active site, and the axial fifth ligand, 4-aminopyridine, was introduced to cleave H₂O₂ heterolytically. Inspired by the reaction mechanism of heme catalase and H₂O₂, the catalytic system was designed based on FePcCl₁₆-Py-MWCNTs for oxidizing 4-chloro-3,5-dimethylphenol (PCMX) by H₂O₂ activation. The results showed that the catalytic activity of the system was significantly increased under simulated solar light irradiation, which can promote electron transfer for heterolytic cleavage of H₂O₂. The enzyme-like catalyst achieved much higher catalytic activity than the Fenton reaction when the pH was close to neutral. It turned out that the main active species was high-valent iron-oxo (Fe(Ⅳ) = O) rather than hydroxyl radial (•OH) or superoxide radical (•O₂^-), different from most mechanisms. Ultraperformance liquid chromatography-high-definition mass spectrometry showed that the substrate was degraded to small molecule acids by Fe(Ⅳ) = O active species and further mineralization indicated by total organic carbon. The catalytic system exhibited highly efficient, stable, recyclable catalytic performance under mild conditions and did not cause secondary pollution to the environment. This study of a simulated enzyme catalytic system offers important insight into sewage treatment.

Enhancing the Performance of Microbial Fuel Cell by Using Chloroform Pre-treated Mixed Anaerobic Sludge to Control Methanogenesis in Anodic Chamber

Formation of methane in the anodic chamber of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) indicates an energy inefficiency in electricity generation as the energy required for electrogenesis gets redirected to methanogenesis. The hypothesis of this research is that inhibition of methanogenesis in the mixed anaerobic anodic inoculum is associated with an enhanced activity of the electrogenic bacterial consortia. Hence, the primary objective of this investigation is to evaluate the ability of chloroform to inhibit the methanogenesis at different dosing to enhance the activity of electrogenic consortia in MFC. A higher methane inhibition and hence an enhanced performance of MFC was achieved when mixed anaerobic sludge, collected from septic tank, was used as inoculum after pre-treatment with 0.25% (v/v) chloroform dosing (MFC-0.25_CF). The MFC-0.25_CF attained a maximum power density of 8.51 W/m³, which was more than twice as that of MFC inoculated with untreated sludge. Also, a clear correlation between the chloroform dosing, methane inhibition, wastewater treatment, and power generation was established, which demonstrated the effectiveness of the technique in enhancing power generation in MFC along with adequate biodegradation of organic matter present in wastewater at an optimum chloroform dosing of 0.25% (v/v) to inhibit methanogenesis.

Iron-Based Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion: Effect of Ball Milling on Oxygen Reduction Activity

In this work, we synthesized new materials based on Fe(II) phthalocyanine (FePc), urea and carbon black pearls (BP), called Fe-N-C, as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in neutral solution. The electrocatalysts were prepared by combining ball-milling and pyrolysis treatments, which affected the electrochemical surface area (ECSA) and electrocatalytic activity toward ORR, and stability was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Ball-milling allowed us to increase the ECSA, and the ORR activity as compared to the Fe-N-C sample obtained without any ball-milling. The effect of a subsequent pyrolysis treatment after ball-milling further improved the electrocatalytic stability of the materials. The set of results indicated that combining ball-milling time and pyrolysis treatments allowed us to obtain Fe-N-C catalysts with high catalytic activity toward ORR and stability which makes them suitable for microbial fuel cell applications.

Carbon-Based Electrocatalysts Derived From Biomass for Oxygen Reduction Reaction: A Minireview

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts derived from biomass have become one of the research focuses in hetero-catalysis due to their low cost, high performance, and reproducibility properties. Related researches are of great significance for the development of next-generation fuel cells and metal-air batteries. Herein, the preparation methods of various biomass-derived catalysts and their performance in alkaline, neutral, and acidic media are summarized. This review clarifies the research progress of biomass carbon-based electrocatalysts for ORR in acidic, alkaline and neutral media, and discusses the future development trends. This minireview can give us an important enlightenment to practical application in the future.