Honeycomb-like hierarchical carbon derived from livestock sewage sludge as oxygen reduction reaction catalysts in microbial fuel cells. (21st December 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Deng, Lifang; Yuan, Haoran; Cai, Xixi; Ruan, Yingying; Zhou, Shungui; Chen, Yong; Yuan, Yong
• Is Part Of: International journal of hydrogen energy. Volume 41:Number 47(2016)
• Page Start: 22328
• Page End: 22336
• Publication Date: 2016-12-21
• Subjects: Livestock sewage sludge -- Honeycomb-like -- Electrocatalyst -- Oxygen reduction reaction -- Microbial fuel cell; Hydrogen as fuel -- Periodicals; Hydrogène (Combustible) -- Périodiques; Hydrogen as fuel; Periodicals; 665.81
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.08.132
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-3199

Abstract

Abstract: Cathode catalysts with excellent efficiencies, low costs and long-term durability in microbial fuel cell (MFC) applications have attracted considerable attention. Herein, hierarchically structured carbons with honeycomb-like interconnected macro-mesoporous frameworks and N, P, and Fe heteroatom doping have been successfully prepared through direct pyrolysis from livestock sewage sludge. In neutral media, the as-prepared activated livestock sewage sludge carbon (LSC-A) catalyst displayed great electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and a maximum power density of 1273 ± 3 mW/m 2 was obtained when this catalyst applied in MFCs, which is comparable to that of commercial Pt/C (1294 ± 2 mW/m 2 ). Furthermore, after 90 days of operation, the voltage output of the MFC with the LSC-A cathode decreased only 10.2%, which is considerably lower than the 28.4% decrease of the Pt/C cathode, indicating that LSC-A possesses a greater long-term stability than the Pt/C cathode. This study demonstrated that the N, P, Fe-doped honeycomb-like hierarchically structured carbon derived from livestock sewage sludge is a cost-efficient and promising cathode catalyst for scaling up MFCs. Highlights: N, P, Fe-doped honeycomb-like hierarchically carbon (LSC-A) was derived from livestock sewage sludge. LSC-A as an electrocatalyst exhibited remarkable activity for ORR. LSC-A showed good activity and stability as cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells.