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Enhancement of electricity generation by a microbial fuel cell using a highly active non-precious-metal nitrogen-doped carbon composite catalyst cathode

Dong, G. R ; Sharif University of Technology | 2017

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b02206
  3. Publisher: American Chemical Society , 2017
  4. Abstract:
  5. As microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology continues to gain momentum toward commercialization, the replacement of traditionally used platinum for oxygen reduction with an inexpensive catalyst becomes more important. A nonprecious nitrogen-doped carbon composite catalyst with previous applications in PEM fuel cells is demonstrated for the first time in a single-chamber air cathode MFC with comparisons to a similar platinum-based MFC. The performance of the MFC is compared with a similar MFC using a platinum catalyst and acetate feed. When the platinum is replaced with the catalyst loaded at the surface of the proton exchange membrane (loading density of 1 mg/cm2), MFC operation outperforms a similar platinum-based cell. The synthesized catalyst produced 213.2 ± 13.9 mW/m2 power density that on average is 151% higher than that for the platinum catalyst. Columbic efficiency was also higher as a result at 6.71 ± 0.88%. A 2-fold increase in the loading density (2 mg/cm2) for the synthesized catalyst resulted in a 305% increase in the generated power compared to the platinum catalyst. This suggests that the nonprecious nitrogen-doped carbon composite is a potentially attractive replacement for conventional platinum as a catalyst for energy production by MFCs. © 2016 American Chemical Society
  6. Keywords:
  7. Carbon carbon composites ; Catalysts ; Cathodes ; Composite materials ; Doping (additives) ; Electrodes ; Electrolytic reduction ; Fuel cells ; Microbial fuel cells ; Nitrogen ; Platinum ; Columbic efficiency ; Electricity generation ; Energy productions ; Nitrogen-doped carbons ; Non-precious metals ; Oxygen Reduction ; Platinum catalysts ; Proton exchange membranes ; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC)
  8. Source: Energy and Fuels ; Volume 31, Issue 1 , 2017 , Pages 959-967 ; 08870624 (ISSN)
  9. URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b02206