A Highly Efficient Catalyst toward Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Neutral Media for Microbial Fuel Cells
2013
Su, Yunhe | Zhu, Yihua | Yang, Xiaoling | Shen, Jianhua | Lu, Jindan | Zhang, Xiaoyan | Chen, Jianding | Li, Chunzhong
A nanocomposite of cobaltosic oxide and nitrogen-doped graphene (Co₃O₄/N-G) was prepared by the facile hydrothermal method. Morphology characterizations show that the Co₃O₄ nanoparticles with crystalline spinel structure are uniformly dispersed on the nitrogen-doped graphene nanosheets, and the graphene weight fraction in Co₃O₄/N-G composite is estimated to be ∼20%. Meanwhile, electrochemical measurements reveal that the as-prepared Co₃O₄/N-G nanocomposite exhibits a high catalytic activity and long-term stability in neutral electrolyte. Moreover, the use of Co₃O₄/N-G as cathode catalyst for oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to produce electricity was also investigated. The obtained maximum power density was 1340 ± 10 mW m–², which was as high as almost four times that of the plain cathode (340 ± 10 mW m–²), and only slightly lower than that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst (1470 ± 10 mW m–²). All the results prove that a Co₃O₄/N-G hybrid can be a good alternative to platinum catalysts for practical MFC applications.
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