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One‐Step Synthesis of N‐Doped Carbon and Its Application as a Cost‐Efficient Catalyst for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Microbial Fuel Cells
Author(s) -
Yue Guizhou,
Meng Kai,
Liu Qin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chempluschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.801
H-Index - 61
ISSN - 2192-6506
DOI - 10.1002/cplu.201500057
Subject(s) - oxygen reduction reaction , catalysis , microbial fuel cell , carbon fibers , chemistry , oxygen reduction , oxygen , reduction (mathematics) , combinatorial chemistry , fuel cells , doping , chemical engineering , materials science , organic chemistry , electrochemistry , engineering , optoelectronics , electrode , composite material , composite number , anode , geometry , mathematics
Nitrogen‐doped carbon with a high surface area was prepared by the one‐step pyrolysis of cellulose paper under NH 3 gas, and has been developed as an alternative to Pt/C for the oxygen reduction reaction in microbial fuel cells (MFCs).The electrochemical tests showed that the catalytic performance of N‐doped carbon in neutral media was significantly better than that of undoped carbon, with an onset of 0.21 V. The maximum power density of MFCs with the N‐doped carbon catalyst (1041±90 mW m −2 ) was much higher than that of Pt/C‐based MFC (584±10 mW m −2 ), while the cost was significantly lower. These results demonstrated that such N‐doped carbon has the advantages of low cost and high efficiency, and can be a promising alternative to Pt/C in large‐scale applications of MFCs.