Microbial carbon cathodes

Fuel cell applications Manganese dioxide as a new cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cells [118] OMS-2 catalysts in proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications [119] An improved cathode for alkaline fuel cells [120] Nanostructured manganese oxide as a cathodic catalyst for enhanced oxygen reduction in a microbial fuel cell [121] Carbon-supported tetragonal MnOOH catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media [122]... 

From an application viewpoint. Some of best application of carbon nanofibers include ACNF as anodes in lithium-ion battery. Organic removal from waste water using, ACNF as cathode catalyst or as anodes for microbial fuel ceUs (MFCs), Electrochemical properties of ACNF as an electrode for supercapacitors. Adsorption of some toxic industrial solutions and air pollutants on ACNF [108-120]. 

A new group of fuel cell is microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which is a novel technology that produces electricity using bacteria as electrocatalysts. The performance of MFCs is influenced by the type of electrode, the electrode distance, the type and surface area of their membrane, their substrate and their microorganisms. The most common catalyst used in cathodes is platinum (Pt). Ghasemi et al. applied chemically and physically activated carbon nanofibers as an alternative cathode catalyst to platinum in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell for the first time [155]. 

Ghasemi, M., et al., (2011). Activated carbon nanofibers as an alternative cathode catalyst to platinum in a two-chamber microbial fuel cell. International Journal of Hvdrofren Rnerw. 36. 13746-13752. 

Yuan Y, Zhao B, Jeon Y, Zhong S, Zhou S, Kim S (2011) Iron phthalocyanine supported on amino-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotube as an alternative cathodic oxygen catalyst in microbial fuel cells. Biores Technol 102(10) 5849-5854... 

As shown in Fig. 15.17, Kim et al. studied various cathode catalysts for oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells that contained culture media prepared with 1 g sodium acetate solution in 50 mM phosphate buffer containing 12.5 mL mineral solution and 5 mL L vitamin solution [95]. Carbon-supported FePc showed similar ORR activity as the carbon powder, which had more than... 

Ahmed J, Yuan Y, Zhou L, Kim S (2012) Carbon supported cobalt oxide nanoparticles-iron phthalocyanine as alternative cathode catalyst for oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells. J Power Sources 208 170-175... 

Zhu, N., Chen, X., Zhang, T., Wu, P., Li, P., and Wu, J. (2011) Improved performance of membrane free single-chamber air-cathode microbial fuel cells with nitric acid and ethylene-diamine surface modified activated carbon fiber felt anodes. Bioresour. Technol, 102 (1), 422-426. 

Boon, N., Fan, M.Z., Zhang, L, and Zhang, X.Y. (2009) A completely anoxic microbial fuel cell using a photo-biocathode for cathodic carbon dioxide reduction. Energy Environ. Sci.,... 

A microbial electrolysis cell is based on the concept of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) and consists of an anode and cathode chamber, a membrane that electrically separates the electrodes, and an external power supply [8] (Fig. 1). The anodic reaction is the same as in a microbial fuel cell ElectrochemicaUy active microorganisms oxidize organic compounds such as acetate, generating carbon dioxide (CO2), protons (H" ), and electrons (e ), using the anode as terminal... 

Deng, Q., Li, X., Zuo, J., Ling, A. Logan, B.E. Power generation using an activated carbon fiber felt cathode in anupflow microbial fuel-cell. J Power Sources 195 (2010), pp. 1130 1135. 

Sanchez, D.VR, Huynh, R, Kozlov, M.E., Baughman, R.H., Vidic, R.D. Yim, M. Carbon nanotube/ platinum (Pt) sheet as an improved cathode for microbial fuel-cells. Energy Fuels 24 (2010), pp. 5897-5902. 

The current density of a single-wall carbon nanotube sheet electrode, with infused platinum nanoparticles as the cathode in a microbial fuel cell, was approximately an order of magnitude higher than that with an e-beam-evapo-rated platinum cathode. The enhancement of catalytic activity can be associated with the increase of the catalyst surface area in the active cathode layer [61]. In another study, MFCs with carbon nanotube mat cathodes produced a maximum power density of 329 mW m , more than twice of that obtained with carbon cloth cathodes (151 mW m ) [62]. A similar twofold improvement was obtained by electrochemically depositing Pt nanoparticles on a CNT textile cathode for aqueous cathode MFCs, with only 19.3% Pt loading of a commercial Pt-coated carbon cloth cathode [63]. 

Various metals have been explored to replace Pt, including Fe, Co, Mn, and Pb. Among these metals, cobalt and iron are often used with tetramethoxy-phenylporphyrin (TMPP) or phthalocyanine (Pc) to form metal macrocyclic complexes, which demonstrate performance comparable with Pt in neutral pH conditions. FePc supported on KJB carbon (FePc-KJB) produced a power density of 634 mW m , which is higher than 593 mW m of Pt cathode and other cathodes with metal macrocyclic complexes, including CoTMPP, FeCoTMPP, Co Pc, and FeCuPc [64]. The comparison of FePc and CoTMPP with platinum-based system demonstrated the potential of transition metal-based materials for substitution of the traditional cathode materials in microbial fuel cells [65]. Cheng et al. also demonstrated that the performance of... 

Carbon nanotube/platinum (Pt) sheet as an improved cathode for microbial fuel cells. Energy Fuels, 24(11), 5897-5902. 

Carbon nanotube modified air-cathodes for electricity production in microbial fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 196 (18), 7465-7469. 

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