High catalytic activity and pollutants resistivity using Fe-AAPyr cathode catalyst for microbial fuel cell application

Abstract

Abstract For the first time, a new generation of innovative non-platinum group metal catalysts based on iron and aminoantipyrine as precursor (Fe-AAPyr) has been utilized in a membraneless single-chamber microbial fuel cell (SCMFC) running on wastewater. Fe-AAPyr was used as an oxygen reduction catalyst in a passive gas-diffusion cathode and implemented in SCMFC design. This catalyst demonstrated better performance than platinum (Pt) during screening in “clean” conditions (PBS) and no degradation in performance during the operation in wastewater. The maximum power density generated by the SCMFC with Fe-AAPyr was 167 ± 6 μW cm −2 and remained stable over 16 days, while SCMFC with Pt decreased to 113 ± 4 μW cm −2 by day 13, achieving similar values of an activated carbon based cathode. The presence of S 2− and "Equation missing"<!-- image only, no MathML or LaTex -->showed insignificant decrease of ORR activity for the Fe-AAPyr. The reported results clearly demonstrate that Fe-AAPyr can be utilized in MFCs under the harsh conditions of wastewater.

Key findings

• ▸Fe-AAPyr catalyst generates a maximum power density of 167 ± 6 μW cm⁻² in a membraneless single-chamber MFC.
• ▸The Fe-AAPyr catalyst maintains stable performance over 16 days, while Pt decreases to 113 ± 4 μW cm⁻² by day 13.
• ▸Fe-AAPyr shows insignificant decrease of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in the presence of S²⁻ and other pollutants.

Keywords

Identifiers

DOI

10.1038/srep16596

Journal

Scientific Reports

Year

2015