Iron and Nitrogen Co-doped Agricultural Waste-derived Activated Carbons as Cathode Material for Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are one of the attractive and sustainable energy sources in development while society pays more attention to environmental issues. MFCs are a bio-electrochemical system with the direct conversion from organic matter to electricity via microbes, which can be applied to wastewater treatment, electronic devices, and bio-sensors. However, MFCs tend to have low power output due to the poor oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the cathode, which significantly limits the power density. Therefore, platinum has been widely used as a catalyst to improve ORR activity, and this also leads to high cost, poor durability and stability. To deal with the problems, non-noble metal catalysts with high ORR activity and stability are crucial to replace Pt-based catalysts for commercialization in MFCs.<br/>In this study, we developed iron and nitrogen co-doped agricultural waste-derived activated carbons (FeNAC) as cathode material in MFCs. The raw materials and precursors are inexpensive, and the synthesized FeNAC exhibit high surface area and favorable active sites for better electrocatalytic activity on the cathode. The results showed outstanding electrochemical performance, demonstrating that FeNAC is a promising material for MFC.