One-pot Low-temperature Synthesis of Nitrogen-doped Graphene and It Application as Cathode Catalyst in Microbial Fuel Cells for Electricity Generation†

doi:10.7503/cjcu20130806

Abstract

Abstract:

Nitrogen-doped graphene(NG) was synthesized by denotation process at low temperature, and characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectrometry(XPS), Raman spectrometry and X-ray diffraction(XRD). Electrochemical examinations demonstrated that in the neutral phosphate electrolyte the synthesized NG had an excellent electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction(ORR), comparable to that of platinum catalyst(Pt/C), and its electrocatalytic stability was even better than Pt/C. When NG was used as cathode catalyst in single-chamber microbial fuel cells(MFCs), the maximal power density at external resistance of 1000 Ω was 1345 mW/m², and the stability of power generation in MFCs even outperformed that with Pt/C as cathode catalyst, indicating that NG might be a perfect alternative to Pt catalyst in MFCs.

Key words: Microbial fuel cell, Oxygen reduction reaction, Nitrogen-doped graphene, Cathode catalyst

CLC Number:

O646

TrendMD:

FU Rongbing, YANG Lanqin, FENG Leiyu, GUO Wei. One-pot Low-temperature Synthesis of Nitrogen-doped Graphene and It Application as Cathode Catalyst in Microbial Fuel Cells for Electricity Generation^†[J]. Chem. J. Chinese Universities, 2014, 35(4): 825.

Figures/Tables 9

Fig.1 TEM(A) and HRTEM(B) images of synthesized NG

Fig.2 AFM image(A) and Raman spectrum(B) of synthesized NG

Fig.3 CVs of synthesized NG(a) and Pt/C(b) at a scan rate(v) of 0.1 V/s(A) and CVs of NG electrode at different scan rates(B) in O2-saturated 50 mmol/L neutral PBS(B) Scan rate/(V·s-1): a. 0.1, b. 0.2, c. 0.3. Inset of (B): j vs. scan rate.

Fig.4 CVs of NG electrode before(a) and after(b) a continuous potentiodynamic swept for 100000 cycles at 25 ℃

Fig.5 Effect of sodium formate on electrocatalytic activity for oxyegen reduction in O2-satura-ted 50 mmol/L neutral PBSa. No sodium formate addition; b. 5 mmol/L sodium formate. Current scan rate: 10-7 A/s.

Fig.6 Current-time chronoamperometric res-ponse of Pt/C(a) and NG(b) electrodes to COThe arrow indicates the addition of 10%(volume ratio) CO into O2-saturated neutral PBS at -0.4 V.

Fig.7 RRDE voltammograms for ORR in O2-saturated neutral PBS on NG(a and a') and Pt/C(b and b') electrodesThe electrode rotation rate was 1200 r/min.

Fig.8 XPS survey(A) of synthesized NG and high-resolutio N1s spectrum(B)

Fig.9 Cell voltage(a, b) and power density(c, d) vs. current density in NG-MFCs(a, c) and Pt/C-MFCs(b, d)(A) and decrease of the maximum power density in NG-MFCs as a function of cycle number at an external resistance of 1000 Ω(B)

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