Nitrogenous mesoporous carbon coated with Co/Cu nanoparticles modified activated carbon as air cathode catalyst for microbial fuel cell

Abstract Microbial fuel cells have received tremendous attention for harvesting electricity and treating wastewater simultaneously using electrogenic microorganisms. To enhance the power output, a nitrogenous mesoporous carbon coated with cobalt and copper nanoparticles as an excellent cathode catalyst is synthesized, optimized and measured. The maximum power density of the microbial fuel cell equipped with synthesized cathode catalyst is 2033 mW·m−2, which is 147.0% higher than that of bare AC. The optimized modified activated carbon indicates significant improvement in oxygen reduction reaction performance, which shows high open circuit, low electron transfer resistance and high exchange current density. In addition, pyridinic-N, cobalt and copper promote the performance of oxygen reduction reaction synergistically by exposing more active sites. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption curve further indicates the exposed surface area and pore volume. In short, cobalt and copper nanoparticles modified activated carbon significantly improved the electrocatalytic property of cathode for rapid electron transfer.