Nanorod CoFe2O4 modified activated carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst to improve the performance of air cathode microbial fuel cell

Abstract Nanorod-like CoFe 2 O 4 was synthesized via hydrothermal technique and subsequent annealing process. The CoFe 2 O 4 was doped in activated carbon (AC) as air cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cell (MFC). The obtained maximum power density (MPD) of MFC with 10% CoFe 2 O 4 reached as high as 1780 ± 20 mW m −2 , which was 1.99 times higher than that with bare AC. The electrochemical studies showed that CoFe 2 O 4 -doped AC exhibited superior kinetic activity of electron transfer and low resistance through four-electron reaction pathway. CoFe 2 O 4 introduced binary metal as active sites during the oxidative recombination of the metal mixture. Besides, the first principle calculations proved that CoFe 2 O 4 had better ORR activity comparing with Co 3 O 4 and Fe 3 O 4 . It is verified experimentally and theoretically that CoFe 2 O 4 will be an excellent cathodic catalyst in MFC.