N, S co-doped carbon quantum dots anchoring on copper-vacancy-rich Cu nanowires/Cu foam as the cathode in microbial fuel cells: Role of C-S-Cu active site

Abstract Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts have been considered as one of the key components in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Heteroatom-doped carbon quantum dots (CQDs) derived from biomass have attracted wide attention due to their rich functional groups, excellent properties, and environmental friendliness. Herein, orange-peels-derived N, S co-doped carbon quantum dots (N, S-CQDs) are in-situ anchored on copper-vacancy-rich Cu nanowires/Cu foam (V-Cu NWs/CF), obtaining the N, S-CQDs/Cu2O-Cu NWs, to catalyze ORR in MFCs. The interaction between N, S-CQDs and V-Cu NWs/CF from the N, S-CQDs/Cu2O-Cu NWs is bridged by the C-S-Cu bond, which is demonstrated to be the active site towards ORR and plays an important role in promoting electron transfer by in-situ Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations. In MFCs, the maximum power density (924.5 ± 32.5 mW·m−2) of N, S-CQDs/Cu2O-Cu NWs is 1.34 times that of Pt/C (686.5 ± 28.0 mW·m−2), and its long-term stability also outperforms the Pt/C. This study provides inspiration for synthesis of efficient ORR electrocatalysts with metal-ligand active sites creating by heteroatom-doped CQDs and cationic-metal-vacancy-rich materials.