Air cathode performance of Fe/N/Cs synthesized from legume biomasses in microbial fuel cells

Abstract

In this study, Fe/N/Cs oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with high specific surface area, catalytic activity were synthesized using legume biomass with different protein content. The catalytic activity of the Fe/N/C catalysts was confirmed to be related to the protein content of the biomass precursor by characterization and electrochemical tests. The catalysts (named as Fe/N/C-T) from lactone tofu have the highest N/C ratio related to ORR, and the air-cathode loaded with Fe/N/C-T catalysts exhibited the best ORR performance in linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) tests, which was comparable to that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. MFCs with AC(Fe/N/C-T) air-cathode produced a maximum power density of 0.486 mW cm−2, higher than Pt/C (0.437 mW cm−2) with the same loading. In addition, the Fe/N/C-T catalyst demonstrated high stability and resistance to toxicity in long-term operation, which can be an alternative to commercial Pt/C.