Cu-doped CaFeO3 perovskite oxide as oxygen reduction catalyst in air cathode microbial fuel cells

Hongguo Zhang; Huihui Shi; Henghui You; Minhua Su; Lei Huang; Zikang Zhou; Citao Zhang; Jianliang Zuo; Jia Yan; Tangfu Xiao; Xianjie Liu; Tao Xu

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113968

Cu-doped CaFeO₃ perovskite oxide as oxygen reduction catalyst in air cathode microbial fuel cells

Environ Res. 2022 Nov;214(Pt 3):113968. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113968. Epub 2022 Aug 12.

Authors

Hongguo Zhang¹, Huihui Shi², Henghui You³, Minhua Su⁴, Lei Huang³, Zikang Zhou³, Citao Zhang³, Jianliang Zuo⁵, Jia Yan³, Tangfu Xiao³, Xianjie Liu⁶, Tao Xu⁷

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China; Guangzhou University-Linköping University Research Center on Urban Sustainable Development, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China. Electronic address: hgzhang@gzhu.edu.cn.
² Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China; Hefei Hengli Equipment Ltd, Hefei, 230000, Anhui, PR China.
³ Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China.
⁴ Key Laboratory for Water Quality and Conservation of Pearl River Delta, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China. Electronic address: mhsu@gzhu.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
⁶ Laboratory of Organic Electronics, Department of Science and Technology, Linköping University, Norrköping, 60174, Sweden.
⁷ School of Civil Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, PR China.

PMID: 35964675
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113968

Abstract

Cathode electrocatalyst is quite critical to realize the application of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Perovskite oxides have been considered as potential MFCs cathode catalysts to replace Pt/C. Herein, Cu-doped perovskite oxide with a stable porous structure and excellent conductivity was successfully prepared through a sol-gel method. Due to the incorporation of Cu, CaFe_0.9Cu_0.1O₃ has more micropores and a larger surface area, which are more conducive to contact with oxygen. Doping Cu resulted in more Fe³⁺ in B-site and thus enhanced its binding capability to oxygen molecules. The data from electrochemical test demonstrated that the as-prepared catalyst has good conductivity, high stability, and excellent ORR properties. Compared with Pt/C catalyst, CaFe_0.9Cu_0.1O₃ exhibits a lower overpotential, which had an onset potential of 0.195 V and a half-wave potential of -0.224 V, respectively. CaFe_0.9Cu_0.1O₃ displays an outstanding four-electron pathway for ORR mechanism and demonstrates superiors corrosion resistance and stability. The MFC with CaFe_0.9Cu_0.1O₃ has a greater maximum power density (1090 mW m^-3) rather than that of Pt/C cathode (970 mW m^-3). This work demonstrated CaFe_0.9Cu_0.1O₃ is an economic and efficient cathodic catalyst for MFCs.

Keywords: Microbial fuel cells; Oxygen reduction reaction; Perovskite; Porous structure.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Bioelectric Energy Sources*
Calcium Compounds
Catalysis
Electrodes
Oxides / chemistry
Oxygen / chemistry
Titanium

Substances

Calcium Compounds
Oxides
perovskite
Titanium
Oxygen