In this work, we presented a novel, facile, and template-free strategy for fabricating graphene-like N-doped carbon as oxygen reduction catalyst in sustainable microbial fuel cells (MFCs) by using an ion-inducing and spontaneous gas-flow tailoring effect from a unique nitrogen-rich polymer gel precursor which has not been reported in materials science. Remarkably, by introduction of trace platinum- and cobalt- precursor in polymer gel, highly dispersed sub-10 nm PtCo nanoalloys can be in situ grown and anchored on graphene-like carbon. The as-prepared catalysts were investigated by a series of physical characterizations, electrochemical measurements, and microbial fuel cell tests. Interestingly, even with a low Pt content (5.13 wt %), the most active Co/N codoped carbon supported PtCo nanoalloys (Co-N-C/Pt) exhibited dramatically improved catalytic activity toward oxygen reduction reaction coupled with superior output power density (1008 ± 43 mW m-2) in MFCs, which was 29.40% higher than the state of the art Pt/C (20 wt %). Notability, the distinct catalytic activity of Co-N-C/Pt was attributed to the highly efficient synergistic catalytic effect of Co-Nx-C and PtCo nanoalloys. Therefore, Co-N-C/Pt should be a promising oxygen reduction catalyst for application in MFCs. Further, the novel strategy for graphene-like carbon also can be widely used in many other energy conversion and storage devices.
Keywords: N/Co-dual doping; PtCo nanoalloys; graphene-like carbon; microbial fuel cells; synergistic catalyst.