Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be capable of both wastewater treatment and electricity generation, which necessarily depends on the increasing cathodic performances and stability at low cost to realize industrialization. Herein, cellulose, a commercially available and sustainable material, was oxidized as a carbon precursor to produce the oxygen species synergizing the nitrogen-doped carbon (CON-900) catalyst by a facile in situ nitrogen doping method. The incorporation of nitrogen and oxygen with a high content creates more active centers. Meanwhile, the hierarchical porosity of CON-900 contributes to a high specific surface area (652 m2 g-1) and the exposure of accessible active sites. As expected, CON-900 exhibits considerable activity for the oxygen reduction reaction, excellent operating stability, and high poisoning resistance. In addition, the MFC fabricated with CON-900 as a cathode catalyst demonstrates a maximum power density of 1014 ± 23 mW m-2, which is comparable with that of the Pt/C cathode (1062 ± 14 mW m-2). This work offers a facile and versatile strategy for various biomass materials to develop low-cost and high-efficiency carbon-based catalysts for MFCs and beyond.
Keywords: cellulose; microbial fuel cells; nitrogen-doped carbon; oxygen reduction reaction; oxygen species; stability.