The performance and mechanism of modified activated carbon air cathode by non-stoichiometric nano Fe3O4 in the microbial fuel cell

Cathodic catalyst is one of the key materials in microbial fuel cell (MFC). The addition of non-stoichiometric nano Fe3O4 in activated carbon (NSFe3O4/AC) air cathode was beneficial to boosting the charge transfer of the cathode accompanying with the enhancement of power performance in MFC. The air cathode modified by NSFe3O4 (5%, Wt%) increased the maximum power density by 83.3% from 780 mW/m(2) to 1430 mW/m(2) compared with bare air cathode. The modified cathodes showed enhanced electrochemical properties and appeared the maximum exchange current density of 18.71 x 10(-4) A/cm(2) for oxygen reduction reaction. The mechanism of oxygen reduction for the NSFe3O4/AC catalyst was a 4-electron pathway. The oxygen vacancy of the NSFe3O4 played a crucial role in electrochemical catalytic activity. The great catalytic performance made NSFe3O4 have a promising outlook applied in MFC. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.