Synthesis of non-precious N-doped Mesoporous Fe3O4/CoO@NC Materials Towards Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction for Microbial Fuel Cells

N-doped transition metal oxides are strategic materials towards the efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Non-precious N-doped Fe3O4/CoO@NC-T (T represents carbonization temperature) catalysts are prepared by an efficient two-step strategy for ORR. Fe3O4/CoO@NC-750 exhibits the best performance with an efficient four-electron transfer pathway. The optimal power density of MFCs by using Fe3O4/CoO@NC-750 as the cathode catalyst (1243.4 mW . m(-2)) is superior to that of the MFCs with commercial Pt/C catalyst (1080 mW . m(-2)), which shows an outstanding activity towards ORR. No significant decrease in output voltage results over 70 days, which shows an excellent electrochemical stability.

Automated summary

The efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can be achieved by using N-doped transition metal oxides as catalysts. In this study, non-precious N-doped Fe3O4/CoO@NC-T catalysts were prepared using a two-step strategy and showed exceptional ORR activity. Among the catalysts, Fe3O4/CoO@NC-750 exhibited the best performance with superior power density and electrochemical stability compared to commercial Pt/C catalyst in MFCs.