Biomass-derived heteroatoms-doped mesoporous carbon for efficient oxygen reduction in microbial fuel cells

Currently, the development of less expensive, more active and more stable catalysts like heteroatom-doped carbon based non-precious metal materials are highly desired for the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Comparing with heteroatom sources from chemical reagents, biomass is notably inexpensive and abundant, containing more elements which contribute to ORR activity. Herein, we demonstrate an easy operating one-step and low-cost way to synthesize egg-derived heteroatoms-doped mesoporous carbon (EGC) catalysts utilizing egg as the biomass carbon and other elements source (sulphur, phosphorus, boron and iron), and porous g-C3N4 as both template and nitrogen source. After carbonized, such hybrid materials possess an outstanding electrocatalytic activity towards ORR comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst in neutral media. Electrochemical detections as cyclic voltammogram and rotating ring-disk electrode tests show that the potential of oxygen reduction peak of EGC1-10-2 is at + 0.10 V, onset potential is at + 0.257 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and electron transfer number of that is 3.84–3.92, which indicate that EGC1-10-2 via a four-electron pathway. Reactor operation shows that the maximum power density of MFC-EGC1-10-2 (737.1 mW m−2), which is slightly higher than MFC-Pt/C (20%) (704 mW m−2). The low cost (0.049 $ g−1), high yield (20.26%) and high performance of EGC1-10-2 provide a promising alternative to noble metal catalysts by using abundant natural biological resources, which contribute a lot to expansion and commercialization of MFCs.