Santiago Rojas-Carbonell
Influence of platinum group metal-free catalyst synthesis on microbial fuel cell performance
Rojas-Carbonell, Santiago; Awais, Roxanne; Gokhale, Rohan; Kodali, Mounika; Serov, Alexey; Artyushkova, Kateryna; Atanassov, Plamen; Santoro, Carlo
Authors
Roxanne Awais
Rohan Gokhale
Mounika Kodali
Alexey Serov
Kateryna Artyushkova
Plamen Atanassov
Carlo Santoro
Abstract
© 2017 The Authors Platinum group metal-free (PGM-free) ORR catalysts from the Fe-N-C family were synthesized using sacrificial support method (SSM) technique. Six experimental steps were used during the synthesis: 1) mixing the precursor, the metal salt, and the silica template; 2) first pyrolysis in hydrogen rich atmosphere; 3) ball milling; 4) etching the silica template using harsh acids environment; 5) the second pyrolysis in ammonia rich atmosphere; 6) final ball milling. Three independent batches were fabricated following the same procedure. The effect of each synthetic parameters on the surface chemistry and the electrocatalytic performance in neutral media was studied. Rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) experiment showed an increase in half wave potential and limiting current after the pyrolysis steps. The additional improvement was observed after etching and performing the second pyrolysis. A similar trend was seen in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), in which the power output increased from 167 ± 2 μW cm−2 to 214 ± 5 μW cm−2. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) was used to evaluate surface chemistry of catalysts obtained after each synthetic step. The changes in chemical composition were directly correlated with the improvements in performance. We report outstanding reproducibility in both composition and performance among the three different batches.
| Journal Article Type | Article |
|---|---|
| Acceptance Date | Nov 10, 2017 |
| Online Publication Date | Nov 21, 2017 |
| Publication Date | Jan 31, 2018 |
| Deposit Date | Apr 19, 2018 |
| Publicly Available Date | May 2, 2018 |
| Journal | Journal of Power Sources |
| Print ISSN | 0378-7753 |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
| Volume | 375 |
| Pages | 11-20 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.11.039 |
| Keywords | pyrolysis, oxygen reduction reaction, rotating ring disk, microbial fuel cell, reproducibility |
| Public URL | https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/871958 |
| Publisher URL | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2017.11.039 |
| Contract Date | Apr 19, 2018 |
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