10.1007/s40097-022-00492-3

Nanochemistry approach for the fabrication of Fe and N co-decorated biomass-derived activated carbon frameworks: a promising oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalyst in neutral media

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  • Hassan Karimi-Maleh1,
  • Ceren Karaman*2,
  • Onur Karaman3,
  • Fatemeh Karimi4,
  • Yasser Vasseghian5,
  • Li Fu6,
  • Mehdi Baghayeri7,
  • Jalal Rouhi8,
  • P. Senthil Kumar9,
  • Pau-Loke Show10,
  • Saravanan Rajendran11,
  • Afsaneh L. Sanati12,
  • Ali Mirabi13,
  1. School of Resources and Environment, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, CN
  2. Department of Electricity and Energy, Akdeniz University, Akdeniz University, Antalya, 07070, TR
  3. Department of Medical Imaging Techniques, Akdeniz University, Akdeniz University, Antalya, 07070, TR
  4. Department of Chemical Engineering, Quchan University of Technology, Quchan, 9477177870, IR
  5. Department of Chemistry, Soongsil University, Seoul, 06978, KR
  6. College of Materials and Environmental Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, 310018, CN
  7. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, IR
  8. Faculty of Physics, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, 51566, IR
  9. Department of Chemical Engineering, Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, Chennai, 603110, IN
  10. Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Selangor Darul Ehsan, 43500, MY
  11. Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tarapaca, Arica, 1775, CL
  12. Institute of Systems and Robotics, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, 3030-290, PT
  13. Department of Chemistry, Qaemshahr Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qaemshahr, IR

Published in Issue 19-03-2022

How to Cite

Karimi-Maleh, H., Karaman, C., Karaman, O., Karimi, F., Vasseghian, Y., Fu, L., Baghayeri, M., Rouhi, J., Senthil Kumar, P., Show, P.-L., Rajendran, S., Sanati, A. L., & Mirabi, A. (2022). Nanochemistry approach for the fabrication of Fe and N co-decorated biomass-derived activated carbon frameworks: a promising oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalyst in neutral media. Journal of Nanostructure in Chemistry, 12(3 (June 2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40097-022-00492-3
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Abstract

Abstract The sluggish nature of the cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and the expensive price of the precious metal-based nanocatalysts are the biggest obstacles to the practical applications of cutting-edge technologies including metal–air batteries and fuel cells. Hence, it is crucial to engineering a scalable-production pathway for the fabrication of a high-performance ORR catalyst. Herein, it was aimed to boost the performance of the ORR in neutral media, especially for microbial fuel cells, by tailoring a biomass-derived ORR electrocatalyst. In this regard, with the approach of nanochemistry, which is concerned with the fabrication of building blocks that vary in size, surface, shape, and defect characteristics, iron- and nitrogen-doped activated carbon framework (Fe,N-AC) was derived from waste orange peels by a two-stage pathway comprising microwave-assisted chemical activation and the thermal annealing processes. The physicochemical characterizations confirmed the successful co-doping of iron and nitrogen atoms to the activated carbon skeleton with the hierarchically ordered porous structure. Thanks to the interdependent effects of metal and heteroatoms in the structure, as well as the enlarged specific surface area (1098 m 2 .g −1 ), Fe,N-AC catalyst offered a superior ORR activity thru the 4-electron transferring way ( n  = 3.969) with long-term stability (81.4% retention of initial current over the period of 7200 s). The half-wave potential was determined as 0.871 V by the introduction of iron and nitrogen to the nanoarchitecture, implying the boosting impact of the iron and nitrogen decoration. Moreover, the exceptional electrocatalytic activity of Fe,N-AC was validated by an onset potential of 0.951 V that was ca. 16 mV smaller than that of Pt/C catalyst (0.967 V). The accelerated S 2− poisoning test of Fe,N-AC catalyst was outperformed to Pt/C catalyst, thereby foreboding its practical utilization in MFCs. The current loss of Pt/C catalyst was determined almost five times that of Fe,N-AC catalyst at 5 mM S 2− concentration. The findings paved the course for the engineering of the state-of-the-art low-cost nanocatalyst by converting agricultural biomasses to a multi-functional advanced material to be employed in sustainable energy conversion systems. Graphical abstract

Keywords

  • Biomass,
  • Oxygen reduction reaction,
  • Neutral media,
  • Iron and nitrogen doping,
  • Activated carbon,
  • Waste orange peel

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