Abstract
Possibility of pyrolyzing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) waste and activating the HDPE-derived carbon (HDC) to be utilized as an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst in microbial fuel cell (MFC) was explored. The Fourier transform infra-red spectrum of synthesized HDC indicated the presence of key surface functional groups that aid in catalyzing ORR, while the X-ray diffractogram indicated carbonization of HDC that enhanced electrical conductivity. Cyclic voltammogram and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of HDC demonstrated an ORR peak current density of − 2.46 mA cm‒2, which was found to be comparable with commercial activated carbon (AC, − 2.71 mA cm‒2). The MFC with HDC as cathode catalyst (MFC–HDC) rendered a power density (115 mW m‒2) that was only 25% lower than the MFC with commercial AC as a catalyst (MFC–AC). Organic matter removal efficiency of MFC–HDC was comparable to MFC–AC. Thus, the low-cost HDC electrocatalyst (0.025 $ g‒1) exhibited catalytic performance comparable with AC (12 $ g‒1) and difference between the performance of the two MFCs with HDC and AC as catalyst can be attributed to the lower specific surface area (232 m2 g‒1) of the HDC catalyst as compared to AC (1200 m2 g‒1). Thus, for future applications, the specific surface area of HDC catalyst need to be improved to make it competitive with commercial AC.
Research Highlights
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HDPE-derived activated char (HDC) can act as an effective cathode catalyst
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Acid (HNO3) activation enhances surface imperfections and incorporates nitro group
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Comparable electrochemical properties of HDC and commercial activated carbon (AC)
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MFC with HDC electrocatalyst showed notable electrical performance
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Power performance and organic matter removal of MFC using HDC comparable with AC
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Data Availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Code Availability
No codes were used for the study.
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Funding
This work was financially supported by the Rewater project, Aditya Choubey Center for Re-Water Research, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India [Project code: IIT/SRIC/EF/CRW/2018-1an9/045].
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IC: Conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, writing original draft; SD: software supervision, text reviewing and editing, BKD: research guidance and manuscript correction, MMG: funding acquisition, research guidance and manuscript correction.
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Statement of novelty: The work undertaken in this research explores the possibility of using synthetic carbon precursors namely, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) for synthesizing carbon-based functional material to boost the kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction. This is first of its kind attempt towards application of such a waste plastic-derived carbon as a cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cell (MFC). The investigation provides a proof of concept for the intended application and paves way for further research to enhance the performance of such HDPE-derived materials as cathode catalyst to be at par with standard metal-based catalysts presently employed in MFCs. As the synthesized catalyst is cheaper than conventional metal-based catalysts commonly used in MFCs, standardization of catalyst synthesis procedure has immense potential towards replication and mass production.
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Chakraborty, I., Das, S., Dubey, B. et al. High-Density Polyethylene Waste-Derived Carbon as a Low-Cost Cathode Catalyst in Microbial Fuel Cell. Int J Environ Res 15, 1085–1096 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-021-00374-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41742-021-00374-6