Nano-structured manganese oxide as a cathodic catalyst for enhanced oxygen reduction in a microbial fuel cell fed with a synthetic wastewater

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) provide new opportunities for the simultaneous wastewater treatment and electricity generation. Enhanced oxygen reduction capacity of cost-effective metal-based catalysts in an air cathode is essential for the scale-up and commercialization of MFCs in the field of wastewater treatment. We demonstrated that a nano-structured MnOx material, prepared by an electrochemically deposition method, could be an effective catalyst for oxygen reduction in an MFC to generate electricity with the maximum power density of 772.8 mW/m3 and remove organics when the MFC was fed with an acetate-laden synthetic wastewater. The nano-structured MnOx with the controllable size and morphology could be readily obtained with the electrochemical deposition method. Both morphology and manganese oxidation state of the nano-scale catalyst were largely dependent on the electrochemical preparation process, and they governed its catalytic activity and the cathodic oxygen reduction performance of the MFC accordingly. Furthermore, cyclic voltammetry (CV) performed on each nano-structured material suggests that the MnOx nanorods had an electrochemical activity towards oxygen reduction reaction via a four-electron pathway in a neutral pH solution. This work provides useful information on the facile preparation of cost-effective cathodic catalysts in a controllable way for the single-chamber air-cathode MFC for wastewater treatment.