Synthesis of tungstate oxide/bismuth tungstate composite and application in microbial fuel cell as superior low-cost cathode catalyst than platinum

Indrasis Das, Md T. Noori, G. D. Bhowmick, M. M. Ghangrekar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Scopus citations

Abstract

Low cost tungsten oxide/bismuth tungstate (WO3/Bi2WO6) composite was synthesized and used as cathode catalyst in microbial fuel cell (MFC). Almost 1.5 times increment in specific surface area of WO3/Bi2WO6 composite was observed as compared with WO3 and WO3/Bi2WO6 exhibited efficient oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) having a current peak of 8.1 mA at – 12.6 mV during cyclic voltammetry analysis, demonstrating less ORR overpotential. The MFC using WO3/Bi2WO6 catalysed cathode could recover a power density (PD) of 145 ± 4.5 mW/m2 and coulombic efficiency (CE) of 28.3 ± 1.5%, followed by 35 ± 5.8 mW/m2 and 17.5 ± 2.4%, respectively, for MFC with WO3 catalyzed cathode and 10.4 ± 3.2 mW/m2 and 10.3 ± 0.9%, respectively, for MFC without any cathode catalyst. Moreover, the PD and CE of 138 ± 6.8 mW/m2 and 27.5 ± 2.0%, respectively, obtained from MFC using Pt/C cathode catalyst, was slightly lower than the MFC with WO3/Bi2WO6 catalyst on cathode. The specific power recovery per unit cost of cathode fabrication of 23.8 mW/$ obtained from MFC with WO3/Bi2WO6 catalyzed cathode is higher than the MFC with Pt/C (12.2 mW/$), making it low cost alternative for scaling-up of MFCs.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)G146-G153
JournalJournal of the Electrochemical Society
Volume165
Issue number13
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2018
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
  • Electrochemistry
  • Materials Chemistry

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