Heteroatom-doped porous carbon nanoparticle-decorated carbon cloth (HPCN/CC) as efficient anode electrode for microbial fuel cells (MFCs)

Developing high-performance anode materials is critical for improving microbial fuel cells (MFCs) performance. Carbon nanoparticles derived from plant polyphenols (tannic acid) have attracted our attention due to excellent biocompatibility, great conductivity, easy functionalization, and low cost. In this work, we prepared heteroatom-doped (N, P, S, Co) porous carbon nanoparticles (HPCNs). The HPCNs decorated carbon cloth-based MFCs exhibited areal power density of 1.72 W m−2 and the areal current density of 4.52 A m−2, which was 1.82 times and 1.44 times higher than the carbon cloth (CC) anode. Moreover, the extracellular electron transfer (EET) and cell viability of the electroactive biofilms were substantially enhanced by the proposed anode. Microbial community structure analysis demonstrated that more electrochemically active microorganism types were enriched on the studied anode, and their synergistic effect promoted the EET process. Nanoscale and porous structure of HPCNs can promote biofilm formation. The doping of heteroatoms makes the materials have high conductivity, good biocompatibility and abundant electrochemically active sites, which promote the EET process. This work provides a method for the preparation of anode materials with adjustable structure and excellent properties, and provides a strategy for application of high performance anode in MFCs.