Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR Electrocatalyst

Activated carbon used to adsorb organic pollutants and heavy metals in wastewater is often used to prepare precursor materials to avoid re-polluting the environment. Non-precious metal and heteroatom co-doped electrocatalysts have emerged as promising alternatives to Pt-based catalysts due to their...

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Main Authors: Ziyu Tang, Haowen Li, Xiaojing Jia, Fawei Lin, Kai Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1666
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author Ziyu Tang
Haowen Li
Xiaojing Jia
Fawei Lin
Kai Li
author_facet Ziyu Tang
Haowen Li
Xiaojing Jia
Fawei Lin
Kai Li
author_sort Ziyu Tang
collection DOAJ
description Activated carbon used to adsorb organic pollutants and heavy metals in wastewater is often used to prepare precursor materials to avoid re-polluting the environment. Non-precious metal and heteroatom co-doped electrocatalysts have emerged as promising alternatives to Pt-based catalysts due to their high catalytic activity and remarkable stability. This has greatly developed the ORR process in the field of energy storage, which is restricted due to the high price of Pt-based catalysts. In this study, bamboo shavings were pre-activated to synthesize carbon materials, which were subsequently mixed with an oil phase to simulate “waste-activated carbon”. The results demonstrate that the modified waste-activated carbon exhibits a high specific surface area, a well-developed porous structure, and characteristic element doping, which collectively contribute to the effective construction of active sites. Furthermore, the material displays ORR electrocatalytic performance that surpasses that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. In this study, a high-performance ORR electrocatalyst was successfully synthesized through the retreatment of “waste-activated carbon”. Building on this achievement, this study offers a novel perspective and contributes to advancing research on the resource utilization and sustainable treatment of waste-activated carbon.
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spelling doaj-art-e66b3ab58fee414e8cfe2d490c4ee9462025-08-20T02:17:00ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732025-03-01187166610.3390/en18071666Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR ElectrocatalystZiyu Tang0Haowen Li1Xiaojing Jia2Fawei Lin3Kai Li4Tianjin Key Lab of Biomass/Wastes, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, ChinaSchool of Science and Engineering, Shenzhen Institute of Aggregate Science and Technology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen 518172, ChinaTianjin Key Lab of Biomass/Wastes, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, ChinaTianjin Key Lab of Biomass/Wastes, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, ChinaTianjin Key Lab of Biomass/Wastes, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, ChinaActivated carbon used to adsorb organic pollutants and heavy metals in wastewater is often used to prepare precursor materials to avoid re-polluting the environment. Non-precious metal and heteroatom co-doped electrocatalysts have emerged as promising alternatives to Pt-based catalysts due to their high catalytic activity and remarkable stability. This has greatly developed the ORR process in the field of energy storage, which is restricted due to the high price of Pt-based catalysts. In this study, bamboo shavings were pre-activated to synthesize carbon materials, which were subsequently mixed with an oil phase to simulate “waste-activated carbon”. The results demonstrate that the modified waste-activated carbon exhibits a high specific surface area, a well-developed porous structure, and characteristic element doping, which collectively contribute to the effective construction of active sites. Furthermore, the material displays ORR electrocatalytic performance that surpasses that of commercial Pt/C catalysts. In this study, a high-performance ORR electrocatalyst was successfully synthesized through the retreatment of “waste-activated carbon”. Building on this achievement, this study offers a novel perspective and contributes to advancing research on the resource utilization and sustainable treatment of waste-activated carbon.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1666renewable carbon materialactivationoxygen reduction reactionhierarchical porous“Fe-Nx-C” structure
spellingShingle Ziyu Tang
Haowen Li
Xiaojing Jia
Fawei Lin
Kai Li
Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR Electrocatalyst
Energies
renewable carbon material
activation
oxygen reduction reaction
hierarchical porous
“Fe-Nx-C” structure
title Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR Electrocatalyst
title_full Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR Electrocatalyst
title_fullStr Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR Electrocatalyst
title_full_unstemmed Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR Electrocatalyst
title_short Recovery of Waste-Activated Carbon for Synthesizing High-Efficiency ORR Electrocatalyst
title_sort recovery of waste activated carbon for synthesizing high efficiency orr electrocatalyst
topic renewable carbon material
activation
oxygen reduction reaction
hierarchical porous
“Fe-Nx-C” structure
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/7/1666
work_keys_str_mv AT ziyutang recoveryofwasteactivatedcarbonforsynthesizinghighefficiencyorrelectrocatalyst
AT haowenli recoveryofwasteactivatedcarbonforsynthesizinghighefficiencyorrelectrocatalyst
AT xiaojingjia recoveryofwasteactivatedcarbonforsynthesizinghighefficiencyorrelectrocatalyst
AT faweilin recoveryofwasteactivatedcarbonforsynthesizinghighefficiencyorrelectrocatalyst
AT kaili recoveryofwasteactivatedcarbonforsynthesizinghighefficiencyorrelectrocatalyst