A porous graphite (PG) is proposed as anode electrocatalyst of microbial fuel cell (MFC), which is synthesized by thermally decomposing ferrous gluconate followed by leaching iron. The physical characterizations from scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, indicate that the resulting PG is mesopore-rich and exhibits high graphitization with oxygen-containing functional groups. When evaluated on a naked carbon felt (NCF) anode, the resulting PG provides the MFC based on Escherichia coli with excellent power output. The MFC using the carbon felt anode loaded with 3.0 mg cm⁻² PG delivers a maximum power density of 2.6 W m⁻², compared to the 0.2 W m⁻² for the MFCs using NCF anode. This excellent performance is attributed to the electronically conductive graphite and porous structure of the resulting PG. The former provides the anode with high activity towards redox reactions of c-type cytochromes in bacteria, the latter stimulates bacteria to produce their flagella that help bacteria to firmly bond each other.

提出了一种多孔石墨（PG）作为微生物燃料电池（MFC）的阳极电催化剂，其通过热分解葡萄糖酸亚铁然后浸出铁而合成。扫描电子显微镜，Brunauer-Emmett-Teller，X射线衍射，拉曼光谱，傅里叶变换红外光谱，能量色散X射线光谱和X射线光电子光谱的物理表征表明，所得的PG为介孔-富含并具有含氧官能团的高石墨化性能。在裸碳毡（NCF）阳极上进行评估时，所得的PG为基于大肠杆菌的MFC提供了出色的功率输出。使用负载了3.0 mg cm ^-2的碳毡阳极的MFCPG的最大功率密度为2.6 W m ^-2，而使用NCF阳极的MFC的最大功率密度为0.2 W m ^-2。这种优异的性能归因于所得PG的导电石墨和多孔结构。前者使阳极对细菌中c型细胞色素的氧化还原反应具有高活性，后者可刺激细菌产生鞭毛，从而帮助细菌彼此牢固结合。