To improve the power generation of microbial fuel cell (MFC), the cathode is modified to increase its oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity by using a Cu, N-incorporated carbon-based material as catalyst, which obtained from pyrolyzing ORR active Cu (II)-based metal organic framework (MOF; Cu-bipy-BTC, bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine, BTC = 1,3,5-tricarboxylate). MOF-800 (the product of pyrolyzing Cu-bipy-BTC at 800 °C) shows porous structure with micropores ranging from 0.5 to 1.3 nm and mesopores ranging from 27 to 46 nm. It also exhibits improved ORR electrocatalytic activity with a higher current density of −3.06 mA cm⁻² compared to Cu-bipy-BTC. Moreover, the charge transfer resistance of MOF-800 cathode (1.38 Ω) is much smaller than that of Cu-bipy-BTC cathode (176.8 Ω). A maximum power density of 326 ± 11 mW m⁻² is achieved by MOF-800-MFC, which is 2.6 times of that of Cu-bipy-BTC-MFC and comparable with Pt/C-MFC (402 ± 17 mW m⁻²). The results imply the enhancements of ORR catalytic activity and electrical conductivity of MOF-800 are due to the enhanced porous structure and abundant active sites (C–N, Cu–N_χ), which result in the improved power generation of MFC. This study provides technical and theoretical validation for the MFC performance improvement by ORR active MOF-derived catalysts modified cathodes.

为了提高微生物燃料电池（MFC）的发电效率，通过使用一种由N，Cu结合的碳基材料作为催化剂来对阴极进行改性，以提高其氧还原反应（ORR）活性，该材料是通过热解ORR活性Cu（ II）-基金属有机骨架（MOF; Cu-bipy-BTC，bipy = 2,2'-联吡啶，BTC = 1,3,5-三羧酸盐）。MOF-800（在800°C下热解Cu-bipy-BTC的产物）显​​示出多孔结构，其微孔范围为0.5至1.3 nm，中孔范围为27至46 nm。与Cu-bipy-BTC相比，它还表现出改进的ORR电催化活性，且电流密度为-3.06 mA cm ^-2。此外，MOF-800阴极的电荷转移电阻（1.38Ω）比Cu-bipy-BTC阴极的电荷转移电阻（176.8Ω）小得多。最大功率密度为326±11 mW m通过MOF-800-MFC达到了^-2，这是Cu-bipy-BTC-MFC的2.6倍，可与Pt / C-MFC（402±17 mW m ^-2）相提并论。结果表明，MOF-800的ORR催化活性和电导率的提高归因于多孔结构的增强和丰富的活性位点（C–N，Cu– _Nχ），从而改善了MFC的发电能力。这项研究为通过ORR活性MOF衍生的催化剂修饰的阴极改善MFC性能提供了技术和理论验证。