Department of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai 625021, India.
Biosens Bioelectron. 2014 Mar 15;53:528-34. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2013.10.012. Epub 2013 Oct 24.
Nanotubular shaped α-MnO2/graphene oxide nanocomposites were synthesized via a simple, cost and time efficient hydrothermal method. The growth of hollow structured MnO2 nanotubes preferentially occurred along the [001] direction as evidenced from the morphological and structural characterizations. The tunnels of α-MnO2 nanotubes easily accommodated the molecular oxygen and exhibited excellent catalytic activity towards the oxygen reduction reaction over the rod structure and was further enhanced with the effective carbon support graphene oxide. The MnO2 nanotubes/graphene oxide nanocomposite modified electrode exhibited a maximum power density of 3359 mW m(-2) which is 7.8 fold higher than that of unmodified electrode and comparable with the Pt/C modified electrode. The microbial fuel cell equipped with MnO2 nanotubes/graphene oxide nanocomposite modified cathode exhibited quick start up and excellent durability over the studied electrodes and is attributed to the high surface area and number of active sites. These findings not only provide the fundamental studies on carbon supported low-dimensional transition-metal oxides but also open up the new possibilities of their applications in green energy devices.
通过一种简单、经济且高效的水热法合成了纳米管状α-MnO2/氧化石墨烯纳米复合材料。从形貌和结构特征可以看出，空心结构的 MnO2 纳米管优先沿着[001]方向生长。α-MnO2 纳米管的隧道容易容纳分子氧，并表现出对棒状结构的氧还原反应的优异催化活性，并且在有效的碳载体氧化石墨烯的作用下进一步增强。MnO2 纳米管/氧化石墨烯纳米复合材料修饰电极的最大功率密度为 3359 mW m-2，是未修饰电极的 7.8 倍，与 Pt/C 修饰电极相当。装备有 MnO2 纳米管/氧化石墨烯纳米复合材料修饰阴极的微生物燃料电池在研究电极上表现出快速启动和优异的耐久性，这归因于高比表面积和大量的活性位点。这些发现不仅为碳负载的低维过渡金属氧化物的基础研究提供了依据，而且为它们在绿色能源器件中的应用开辟了新的可能性。
