Biochar Cathodes for Bioelectrochemical Systems: Understanding the Effect of Material Heterogeneity on Performance for Abiotic Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

IF 3.5 4区化学 Q2 ELECTROCHEMISTRY

ChemElectroChem Pub Date : 2025-09-15 DOI:10.1002/celc.202500008

Shabnam Pouresmaeil, Thomas Schliermann, Matthias Schmidt, Falk Harnisch, Joerg Kretzschmar

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Abstract

Granular carbon-based cathodes in carbon dioxide-reducing bioelectrochemical systems (CO₂-reducing BES) feature high biocompatibility and stability. Wood-based biochar is gaining popularity in (bio)electrochemical applications due to its sustainability and reduced environmental impact. Yet, previous studies primarily examined lab-scale biochars. This study investigates how heterogeneity of industrial-scale granular biochars (GBs) influences their electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the nexus of CO₂-reducing BES. Significant variations are identified in overpotentials for HER at −1 mA cm⁻² (η_-1 mA cm⁻²) among the GB-based cathodes. Beechwood-derived GB pyrolyzed at 740 °C shows the lowest η_-1 mA cm⁻²(223.6 ± 30.0 mV), outperforming birchwood-derived GB at 700 °C (503.5 ± 4.9 mV) and granular graphite (608.3 ± 19.5 mV). Despite its superior performance, beechwood-based GB shows high heterogeneity. Such heterogeneity underlies different physicochemical properties, likely due to uneven temperature distribution in industrial pyrolysis. The remarkable performance of beechwood-based GB pyrolyzed at 740 °C is attributed to its higher electrical conductivity, higher degree of carbonization, favorable H/C ratios, higher disorder in carbonaceous structure, and suitable porosity. The results highlight the influence of the wood type, the importance of systematic GB characterization, and the necessity to optimize industrial-scale biochar production to achieve homogeneous and high-performance biochar.

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生物电化学系统的生物炭阴极：了解材料非均质性对非生物析氢反应性能的影响

颗粒碳基阴极在二氧化碳还原生物电化学系统（CO2-reducing BES）中具有较高的生物相容性和稳定性。由于其可持续性和减少对环境的影响，木质生物炭在生物电化学应用中越来越受欢迎。然而，之前的研究主要是研究实验室规模的生物炭。本研究探讨了工业规模颗粒生物炭（GBs）的异质性如何影响其在二氧化碳还原BES中析氢反应（HER）的电催化活性。在-1 mA cm - 2 （η-1 mA cm - 2）下，基于gb的阴极的HER过电位有显著变化。山毛榉衍生的GB在740℃热解时的η最低，为- 1ma cm - 2(223.6±30.0 mV)，优于700℃（503.5±4.9 mV）和颗粒石墨（608.3±19.5 mV）。山毛榉基GB虽然性能优越，但其异质性较高。这种非均质性导致了不同的物理化学性质，可能是由于工业热解过程中温度分布不均匀造成的。在740℃下热解的山毛榉基GB具有优异的导电性能、较高的碳化程度、良好的H/C比、较高的碳质结构无序性和合适的孔隙率。研究结果强调了木材类型的影响，系统的GB表征的重要性，以及优化工业规模生物炭生产以实现均匀和高性能生物炭的必要性。

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来源期刊

ChemElectroChem ELECTROCHEMISTRY-

CiteScore

7.90

自引率

2.50%

发文量

515

审稿时长

1.2 months

期刊介绍： ChemElectroChem is aimed to become a top-ranking electrochemistry journal for primary research papers and critical secondary information from authors across the world. The journal covers the entire scope of pure and applied electrochemistry, the latter encompassing (among others) energy applications, electrochemistry at interfaces (including surfaces), photoelectrochemistry and bioelectrochemistry.