The bioelectrochemical synthesis of high-quality carbon dots with strengthened electricity output and excellent catalytic performance

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Abstract
The emergence of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology that can effectively recycle renewable energy from organic pollutants has been regarded as a promising and environmentally friendly route that could be widely used in numerous fields. Here, a novel sustainable self-energy conversion system was successfully constructed to renewably synthesize carbon dots (CDs) via in situ coupling with a MFC system. Interestingly, the generation of CDs was found to largely enhance the electricity production performance of the MFC. Low-temperature electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopic measurements and electrochemical characterization analysis results confirmed that the as-prepared CDs exhibited wide-conversion fluorescence properties and exposed carbon-rich active oxygen sites, and demonstrated a suitable band gap as well as excellent electrocatalytic performance. As a result, the prepared CDs possess high photo-bioelectrocatalytic activity for efficient H2 production, reaching 9.58 μmol h−1. Remarkably, CD-derived photocatalytic ink presented excellent contaminant elimination activity at the solid–solid interface. Thus, this work will provide a new platform for catalyst construction via a bio-assisted method towards the next generation of nano-photocatalytic inks for indoor contaminant removal.
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21590813)
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (21577012)
  • Project 211 (B13012)
  • Key Laboratory of Industrial Ecology and Environmental Engineering of the Ministry of Education

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