Niyazi Alper Tapan

Plant microbial fuel cells (PMFCs) represent a promising technology for sustainable bioelectricity generation while enabling organic waste valorization. In this study, boron-modified graphene oxide (BGO) electrocatalysts were synthesized via electrochemical exfoliation of 8B pencil graphite, followed by ultrasonication-assisted boron incorporation at 5 °C and 55 °C. ICP-OES analysis confirmed boron contents of 200.7 ppm and 651.7 ppm for BGO-5 and BGO-55, respectively. Raman spectroscopy revealed an increased I _D /I _G ratio for BGO-55 (0.82) compared to GO (0.68), indicating enhanced structural disorder and defect density, which is hypothesized to be associated with boron-induced perturbations within the graphene oxide framework. Electrochemical characterization (CV and EIS) demonstrated improved oxygen reduction (ORR) activity and reduced charge-transfer resistance for BGO-55, supporting the role of defect-enriched, boron-modified structures in facilitating electron transfer. When integrated into soil-based single sugar beet PMFC systems, BGO-55 significantly enhanced power density in both anode (0.936 mW m⁻²) and cathode-modified (0.967 mW m⁻²) configurations following whey supplementation. The improved performance is attributed to the synergistic interaction between increased boron content, defect-mediated electronic modulation, and enhanced ORR kinetics under substrate-enriched conditions. These findings suggest that low-temperature sonochemical boron incorporation offers a scalable and energy-efficient strategy to improve PMFC performance while promoting sustainable energy generation and agro-industrial waste utilization.

This work presents a data‐driven assessment of CO ₂ electroreduction (CO ₂ R) performance trends toward sustainable carbon utilization to produce chemical feedstocks and renewable fuels, using an expanded dataset of 662 observations from 47 studies published between 2003 and 2025. To enable both performance benchmarking and selectivity mapping, the highest Faradaic efficiency (FE) and the most selective product were chosen as target variables, while 13 variables (e.g., cathode catalyst elements, preparation method, and support type) were used as descriptors. First, exploratory data analysis was conducted to quantify how the reported highest FE values evolved over time. This analysis revealed a clear improvement in performance, with the median of the highest FEs increasing from 32.0% (2003–2013) to 47.8% (2022–2025). Furthermore, comparative analysis revealed shifts in system configurations, including increased use of chemical dealloying and Nafion 212 membranes. Subsequently, SHAP analysis quantified the direction and magnitude of feature effects on FE, while parallel coordinate plots highlighted multivariable patterns governing product selectivity (e.g., CO, HCOOH, and C ₂ H ₄ ). Notably, key findings include a strong positive association between Sn atomic percentage and HCOOH FE, as well as the identification of preparation methods and electrolyte conditions linked to high C ₂ H ₄ and CH ₄ selectivity. Overall, the proposed framework supports rational CO ₂ electrolysis design and performance‐oriented optimization of integrated CO ₂ R and renewable hydrogen systems.