Activated carbon (AC) has been widely used as catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in air-cathode microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Here we demonstrate a new method to improve the AC air-cathode by blending it with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). rGO sheets are first deposited on Ni foam and AC is then brushed onto it with controlled mass loading. rGO sheets not only improve the electrical conductivity of AC, but also provide a large number of ORR areas. Rotating ring disk electrode measurements reveal that the number of transferred electrons at rGO-AC cathode is 3.5, indicating the four-electron pathway is the dominant process. Significantly, the MFC with rGO-AC cathode delivers a maximum power density of 2.25 ± 0.05 W/m2, which is substantially higher than that of plain AC cathode (1.35 ± 0.07 W/m2) and those for other air-cathode MFCs using AC as ORR catalyst under the same mass loading.

Carbon-doped titania was fabricated via carbothermal treatment in nitrogen–acetylene gas flow and further used as a precursor for multiwalled titanate nanotube (TNT) synthesis via alkaline hydrothermal route. Investigation of the reaction products after hydrothermal treatment of carbon-doped titania using Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller method shows the successful formation of TNTs. The presence of carbon was proved although the type of incorporation could not be certified. All samples show approximately the same carbon content before and after hydrothermal treatment. An increasing pretreatment temperature of titania precursor powders yields more secondary products in the nanotube samples, indicating lower reactivity of the titanium oxycarbide phase during hydrothermal treatment. In this study, TNTs with 6 wt% carbon and with the highest specific surface area of 340 m2/g were formed via hydrothermal treatment of carbon-doped titania precursor powder exposed to 700 °C during carbothermal pretreatment.

In an attempt to introduce a novel approach to formulate carbon black (ketjen black) suspension with enhanced colloidal stability, improved flowability, and higher conductivity, ketjen black was dispersed in microemulsion systems composed of a non-ionic surfactant (Triton X100), decanol, and water. Rheo-electric and rheo-microscopy proved to be very powerful techniques that are able to elucidate the microstructure evolution with the composition and under shear flow. Interestingly, the carbon black slurries at low decanol/water ratio are weak gels (flowable) with higher electrical conductivity than those at higher ratio, which shows strong-gel viscoelastic response. In addition, the slurries show recoverable electrical behavior under shear flow in tandem with the viscosity trend. It is likely that the oil-in-water microemulsion enhances slurries’ stability without affecting the percolating network of carbon black. On the other hand, the oil-in-water analogous and bilayer structure of the lamellar phase makes the slurries less conductive as a consequence of losing the network percolation.