Oxygen reduction reaction platinum group metal-free electrocatalysts derived from spent coffee grounds

The annual generation of coffee waste has overtaken 6 million metric tons, becoming a serious environmental problem. Herein, we report the fabrication of bimetallic electrocatalysts synthesized by 1) pyrolyzing spent coffee grounds (SCGs) at 400, 600, 800 and 1000 °C, 2) activating the as-obtained char with KOH and 3) functionalizing the activated carbon with iron(II) and manganese(II) phthalocyanine. The final electrocatalysts showed a high degree of amorphousness, defectivity (increasing with temperature) and high specific surface area (up to 1820 m2 g−1). In half-cell compartment (0.1 M KOH electrolyte), the top-notch material in terms of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity and selectivity was CFeMn_600, which showed the same half-wave potential (E1/2) compared to Pt/C standard along with a lower peroxide production. These outstanding results could be attributed to a high surface area, a Fe-Mn synergy, and an abundance of C-N defects. The performance of CFeMn_600 as a cathode material in alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFC) showed an open circuit voltage (OCV) of 0.890 V and power density of 30 mW cm−2. Notwithstanding, this research is one of few cases where a waste-derived electrocatalyst is tested in a real AEMFC, thus becoming a pioneer in the fuel cell study of waste-derived electrode materials.