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To further enhance the long-term durability of the cost-effective Ir-based catalysts, some acid-stable oxides are used as supports for acidic OER catalysts. Herein, taking carbon paper (CP) as the substrate, we prepared a self-standing IrW/WO 3-x @NC/CP electrode via a layer-by-layer modified method. Among it, N-doped porous C framework not only provides a large specific surface for the attachment of WO 3-x , but also makes up for the lack of conductivity of WO 3-x and accelerates the electron transport process. The interaction between Ir and W sites in the form of IrW alloy which has generated during the high-temperature calcination and the dispersed Ir in WO 3-x matrix improve the intrinsic catalytic activity. And due to the Pt-like effect of W and the tuning role of the electronic structure by the IrW alloy, IrW/WO 3-x @NC/CP with an Ir content of only 19.1 µg cm−2 exhibits excellent bifunctional activity in acidic media. To obtain 10 mA cm−2, IrW/WO 3-x @NC/CP just needs overpotential of 22 mV (for HER) and 206 mV (for OER) respectively with a mass specific activity of 4.008 A mg Ir −1 at 1.55 V. For the whole water splitting, it only requires 1.52 V and 1.70 V to reach 10 mA cm−2 and 100 mA cm−2 respectively, and can operate continuously for over 40 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of TiO 2 nanosheets (TiO 2 -NSs) modified carbon paper anode (TiO 2 -NSs/CP) in S. loihica PV-4 inoculated MFCs is greatly improved by intentional N doping of TiO 2 -NSs to modulate its electronic properties. TiO 2 -NSs/CP is calcined in NH 3 atmosphere at different temperatures (T = 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C) to obtain N doped anodes (T-NTiO 2 -NSs/CP, T represents temperature), in which 600-NTiO 2 -NSs/CP electrode show best performance with the maximum output power density increased by 196% and 50% compared to that from the bare CP and TiO 2 -NSs/CP electrodes respectively. The surface morphology, structure and electrochemical activity are characterized by FESEM, XRD, Raman, XPS, CVs and EIS. The results show that heating in NH 3 atmosphere keep surface morphology and bio-affinity of the electrode. The midpoint potential E m (−0.29 V) of outer membrane c-type cytochromes (OMCs) at 600-NTiO 2 -NSs/CP anode is in accordance with that at TiO 2 -NSs/CP. However, 600-NTiO 2 -NSs/CP electrode had smaller charge transfer resistance, more positive flat-band potential and larger transient charge storage capacity than untreated electrode due to modulation of the electronic structure via N doping, which all are favorable to interfacial electron transfer from OMCs to underlying electrode. The method is simply and efficient, and could be extended to other nano-semiconductor modified electrodes for superior MFC anodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]