Whole Cell (Microbial) Electrocatalysis of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR)

Abstract

The capability of some microorganisms to catalyse the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) was first observed in the field of corrosion, where it can be a key factor increasing the risk of corrosion of steels in marine environments. Then, since the beginning of the 2000’s, the microbial catalysis of ORR has been considered as a promising way to design cathodes for fuel cells. These two research domains have produced considerable fundamental advances but much remains to be done to identify and master the microbial species that have the capacity to achieve the different possible catalytic pathways