Abstract: Using oxygen as the electron acceptor in microbial fuel cells(MFC) has many advantages. However, the kinetics of oxygen reduction is rather slow, which may cause the loss of cathode potential. Thereby enhancing the oxygen reduction activity is one of the main focuses of MFC research. The progress of abiotic cathode catalysts of MFC is reviewed in this paper, while the catalytic activities of precious metal Pt, transition metal macrocyclic complexes, and non-noble metallic oxide for oxygen reduction are particularly focused. The transition metal macrocyclic complexes and non-noble metal oxides catalysts display good performances and are expected to become the substitutes for the MFC abiotic cathode Pt catalysts.

Key words: microbial fuel cell, cathode catalysts, oxygen reduction