Discover insights from thousands of peer-reviewed papers on microbial electrochemical systems
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Jeetendra Prasad, Ramesh Kumar Tripathi
International Journal of Renewable Energy Development · 2018
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Sheetal Kishor Parakh, Zinong Tian, Jonathan Zhi En Wong et al.
Fermentation · 2023
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Αsimina Tremouli, Pavlos K. Pandis, Theofilos Kamperidis et al.
Water · 2023
Saroj Bala, Diksha Garg, Banjagere Veerabhadrappa Thirumalesh et al.
Toxics · 2022
Ruikai Zhang, Wentao Dai, Hongyong Xiang et al.
Frontiers in Microbiology · 2025
Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have become one of the most promising technologies in the field of ecology and environmental science due to their dual functions of power generation and pollutant removal. However, the generally low power generation performance of MFCs is one of the bottlenecks constraining their development, and numerous studies have focused on the improvement of power generation performance. The majority of previous empirical studies were based on single experimental data, which means there may be large differences in experimental conditions and settings, leading to various or even contradictory conclusions. In this study, we collected a total of 10,826 cases from 186 publications in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database to quantitatively and systematically investigate the general patterns and driving factors of power generation performance in MFCs. Our results showed that (1) the power density, voltage, and reaction duration were significantly lower (~25%) in this study, while the coulombic efficiency and ambient temperature were significantly higher (13.4-33.1%) than those reported in other meta-analyses or review papers; (2) reaction chamber volume and cathode surface area were stronger predictors for the majority of power generation performance indices than other device configuration indices, especially cathode chamber volume, which explained >70% of the variances in power density and coulombic efficiency; (3) ambient temperature, external resistance, and reaction duration had greater effects on power generation performance than other reaction conditions; and (4) substrates with pre-treatment, especially with biological treatment, showed 10-40% higher values for the majority of power generation performance indices compared to pre-treatment with physical and chemical methods, and solid substrates showed better power generation performance than liquid and fluid substrates for the majority of indices. Our results suggest that dual-chamber systems, larger cathode surface areas, neutral pH levels, ambient temperatures of 30-35°C, and biological pre-treatment of substrates may be helpful in improving the power generation performance of MFCs.
Anthony J. Slate, Kathryn A. Whitehead, Dale A. C. Brownson et al.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · 2018
Anthony J. Slate, Kathryn A. Whitehead, Dale A. C. Brownson et al.
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews · 2018
Many factors affect the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Considerable attention has been given to the impact of cell configuration and materials on MFC performance. Much less work has been done on the impact of the anode microbiota, particularly in the context of using complex substrates as fuel. One strategy to improve MFC performance on complex substrates such as wastewater, is to pre-enrich the anode with known, efficient electrogens, such as Geobacter spp. The implication of this strategy is that the electrogens are the limiting factor in MFCs fed complex substrates and the organisms feeding the electrogens through hydrolysis and fermentation are not limiting. We conducted a systematic test of this strategy and the assumptions associated with it. Microbial fuel cells were enriched using three different substrates (acetate, synthetic wastewater and real domestic wastewater) and three different inocula (Activated Sludge, Tyne River sediment, effluent from an MFC). Reactors were either enriched on complex substrates from the start or were initially fed acetate to enrich for Geobacter spp. before switching to synthetic or real wastewater. Pre-enrichment on acetate increased the relative abundance of Geobacter spp. in MFCs that were switched to complex substrates compared to MFCs that had been fed the complex substrates from the beginning of the experiment (wastewater-fed MFCs - 21.9 ± 1.7% Geobacter spp.; acetate-enriched MFCs, fed wastewater - 34.9 ± 6.7% Geobacter spp.; Synthetic wastewater fed MFCs - 42.5 ± 3.7% Geobacter spp.; acetate-enriched synthetic wastewater-fed MFCs - 47.3 ± 3.9% Geobacter spp.). However, acetate pre-enrichment did not translate into significant improvements in cell voltage, maximum current density, maximum power density or substrate removal efficiency. Nevertheless, coulombic efficiency (CE) was higher in MFCs pre-enriched on acetate when complex substrates were fed following acetate enrichment (wastewater-fed MFCs - CE = 22.0 ± 6.2%; acetate-enriched MFCs, fed wastewater - CE =58.5 ± 3.5%; Synthetic wastewater fed MFCs - CE = 22.0 ± 3.2%; acetate-enriched synthetic wastewater-fed MFCs - 28.7 ± 4.2%.) The relative abundance of Geobacter ssp. and CE represents the average of the nine replicate reactors inoculated with three different inocula for each substrate. Efforts to improve the performance of anodic microbial communities in MFCs utilizing complex organic substrates should therefore focus on enhancing the activity of organisms driving hydrolysis and fermentation rather the terminal-oxidizing electrogens.
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Ikrema Hassan, Eltayeb Mohamedelhassan, Ernest K. Yanful et al.
Advances in Microbiology · 2016
Adilet Zhakeyev, Panfeng Wang, Li Zhang et al.
Advanced Science · 2017
One of the challenges in Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology is the improvement of the power output and the lowering of the cost required to scale up the system to reach usable energy levels for real life applications. This can be achieved by stacking multiple MFC units in modules and using cost effective ceramic as a membrane/chassis for the reactor architecture. The main aim of this work is to increase the power output efficiency of the ceramic based MFCs by compacting the design and exploring the ceramic support as the building block for small scale modular multi-unit systems. The comparison of the power output showed that the small reactors outperform the large MFCs by improving the power density reaching up to 20.4 W/m 3 (mean value) and 25.7 W/m 3 (maximum). This can be related to the increased surface-area-to-volume ratio of the ceramic membrane and a decreased electrode distance. The power performance was also influenced by the type and thickness of the ceramic separator as well as the total surface area of the anode electrode. The study showed that the larger anode electrode area gives an increased power output. The miniaturized design implemented in 560-units MFC stack showed an output up to 245 mW of power and increased power density. Such strategy would allow to utilize the energy locked in urine more efficiently, making MFCs more applicable in industrial and municipal wastewater treatment facilities, and scale-up-ready for real world implementation.
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Binjal Pradhan, Ranjan Pradhan
European Scientific Journal ESJ · 2020
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Constructed wetland-microbial fuel cells (CWL-MFCs) are eco-friendly and sustainable technology, simultaneously implementing contaminant removal and electricity production. According to intensive research over the last five years, this review on the operation mechanism was conducted for in-depth understanding and application guidance of CWL-MFCs. The electrochemical mechanism based on anodic oxidation and cathodic reduction is the core for improved treatment in CWL-MFCs compared to CWLs. As the dominant bacterial community, the abundance and gene-expression patterns of electro-active bacteria responds to electrode potentials and contaminant loadings, further affecting operational efficiency of CWL-MFCs. Plants benefit COD and N removal by supplying oxygen for aerobic degradation and rhizosphere secretions for microorganisms. Multi-electrode configuration, carbon-based electrodes and rich porous substrates affect transfer resistance and bacterial communities. The possibilities of CWL-MFCs targeting at recalcitrant contaminants like flame retardants and interchain interactions among effect components need systematic research.
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P Renganathan, Lira A. Gaysina, Cipriano García-Gutiérrez et al.
Journal of Xenobiotics · 2025
Over the past few decades, there has been a growing concern regarding the fate and transport of pharmaceuticals, particularly antibiotics, as emerging contaminants in the environment. It has been proposed that the presence of antibiotics at concentrations typically found in wastewater can impact the dynamics of bacterial populations and facilitate the spread of antibiotic resistance. The efficiency of currently-used wastewater treatment technologies in eliminating pharmaceuticals is often insufficient, resulting in the release of low concentrations of these compounds into the environment. In this study, we addressed these challenges by evaluating how different influent ibuprofen (IBU) concentrations influenced the efficiency of a laboratory-scale, integrated constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC) system seeded with Eichhornia crassipes , in terms of organic matter removal, electricity generation, and change of bacterial community structure compared to unplanted, sediment MFC (S-MFC) and abiotic S-MFC (AS-MFC). We observed that the addition of IBU (5 mg L -1 ) resulted in a notable decrease in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and electricity generation, suggesting that high influent IBU concentrations caused partial inhibition for the electroactive microbial community due to its complexity and aromaticity. However, CW-MFC could recover from IBU inhibition after an acclimation period compared to unplanted S-MFC, even though the influent IBU level was increased up to 20 mg L -1 , suggesting that plants in CW-MFCs have a beneficial role in relieving the inhibition of anode respiration due to the presence of high levels of IBU; thus, promoting the metabolic activity of the electroactive microbial community. Similarly, IBU removal efficiency for CW-MFC ( i.e. , 49-62%) was much higher compared to SMFC ( i.e. , 29-42%), and AS-MFC ( i.e. , 20-22%) during all experimental phases. In addition, our high throughput sequencing revealed that the high performance of CW-MFCs compared to S-MFC was associated with increasing the relative abundances of several microbial groups that are closely affiliated with anode respiration and organic matter fermentation. In summary, our results show that the CW-MFC system demonstrates suitability for high removal efficiency of IBU and effective electricity generation.
Rukayya Ibrahim Muazu, Jhuma Sadhukhan, S. Venkata Mohan et al.
Environmental Science Water Research & Technology · 2023
Bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) such as microbial fuel cells (MFCs) present numerous benefits for the removal and recovery of heavy metals from industrial and municipal wastewater. This study evaluated the life cycle environmental impact of simultaneous hexavalent chromium (Cr(vi)) removal and bioelectricity generation in a dual chamber MFC. Results indicate a global warming potential (GWP) of -0.44 kg carbon dioxide (CO 2 )-eq. per kg of chromium recovered, representing a total saving of up to 97% in comparison with existing technologies for the treatment of Cr(vi) laden wastewater. The observed savings in GWP (kg CO 2 -eq.) reduced to 61.8% with the removal of the allocated credits from the MFC system's life cycle. Of all the various sub-systems considered within the chromium waste treatment plant, the MFC unit and the chromium metal recovery unit had the largest impact in terms of GWP (kg CO 2 -eq.), non-renewable energy use (NREU) (MJ primary), and mineral extraction (MJ surplus). A statistical analysis of the results showed that an increase in chemical oxygen demand (COD) was associated with a reduction in GWP (kg CO 2 -eq.), NREU (MJ primary), and terrestrial ecotoxicity (kg triethylene glycol equivalents into soil (TEG soil)-eq.). The life cycle assessment (LCA) output showed a high sensitivity to changes in the materials and construction processes of MFC reactors, indicating the need for further research into sustainable materials for MFC reactor construction. The observed interaction effects of process variables also suggest the need for combined optimization of these variables. Analysis with other types of metals is also important to further demonstrate the practical viability of metal removal through MFCs.
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Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, FUENTES-ALBARRÁN María del Carmen, ALARCÓN-HERNÁNDEZ Fidel Benjamín et al.
ECORFAN eBooks · 2022