Microbial fuel cells for sustainable energy and wastewater treatment: Integrating seaweed biomass, machine learning, and hybrid systems for enhanced performance.

Abstract

Seaweeds (SWs) have been widely used in food, agricultural, pharmaceutical industries, and biofuel production (especially biogas) and have been well-reviewed. Recently, emerging research has explored the SWs utilization in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for electricity production. However, no review provides a comprehensive scenario for SWs conversion in MFCs for biofuel generation. Thus, the motivation of this review is to provide an in-depth insight into the SWs utilization as anodic substrates, cathode oxygenators, and electrode modifiers. Strategies for integrating SWs-based MFCs with other systems have been discussed. This review also went one step deeper by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in SWs-based MFCs. Brown SWs Laminaria digitata (carbohydrates, 51.9%) showed potential as anodic substrate by achieving power density up to 120 mW m -2 , while green SWs Ulva intestinalis (carbohydrates, 55.4%) as cathodic photosynthetic oxygenation enhanced power density up to 46.15 mW m -2 . SWs-derived biochar electrodes improve power output to 45.2 W m -3 . The co-substrates of SWs with protein and lipid-rich can be a potential approach for boosting electricity generation. The AI integration models (XGBoost and deep neural networks) might offer advanced optimization for operational conditions. Future research should focus on novel electrode materials and genetically engineered microbes to maximize electricity production in SWs-based MFCs.

Keywords

Identifiers

DOI

10.1016/j.biortech.2026.134281

PubMed

41747898

Journal

Bioresource technology

Year

2026