Chapter 9 - Microbial Fuel Cell: A Boon in Bioremediation of Wastes

Abstract

The treatment of enormous amounts of synthetically generated wastewater is a major concern of every country and demands immediate attention worldwide. However, the expenses associated with the treatment of the wastewater via conventional processes such as physicochemical method are extremely high and therefore most of these methods are not feasible beyond laboratory scale. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of a technology for treatment of wastewater that is economically and practically feasible. The Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC)/Biological Fuel Cell (BFC) is one such technology, which is employed for the treatment of waste and concurrent production of electricity without the emission of greenhouse gases. MFC is a system which can use a wide range of waste as substrate and can convert chemical energy stored in the waste to electrical energy by catalytic reactions in the presence of microorganisms and in the process degrade the wastes into nontoxic form. The MFC has gained huge popularity and interest among researchers due to the three main advantages associated with it: first, the treatment of waste; second, electricity production, and third, carbon neutrality. In the present chapter we have focused about the dual purpose of MFC in electricity generation and bioremediation via the treatment of various organic and inorganic wastes. The chapter deals with various substrates, role of mediator, and microorganisms in MFC, along with its limitation and future aspects.