Electro-Fermentation Technology: Synthesis of Chemicals and Biofuels

Abstract

Electro-fermentation (EF) is a hybrid technique that is a fusion of two concepts of the electrochemical cell and biochemical reactions in microbes. EF allows us to electrochemically regulate microbial fermentative metabolism in a bioreactor under the influence of electric potential. With these controls at hand, if one carefully selects a suitable substrate, fermenter, and exploits the knowledge of reactions metabolic pathways or metabolic flux, target products in significant titer can be produced. Such interactions in the EF process improve the electro-catalytic rate, subsequently resulting in increases in the quality and biomass of the product. EF can provide us better control over pH irregularities and redox states. Therefore, EF promises significant advancement in the synthesis of many value-added chemicals, including biofuels. EF significantly reduces the carbon footprint as it is a sustainable process and avoids the release of harmful wastes or chemicals into the environment, unlike typical chemical processes. Although very few such EF processes have been upscaled to pilot or an industrial scale and achieve good system efficiency, it still offers great scope for further optimization and development. This chapter explores mechanisms of electro-fermentation, various types of electro-fermentation systems, substrates, and processes involved in the synthesis of different chemicals and biofuels.