Abstract
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has attracted a great amount of attention due to its potential for organic and inorganic waste treatment concomitant with power generation. It is thus seen as a clean energy alternative. Modifications and innovations have been conducted on standalone and hybrid/coupled MFC systems to improve the power output to meet the end goal, namely, commercialization and implementation into existing wastewater treatment plants. As the energy generated is inversely proportional to the size of the reactor, the stacking method has been proven to boost the power output from MFC. In recent years, stacked or scale-up MFCs have also been used as a power source to provide off-grid energy, as well as for in situ assessments. These scale-up studies, however, encountered various challenges, such as cell voltage reversal. This review paper explores recent scale-up studies, identifies trends and challenges, and provides a framework for current and future research.
Highlights
Biomass energy and wood fueled the world economy for thousands of years before the industrial revolution [1]
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) utilize the metabolic energy of bacteria to produce electricity, whilst the bacteria act as a biocatalyst to oxidize organic and inorganic matters and produce electrons and protons
The protons are transported to the cathode chamber via the proton exchange membrane (PEM), and the electrons are transferred through an external circuit to a terminal electron acceptor in the cathode chamber, thereby generating power (Figure 1)
Summary
Biomass energy and wood fueled the world economy for thousands of years before the industrial revolution [1]. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is among the renewable and sustainable technologies that consume organic and inorganic waste to generate electricity, and it has been constantly developing in recent decades [5,6,7,8,9]. The technology was used and tested mainly for municipal wastewaters [10] and various industrial effluents [11], such as protein-rich wastewater [12,13] and starch processing wastewater [14] It was used as a power source to provide off-grid energy for remote system charging [15,16,17]. With regard to the sustainable potentials of MFCs, this paper reviews the recent scale-up MFC systems and subsequently identifies trends and associated challenges, lastly proposing a framework for current and future research studies
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