Abstract
Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) are groups of bioelectrochemical technologies and platforms that could facilitate versatile environmental and biological applications. The performance of BES is mainly determined by the key process of electron transfer at the bacteria and electrode interface, which is known as extracellular electron transfer (EET). Thus, developing novel electrodes to encourage bacteria attachment and enhance EET efficiency is of great significance. Recently, three-dimensional (3D) electrodes, which provide large specific area for bacteria attachment and macroporous structures for substrate diffusion, have emerged as a promising electrode for high-performance BES. Herein, a comprehensive review of versatile methodology developed for 3D electrode fabrication is presented. This review article is organized based on the categorization of 3D electrode fabrication strategy and BES performance comparison. In particular, the advantages and shortcomings of these 3D electrodes are presented and their future development is discussed.
Highlights
The phenomenon that microorganisms could degrade substrates and transfer electrons from their central metabolism to the electrode was found more than a century ago [1]
A series of biotechnologies based on microbial electroactivity were developed and the corresponding devices are generally nominated as bioelectrochemical systems (BES) [2,3,4]
For systematically comparing various strategies developed for 3D electrode construction, we classified the methods reported by the literature into four groups: packed bed and brush electrodes; 3D matrix fabricated on 2D electrodes; monolithic 3D electrodes from 3D templates; and 3D bioelectrodes with hybridized biofilms
Summary
The phenomenon that microorganisms could degrade substrates and transfer electrons from their central metabolism to the electrode was found more than a century ago [1]. In addition to the general characteristics of electrode material, such as good conductivity, excellent longevity, and cost-effectiveness, additional requirements should be considered, which include good biocompatibility, large surface area, and suitable surface properties for bacteria attachment and electron transfer [45]. The planar structure of these carbon materials provides limits surface area for electroactive bacteria attachment and restricts efficient substrate and buffer diffusion. Different from the 2D electrode, a three-dimensional electrode with open macroporous structure provides a large surface area for bacteria attachment and enables the formation of 3D biofilm [54] Inspired by their distinguished advantages, 3D electrode materials attracted great attention for BES application over the last decade and impressive progress has been made. We hope this review article will provide a good summary for the scattered attempts contributed by the researchers around the world and be a meaningful reference for those who decide to continue the work in related areas
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