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Scientific Article details

Title Recent progress in microbial fuel cells using substrates from diverse sources
ID_Doc 14709
Authors Sonawane, JM; Mahadevan, R; Pandey, A; Greener, J
Title Recent progress in microbial fuel cells using substrates from diverse sources
Year 2022
Published Heliyon, 8, 12
DOI 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12353
Abstract Increasing untreated environmental outputs from industry and the rising human population have increased the burden of wastewater and other waste streams on the environment. The most prevalent wastewater treatment methods include the activated sludge process, which requires aeration and is, therefore, energy and cost-intensive. The current trend towards a circular economy facilitates the recovery of waste materials as a resource. Along with the amount, the complexity of wastewater is increasing day by day. Therefore, wastewater treatment processes must be transformed into cost-effective and sustainable methods. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) use electroactive microbes to extract chemical energy from waste organic molecules to generate electricity via waste treatment. This review focuses use of MFCs as an energy converter using wastewater from various sources. The different substrate sources that are evaluated include industrial, agricultural, domestic, and pharmaceutical types. The article also highlights the effect of operational parameters such as organic load, pH, current, and concentration on the MFC output. The article also covers MFC functioning with respect to the substrate, and the associated per-formance parameters, such as power generation and wastewater treatment matrices, are given. The review also illustrates the success stories of various MFC configurations. We emphasize the significant measures required to fill in the gaps related to the effect of substrate type on different MFC configurations, identification of microbes for use as biocatalysts, and development of biocathodes for the further improvement of the system. Finally, we shortlisted the best performing substrates based on the maximum current and power, Coulombic efficiency, and chemical oxygen demand removal upon the treatment of substrates in MFCs. This information will guide in-dustries that wish to use MFC technology to treat generated effluent from various processes.
Author Keywords Microbial fuel cells; Wastewater treatment; Substrate; Coulombic efficiency; Chemical oxygen demand
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:000904100300013
WoS Category Multidisciplinary Sciences
Research Area Science & Technology - Other Topics
PDF https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12353
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