Microbial fuel cell: Waste minimization and energy generation

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have gained a recent attention as a mode of converting organic waste into electricity using variety of biodegradable substrate as fuel. Different designs of MFCs are available for different purposes, however dual and single chamber MFCs are common used for energy generation. Type of electrode materials, membrane, pH, electron transfer rate, reactor design and operating conditions affects the performance of MFC. Microbes actively catabolize substrate and transform their chemical energy into electrical energy. MFCs could be utilized as power generator in small devices such as biosensor, pacemakers and by doing small modification (Microbial Electrolysis Cell) can produce hydrogen a potential fuel in cathodic chamber. Besides the merits of this technology, it is still immature and faces practical limitations such as low power and current density. The construction and analysis of MFCs requires knowledge of different disciplines ranging from microbiology and electrochemistry to materials and environmental engineering. This article presents various aspects of MFC technology for proper understanding of the readers. This article present an extensive literature survey of some selected papers published on MFC technology in the last decade. Various practical solutions have been suggested to overcome the practical challenges of this technology.