Microbial fuel cells: recent developments in design and materials

[摘要] Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are the promising devices which can produce electricity by anaerobic fermentation of organic / inorganic matter from easily metabolized biomass to complex wastewater using microbes as biocatalysts. MFC technology has been found as a potential technology for electricity generation and concomitant wastewater treatment. However, the high cost of the components and low efficiency are barricading the commercialization of MFC when compared with other energy generating systems. The performance of an MFC is largely relying on the reactor design and electrode materials. On the way to improve the efficiency of an MFC, tremendous exercises have been carried out to explore new electrode materials and reactor designs in recent decades. The current review is excogitated to amass the progress in design and electrode materials, which could bolster further investigations on MFCs to improve their performance, mitigate the cost and successful implementation of technology in field applications as well.

[发布机构] Department of Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai; Tamilnadu; 600025, India^1;Department of Mechanical Engineering, Marri Laxman Reddy Institute of Technology and Management, Hyderabad, Duindigal; Telangana; 500043, India^2

[效力级别] 机械制造

[关键词] Anaerobic fermentation;Complex wastewater;Electricity generation;Electrode material;Generating system;Microbial fuel cells (MFCs);Organic/inorganic;Potential technologies