Journal
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
Volume 88, Issue 4, Pages 508-518Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/jctb.4004
Keywords
microbial fuel cells; biofilm; bioenergy; wastewater treatment; electron transfer; microbial electrolysis cell
Categories
Funding
- Natural Science Foundation of China [51178225, 21273120]
- Tianjin [09JCYBJC08000]
- Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China [20110031110025]
- SRF for ROCS, SEM [2009-1001]
- [NCET-08-0296]
- [GEFC09-12]
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Bioenergy is a renewable energy that plays an indispensable role in meeting today's ever increasing energy needs. Unlike biofuels, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) convert energy harvested from redox reactions directly into bioelectricity. MFCs can utilize low-grade organic carbons (fuels) in waste streams. The oxidation of the fuel molecules requires biofilm catalysis. In recent years, MFCs have also been used in the electrolysis mode to produce bioproducts in laboratory tests. MFCs research has intensified in the past decade and the maximum MFCs power density output has been increased greatly and many types of waste streams have been tested. However, new breakthroughs are needed for MFCs to be practical in wastewater treatment and power generation beyond powering small sensor devices. To reduce capital and operational costs, simple and robust membrane-less MFCs reactors are desired, but these reactors require highly efficient biofilms. Newly discovered conductive cell aggregates, improved electron transport through hyperpilation via mutation or genetic recombination and other advances in biofilm engineering present opportunities. This review is an update on the recent advances on MFCs designs and operations. (c) 2012 Society of Chemical Industry
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