Advancements in spontaneous microbial desalination technology for sustainable water purification and simultaneous power generation: A review

Population growth and rapid urbanization have put a lot of pressure on the already scarce freshwater around the globe. The availability of freshwater is not only limited but it is non-uniform also. Available desalination technologies help mitigate water shortage; however, these techniques are energy-intensive and unsustainable. Desalination technologies utilizing renewable energy and bio-electrochemical systems have been developed to achieve limited sustainability. With technological advancements, microbial desalination cell (MDC) has been developed which is capable of desalination, wastewater treatment, and power generation simultaneously. This review critically examined the performance of various MDC techniques concerning their stimulus parameters including COD removal, total desalination rate, total dissolved solids reduction rate, Coulombic efficiency, and power density. Limitations of MDCs have also been incorporated in the review. Work on MDC coupled with other robust desalination techniques offering advantages such as better desalination and more water recovery e.g. osmotic-MDC etc. has been included. Researchers have tremendously worked on MDCs with different electrocatalysts. Few of these are not sustainable and costly. Authors have reviewed critically with belief that it will pave a way for the commercialization of this eco-friendly technology.

Automated summary

Global population growth and rapid urbanization have increased pressure on scarce freshwater resources. Although existing desalination technologies help alleviate water scarcity, they are energy-intensive and unsustainable. Utilizing renewable energy and bio-electrochemical systems in desalination technologies offers limited sustainability, and advancements in microbial desalination cell (MDC) technology provide a more environmentally friendly solution for freshwater supply.