Current outlook towards feasibility and sustainability of ceramic membranes for practical scalable applications of microbial fuel cells

Membrane cost, long-term stability, and sustainability are major concerns when selecting membranes in mi-crobial fuel cells (MFCs) for scaling-up applications. In recent years, efforts have been made to improve reactor architectural designs and to explore ceramic membrane materials, aiming to achieve techno-economical sus-tainability and efficiency. Furthermore, ceramics have recently emerged as low-cost separators, electrodes, and chassis materials for MFC applications. The introduction of cation exchange minerals into ceramic membranes promotes high proton transfer with improved membrane characteristics. High cationic transfer, proton exchange rate, stability against thermochemical conditions, structural strength to withstand high hydraulic load, and long-term stability with easy biofouling mitigation support the utilization of such membranes for scaling-up use. Successful field trials of Pee-power MFC, stacked urinal MFC, bioelectric toilet, and others showed the feasibility of ceramic membranes for practical applications. Therefore, this review emphasized the membrane character-istics, substantial effect of mineral additives, scaling-up applications, recent developments, and perspectives toward the practical utilization of MFC-based ceramic membranes.

Automated summary

When selecting membranes for scaling-up applications in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), membrane cost, long-term stability, and sustainability are major concerns. Ceramic membranes have emerged as low-cost separators, electrodes, and chassis materials for MFC applications. The introduction of cation exchange minerals into ceramic membranes improves membrane characteristics such as high proton transfer and stability.