Enhanced Electricity Generation and Pollutant Degradation by Hybrid Photoelectrochemical and Microbial Fuel Cells

A hybrid photoelectrochemical and microbial fuel cell (HPMFC) is constructed for simultaneous utilization of solar energy and bioenergy by installing a TiO2 photoanode next to a bioanode that shares the same cathode in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Connecting the photoelectrochemical (PEC) circuit results in enhanced cathode potentials for the MFC based on the differences in power output characteristics of MFC and PEC alone. The improved power production of the MFC is accompanied by a relatively small decline in the power density of the PEC, yielding an overall enhancement in power output for the HPMFC.