A Review of microbial fuel cells and their role in environmental pollutant removal

Emerging bioelectrochemical systems, microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been known to directly transform the chemical energy available in wastewater in the form of organic compounds into electrical energy via the metabolic activities of microorganisms. Electrogenic bacteria that have been found to play a significant role in the electron transfer to the anode as well as in starting electrochemical reactions are those of the Geobacter sulfurreducens and Shewanella oneidensis. Different forms of microbial fuel cells, such as dual and single chamber, have been engineered, with each having its unique strengths and weaknesses with regard to efficiency in removing the pollutants as well as power generation.This narrative review report involved a search through the databases of Google Scholar, PubMed, and SID and gathering and reviewing all articles concerning the topic of microbial fuel cells and their use in pollutant removal as of ۲۰۲۴. Recent research also reports that MFCs can remove a large variety of pollutants effectively, which includes but is not limited to heavy metals, recalcitrant organic compounds, industrial dyes, and pharmaceutical contaminants like tetracycline and naproxen.Along with these promising attributes, there are still several obstacles, such as low-density power, diminished performance under real wastewater, the high cost of the electrode and membrane material, and low biofilm stability, which still limits the large-scale application of this technology in industry. More studies involving the development of electrode materials and genetic engineering of electrogenic microbes would greatly improve the functionality of the system and would lead to the commercialization of the microbial fuel cell technology in the nearest future.

کلیدواژه ها:

Microbial fuel cells ، Shewanella oneidensis ، Biofilms ، Recalcitrant organic compounds