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Recent Advancements in Microbial Fuel Cells

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D2: Electrochem: Batteries, Fuel Cells, Capacitors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2023) | Viewed by 3140

Special Issue Editor

Department of Microbiology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630 003, India
Interests: bioenergy; microbial fuel cell; bioremediation; biomass

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The increasing environmental pollution, combined with the depletion of fossil fuels, necessitates the development of crucial energy solutions.

The MFC system is a developing technology, and researchers are working on improving many aspects of the system, from finding lower-cost materials and identifying the most effective microbes for the application.

Technologies based on electroactive microorganisms are still in a nascent stage, but as advances in materials development and our scientific discoveries of methods of electron transfer continue, it can be anticipated that the existing MFC technology can be further refined for new applications. The various factors and operating parameters must be technically evaluated in MFC for enhanced bioelectricity production.

Against this background, the present Special Issue is intended to gather a collection of research articles on “Recent Advancements in Microbial Fuel Cells”. Considering your expertise in this research field, I am pleased to invite you to contribute your manuscript (review/research article) to our Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Arun Alagarsamy
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • microbial fuel cell
  • bioelectroremediation
  • bioelectricity
  • electroactive bacteria

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2761 KiB  
Article
Performance Evaluation of Aquaponics-Waste-Based Biochar as a Cathode Catalyst in Sediment Microbial Fuel Cells for Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture Systems
by Kiran K. Jayaraj, Prakash Saravanan and Gourav Dhar Bhowmick
Energies 2023, 16(16), 5922; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16165922 - 10 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 925
Abstract
The sustainable development of aquaculture faces a significant challenge due to the need for the frequent treatment of aquacultural waste. This research presents a pioneering solution by concurrently utilizing aquacultural waste to produce biochar and enhancing a sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC)’s treatment [...] Read more.
The sustainable development of aquaculture faces a significant challenge due to the need for the frequent treatment of aquacultural waste. This research presents a pioneering solution by concurrently utilizing aquacultural waste to produce biochar and enhancing a sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC)’s treatment efficacy for waste generated from the integrated multitrophic aquaculture (IMTA) system. The water quality parameters of the aquacultural pond water were analyzed, and synthetic wastewater was prepared to validate the system’s efficiency. Over a period of more than 50 days, the SMFC was operated and monitored, yielding an average chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency of 86.31 ± 2.18%. The maximum operating voltage of the SMFC reached 0.422 V on the 21st day of operation when connected to an external resistance of 975 Ω. A novel-activated aquacultural biochar catalyst was synthesized from aquaponics waste and used as a cathode catalyst, substantially improving the SMFC’s performance. Characterization studies demonstrated that the aquacultural biochar catalyst was an active electrocatalyst, accelerating the oxygen reduction reaction rate and leading to increased power output and overall efficiency of the SMFC. The SMFC utilizing the aquacultural-waste-based biochar cathode catalyst showcased the highest maximum power density, with a range of 101.63 mW/m2 (1693.83 mW/m3), and the lowest internal resistance, indicating superior performance. These results validate the reliability of implementing SMFCs in actual aquaculture systems. A novel modular design for SMFC reactor-assisted small-scale integrated poultry–fish culture systems is proposed for further practical application in real-life aquaculture settings. This research contributes to finding sustainable and effective methods for waste treatment for aquaculture, promoting the development of environmentally friendly practices in the industry. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Microbial Fuel Cells)
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11 pages, 2092 KiB  
Article
Electrochemical Insight into the Use of Microbial Fuel Cells for Bioelectricity Generation and Wastewater Treatment
by Asif Nadeem Tabish, Iqra Farhat, Muneeb Irshad, Muhammad Asif Hussain, Muhammad Usman, Tariq Nawaz Chaudhary, Yasser Fouad, Sohaib Raza, Waqar Muhammad Ashraf and Jaroslaw Krzywanski
Energies 2023, 16(6), 2760; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16062760 - 16 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1666
Abstract
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is anticipated to be a practical alternative to the activated sludge technique for treating domestic and industrial effluents. The relevant literature mainly focuses on developing the systems and materials for maximum power output, whereas understanding the fundamental electrochemical [...] Read more.
Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is anticipated to be a practical alternative to the activated sludge technique for treating domestic and industrial effluents. The relevant literature mainly focuses on developing the systems and materials for maximum power output, whereas understanding the fundamental electrochemical characteristics is inadequate. This experimental study uses a double-chamber MFC having graphite electrodes and an anion-exchange membrane to investigate the electrochemical process limitations and the potential of bioelectricity generation and dairy effluent treatment. The results revealed an 81% reduction in the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in 10 days of cell operation, with an initial COD loading of 4520 mg/L. The third day recorded the highest open circuit voltage of 396 mV, and the maximum power density of 36.39 mW/m2 was achieved at a current density of 0.30 A/m2. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analysis disclosed that the activation polarization of the aerated cathode was the primary factor causing the cell’s resistance, followed by the ohmic and anodic activation overpotentials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advancements in Microbial Fuel Cells)
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