Investigation on Microbial Fuel Cells Fabricated from Recyclable Materials for Energy Generation and Wastewater Treatment

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) have gained focus due to their diversity in operating conditions & substrates for the generation of sustainable green energy. In the present study, novel MFC has been fabricated using the recyclable aluminum can as air-cathode and graphite rod as anode for the treatment of domestic wastewater and simultaneous power generation. Three different substrate (COD) concentrations, high (>800 mg.L-1), medium (250 mg.L-1 - 800 mg.L-1) and low (<250 mg.L-1) were used. The maximum COD removal efficiencies, voltage generation, power densities were found to be 80%, 0.71 V, and 304.46 mW.m-2 respectively in high strength wastewater setup. In both medium and low strength wastewater setups, after 288 hours, the COD was reduced below 50 mg.L-1 thus limiting the electricity generation substantially. Setup with low-strength wastewater produced a maximum CE (%) of 13.80. Overall results showed that although high-strength wastewater produced better and maximum power densities, medium and low-strength wastewater setups were more consistent in energy generation throughout the experiment.

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Sustainable approach for wastewater treatment using microbial fuel cells and green energy generation - A comprehensive review

Journal of Molecular Liquids ◽

10.1016/j.molliq.2021.117795 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 117795

Author(s):

Shahjalal Khandaker ◽

Sudipto Das ◽

Md. Tofazzal Hossain ◽

Aminul Islam ◽

Mohammad Raza Miah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Fuel Cells ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Generation ◽

Green Energy ◽

Comprehensive Review

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Green Energy Generation from Microbial Fuel Cells

Handbook of Ecomaterials ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-68255-6_195 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 1207-1220

Author(s):

Leena Hublikar ◽

Sharanabasava V. Ganachari ◽

Jayachandra S. Yaradoddi

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Generation ◽

Green Energy

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Cattle manure management using microbial fuel cells for green energy generation

Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining ◽

10.1002/bbb.2293 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zainab Syed ◽

Kumar Sonu ◽

Monika Sogani

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Generation ◽

Green Energy ◽

Cattle Manure ◽

Manure Management

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Bio‐electrochemical evaluation of two stage constructed wetland microbial fuel cells with high strength raw domestic wastewater and simultaneous energy recovery

Water and Environment Journal ◽

10.1111/wej.12714 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Somil Thakur ◽

Bhaskar Das

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Constructed Wetland ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Recovery ◽

Domestic Wastewater ◽

High Strength ◽

Two Stage ◽

Electrochemical Evaluation

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Green energy generation from plant microbial fuel cells (PMFC) using compost and a novel clay separator

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments ◽

10.1016/j.seta.2017.05.001 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 21 ◽

pp. 59-66 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

A. Carmalin Sophia ◽

S. Sreeja

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Generation ◽

Green Energy

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Performance of microbial fuel cells on removal of metronidazole

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2013.541 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 68 (12) ◽

pp. 2599-2604 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Hong Song ◽

Wei Guo ◽

Menglin Liu ◽

Jianhui Sun

Keyword(s):

Wastewater Treatment ◽

Fuel Cells ◽

Microbial Fuel Cells ◽

Energy Generation ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Extensive Investigation ◽

Current Generation ◽

Renewable Energy Generation ◽

Power Densities ◽

Concentration Levels

The microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are the focus of extensive investigation as one of the promising technologies for renewable energy generation and wastewater treatment. Two-chambered MFCs were designed to investigate the removal of metronidazole and to quantify the effect of antibiotic on the efficacy of energy generation. Using 1,000 mg glucose L−1 containing different concentrations of metronidazole (0, 10, 30, 50 mg L−1) as the fuels, the corresponding power densities were 141.94, 99.23, 25.44, 16.26 mW m−2, respectively. The adverse effect on the performance of the MFCs was reversible. The removal of metronidazole achieved 85.4% within 24 hours in MFCs, while only 35.2% in open circuit. Current generation could account for the improved removal efficiency at these tested concentration levels. The findings of this paper indicated that antibiotics such as metronidazole could be removed in MFCs, which has implications for general wastewater treatment.

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