A Review on Development of Microbial Fuel Cell for Waste Water Treatment

Abstract

The world needs sustainable, efficient, and renewable energy production. With the current interest in alternative methods of energy production and increased utilization of existing energy sources, Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) have become an important field of research. MFC is a biochemical-catalyzed system which generates electrical energy through the oxidation of biodegradable organic matter in the presence of either fermentative bacteria or enzyme under mild reaction conditions. Bacterial energy is directly converted to electrical energy. To close the cycle, salt bridge is connected from anode to cathode. Present paper focuses on the development and performance based evaluation of a laboratory scale Microbial Fuel Cell. Electricity generation using organic matter from the wastewater as substrate is the prime principle of this particular cell. If power generation in MFC can be increased, this technology may provide a new method to offset wastewater treatment plant operating costs, with less excess sludge production.