Photocatalytic Microbial Fuel Cells and Performance Applications: A Review

Abstract

In recent years, photocatalytic microbial fuel cells have gradually become a hot research topic in pollutant treatment, using either in situ or indirectly the oxidation of organic pollutants by catalytic materials under light and the biodegradation and mineralization of various components in wastewater by microorganisms, or through the generation of electricity by the microbial fuel cell (MFC) system to promote the photogeneration and separation of electrons and holes by the catalytic materials of the photocatalytic cell (PC) system. This study aims to provide new ideas for the development of environmentally friendly wastewater treatment technologies by investigating the use of photocatalytic cells for the efficient degradation and resource utilization of target pollutants. This study aims to raise awareness of the use of photocatalytic microbial fuel cells for pollutant degradation by providing an overview of the practical status of photocatalytic microbial fuel cells. This is achieved by reviewing the key cathode development, production capacity, and progress in the degradation of pollutants in photocatalytic microbial fuel cells. The issues facing future developments are also discussed in terms of how photocatalytic microbial fuel cells work and how they degrade pollutants. This study shows that photocatalytic microbial fuel cells are beneficial for achieving renewable energy (bioenergy, photovoltaic, etc.) capacity and dealing with environmental pollution and that this is a novel technology that deserves to be promoted to achieve the current dual carbon targets.

Critical assessment of advanced oxidation processes and bio-electrochemical integrated systems for removing emerging contaminants from wastewater

“…Together with the various technical challenges, long term stability and higher cost, which includes the fabrication and equipment maintenance, are also an additional burden that influences the overall cost of the system. 165 Hence, future endeavor on enlarging P-MFC prototypes is necessary for bringing forward photo-driven BESs for contaminant remediation. Furthermore, retrofitting AOPs in a BES can have an induced effect on the biotic components of the coupled reactor.…”

Strategies for Enhancing Extracellular Electron Transfer in Environmental Biotechnology: A Review

“…The cathode reaction barrier can be effectively reduced by the activation of the biocathode reaction through the amalgamation of visible light as an energy source. The biocathode can use the difference in voltage between the anode and the cathode to make it easier to separate photogenerated hole/electron pairs [131]. The study conducted by [132], involved the design and testing of an aircathode MFC-adsorption hybrid system, which utilized an earthen pot.…”