Recent Advances on the Development of Functional Materials in Microbial Fuel Cells: From Fundamentals to Challenges and Outlooks

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs), as a sustainable and promising technology to solve both environmental pollution and energy shortage, have captured tremendous attention. The conversion efficiency of chemical energy contained in organic waste or wastewater to electricity via microbial metabolism strongly depends on the performance of each functional unit, including the anode, cathode and separator/membrane used in MFCs. Therefore, significant attention has been paid toward developing advanced functional materials to enhance the performance of each unit or provide new featured functions. This review paper provides a comprehensive review on recent achievements and advances in the modification and development of functional materials for MFC systems, including 1) the development of functional anode materials for enhanced microbial compatibilities as well as electron transfer capabilities, 2) the development of cost‐effective separators/membranes such as ion exchange membrane, porous membrane, polymer electrolyte membrane and composite membrane, and 3) the development of functional cathode catalysts to decrease the over‐potential and enhance the electrocatalytic efficiency for oxygen reduction reaction in order to substitute the common costly Pt catalyst. The challenges and outlooks of functional materials for MFC applications are also discussed.

Functional Nanomaterial‐Modified Anodes in Microbial Fuel Cells: Advances and Perspectives

“…Over the past two decades, scientists have proposed anode surface modification strategy to improve the MFC performance and have been committed to developing new anode materials that can generate higher power output. [27] Varies materials have been applied as electrodes in MFCs, mainly in consideration of their electrical conductivity, specific surface area, porosity, biocompatibility, anticorrosive property, mechanical strength, toughness, cost and so on. [28] However, the conductivity of the traditional carbonaceous electrode is relatively poor and the exoelectrogens amount adhered on the surface of the unmodified naked carbon electrode has reached the maximum limit.…”

Iron Oxide Anchored on Porous Carbon Derived from Metal–Organic Frameworks as an Efficient Catalyst toward In Situ Generation of H2O2 and a Hydroxyl Radical for Methylene Blue Degradation in Microbial Fuel Cells

“…There have been studies on microbial fuel cells (MFCs) for treating high-concentration organic dyes, which are environmental friendly and low-energy consuming. However, dyes directly mixed with microorganisms can poison them. , It is also possible that dye decolorization would be accompanied by the production of new intermediate products, which would inhibit microorganism activity and reduce the efficiency of dye removal.…”

“…However, dyes directly mixed with microorganisms can poison them. 2,3 It is also possible that dye decolorization would be accompanied by the production of new intermediate products, which would inhibit microorganism activity and reduce the efficiency of dye removal.…”

Three‐Dimensional N‐Doped Carbon Nanotube/Graphene Composite Aerogel Anode to Develop High‐Power Microbial Fuel Cell

“…[17] Therefore, the anode should be reasonably designed to have lower internal resistance and as much space as possible for the electrochemically active bacteria to attach, grow, and improve the transfer process of extracellular electrons. [17,18] Although previous studies have significantly enhanced the performance of two-dimensional (2D) carbon material anodes, [14,19,20] the shortcomings of 2D anode materials are still obvious.…”

“…Carbon nanotube (CNT) materials are one of the most superior nanostructured carbonaceous materials due to their outstanding electron conductivity, [25] excellent chemical stability, and high affinity with electroactive bacteria. [18,26,27] For many electrocatalytic reactions, including reactions of electron mediators produced by bacteria, the CNTs always exhibit outstanding direct electrochemical performance. [28,29] A previous study has shown that incorporating multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) into carbon-based aerogel can greatly avoid the distortion of porous structure and form a hierarchical structure.…”