Towards Bio-Hybrid Energy Harvesting in the Real-World: Pushing the Boundaries of Technologies and Strategies Using Bio-Electrochemical and Bio-Mechanical Processes

Abstract

Sustainable, green energy harvesting has gained a considerable amount of attention over the last few decades and within its vast field of resources, bio-energy harvesters have become promising. These bio-energy harvesters appear in a wide variety and function either by directly generating energy with mechanisms similar to living organisms or indirectly by extracting energy from living organisms. Presently this new generation of energy harvesters is fueling various low-power electronic devices while being extensively researched for large-scale applications. In this review we concentrate on recent progresses of the three promising bio-energy harvesters: microbial fuel cells, enzyme-based fuel cells and biomechanical energy harvesters. All three of these technologies are already extensively being used in small-scale applications. While microbial fuel cells hold immense potential in industrial-scale energy production, both enzyme-based fuel cells and biomechanical energy harvesters show promises of becoming independent and natural power sources for wearable and implantable devices for many living organisms including humans. Herein, we summarize the basic principles of these bio-energy harvesting technologies, outline their recent advancements and estimate the near future research trends.

The Use of Robots in Aquatic Biomonitoring with Special Focus on Biohybrid Entities

“…To ensure the power autonomy the robot is supplied with MFCs. MFCs are one of many types of fuel cells [1]. They rely on the anaerobic breathing processes of the bacteria present in anoxic sediments.…”

Freshwater organisms potentially useful as biosensors and power-generation mediators in biohybrid robotics

“…MFC are one out of three most leading types of bio-energy harvesters together with enzyme-based fuel cells and biomechanical energy harvesters (Afroz et al. 2021 ). These and other power cells have been used as energy supply for low-power microcontrollers and other small-scale devices.…”

“…Many other alternative MFC designs have been constructed with promising results, i.e. the rise of plant-aided MFCs opened a new field of research called "photo-reactor coupled MFCs" (Afroz et al 2021). This dynamic subject is being consistently refined and shows encouraging results for its future large-scale implementation.…”

“…Bacterial activity, and the electric current produced as a result, are inhibited by certain toxins or sudden environmental changes (Jiang et al 2017). Most commonly used electricity-producing bacteria are the Geobacter species (especially Geobacter sulfurreducens) and Shewanella oneidensis (Poddar and Khurana 2011;Afroz et al 2021). The concept of a self-powered biosensor opens the door to new possibilities for environmental control and will be implemented into the Robocoenosis biohybrid entity by constant monitoring the electric current and tracking its fluctuations.…”

Synergistic Effect of Carbon Nanotube Yarn Hybrid Energy Harvesters Based on Mechanical Stretching and Glucose

“…[7,21,22] To achieve high performance in vivo, researchers have studied hybrid energy harvesting approaches that combine multiple energy sources. [23][24][25] Hybrid harvesting affords a more stable supply of electrical energy from diverse energy sources as well as improved performances. [26][27][28][29][30] For instance, integrating BFC and MEH can supply a constant voltage continuously from glucose and a peak voltage from periodic or irregular mechanical stimulation.…”