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Plant microbial fuel cells: A promising biosystems engineering

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  • Nitisoravut, Rachnarin
  • Regmi, Roshan

Abstract

Conversion of waste to energy via a biological process establishes microbial fuel cells (MFC) as a prominent source of sustainable energy. MFC has been investigated for bioelectricity production through organic degradation of wastewater by microbial consortium. The potential of MFC applications in biosensors, desalination and hydrogen gas production has been explored. Many descendants of an MFC have been developed in recent years based upon the configurations, structures and purposes such as sediment MFC, mud MFC, soil MFC, constructed wetland MFC, photosynthetic MFC and biovolt-photogalvanic MFC. A plant microbial fuel cell (PMFC) is a promising modification of MFC that exercises the unique plant-microbe relationship at the rhizosphere region of a plant and converts solar energy into bioelectricity. In-situ bioelectricity and biomass production, rather than the supply of external substrates, make this technology different from traditional MFCs. Thus, designing and understanding PMFCs should be viewed from a biosystems engineering perspective rather than only through MFC methodology. Plant-microbe harmony at the soil interface, driven by rhizodeposition coupled with efficient engineering, ultimately directs towards its real applications. Thus, this paper reviews three main paradigms. Firstly, effects of plants in PMFC via rhizodeposition and photosynthetic activity are explored. Secondly, the role of microbes driven by soil physiochemical and biological characteristics are shown. Thirdly, the engineering aspects involved in designing an efficient configuration are revealed and an attempt is made to interpret the PMFC with biosystems principles. Furthermore, an overview of a PMFC system is done, along with the future perspectives and challenges.

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  • Nitisoravut, Rachnarin & Regmi, Roshan, 2017. "Plant microbial fuel cells: A promising biosystems engineering," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 81-89.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:76:y:2017:i:c:p:81-89
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.064
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wetser, Koen & Sudirjo, Emilius & Buisman, Cees J.N. & Strik, David P.B.T.B., 2015. "Electricity generation by a plant microbial fuel cell with an integrated oxygen reducing biocathode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 151-157.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ziyang Guo & Yongjun Sun & Shu-Yuan Pan & Pen-Chi Chiang, 2019. "Integration of Green Energy and Advanced Energy-Efficient Technologies for Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-29, April.
    2. Rusyn, Iryna, 2021. "Role of microbial community and plant species in performance of plant microbial fuel cells," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. Van Limbergen, T. & Bonné, R. & Hustings, J. & Valcke, R. & Thijs, S. & Vangronsveld, J. & Manca, J.V., 2022. "Plant microbial fuel cells from the perspective of photovoltaics: Efficiency, power, and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    4. Kabutey, Felix Tetteh & Zhao, Qingliang & Wei, Liangliang & Ding, Jing & Antwi, Philip & Quashie, Frank Koblah & Wang, Weiye, 2019. "An overview of plant microbial fuel cells (PMFCs): Configurations and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 402-414.
    5. Apollon, Wilgince & Kamaraj, Sathish-Kumar & Silos-Espino, Héctor & Perales-Segovia, Catarino & Valera-Montero, Luis L. & Maldonado-Ruelas, Víctor A. & Vázquez-Gutiérrez, Marco A. & Ortiz-Medina, Raúl, 2020. "Impact of Opuntia species plant bio-battery in a semi-arid environment: Demonstration of their applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    6. Zhang, Ying & Liu, Mengmeng & Zhou, Minghua & Yang, Huijia & Liang, Liang & Gu, Tingyue, 2019. "Microbial fuel cell hybrid systems for wastewater treatment and bioenergy production: Synergistic effects, mechanisms and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 13-29.
    7. Ong, Samuel & Al-Othman, Amani & Tawalbeh, Muhammad, 2023. "Emerging technologies in prognostics for fuel cells including direct hydrocarbon fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    8. Dziegielowski, Jakub & Metcalfe, Benjamin & Villegas-Guzman, Paola & Martínez-Huitle, Carlos A. & Gorayeb, Adryane & Wenk, Jannis & Di Lorenzo, Mirella, 2020. "Development of a functional stack of soil microbial fuel cells to power a water treatment reactor: From the lab to field trials in North East Brazil," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).

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