TY - JOUR
T1 - Techno-productive potential of photosynthetic microbial fuel cells through different configurations
AU - Elmekawy, Ahmed
AU - Hegab, Hanaa M.
AU - Vanbroekhoven, Karolien
AU - Pant, Deepak
PY - 2014/11
Y1 - 2014/11
N2 - The shortage of sustainable energy and the extensive environmental pollution along with the global warming effect caused by CO2 emissions are major problems facing the world today. The use of microalgae to overcome these problems has gained enormous research interests in recent years, primarily due to their ability to convert CO2 by photosynthesis into potential biomass. The merging of such phototrophic organisms into microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is an interesting option since they can act as efficient in situ oxygenators, thus facilitating the cathodic reaction of photosynthetic microbial fuel cells (PMFCs). Also, microalgae can support the efficient removal of phosphorus and nitrogen, as the MFC technology cannot stand-up alone in this field. But such PMFC configurations does possess several challenges, among which PMFC design, output current and sustainability are the major bottlenecks encountering large scale implementation for electricity generation in a cost-effective way. This review goes beyond previous research work by providing not only a detailed update on the current PMFC configurations, but also the critical operational parameters of PMFC, with a scope that extends to cover all types of direct or indirect integration of phototrophic microbes within MFC technology.
AB - The shortage of sustainable energy and the extensive environmental pollution along with the global warming effect caused by CO2 emissions are major problems facing the world today. The use of microalgae to overcome these problems has gained enormous research interests in recent years, primarily due to their ability to convert CO2 by photosynthesis into potential biomass. The merging of such phototrophic organisms into microbial fuel cells (MFCs) is an interesting option since they can act as efficient in situ oxygenators, thus facilitating the cathodic reaction of photosynthetic microbial fuel cells (PMFCs). Also, microalgae can support the efficient removal of phosphorus and nitrogen, as the MFC technology cannot stand-up alone in this field. But such PMFC configurations does possess several challenges, among which PMFC design, output current and sustainability are the major bottlenecks encountering large scale implementation for electricity generation in a cost-effective way. This review goes beyond previous research work by providing not only a detailed update on the current PMFC configurations, but also the critical operational parameters of PMFC, with a scope that extends to cover all types of direct or indirect integration of phototrophic microbes within MFC technology.
KW - Bioelectricity
KW - Microalgae
KW - Microbial solar cell
KW - Photosynthetic microbial fuel cell
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905683196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.116
DO - 10.1016/j.rser.2014.07.116
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84905683196
SN - 1364-0321
VL - 39
SP - 617
EP - 627
JO - Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
JF - Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews
ER -