Microbial fuel cell-integrated wastewater treatment systems

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a rising technology developed based on microbe–electrode interaction for wastewater treatment and electricity generation. The technology has become more popular in the past few years, but it is still far from being used for the field application. The reasons behind its limited application are its scalability challenges such as internal and external resistance, size issues, and cathode challenges. Apparently, the simple design configuration of MFCs gives the possibility of integration into other technologies such as sediment MFCs (SMFCs), membrane biofilters, desalination cells (DS), and constructed wetlands (CW). The design suitability of MFCs with other technologies has steered MFCs into a successful integrated technology such as SMFCs, membrane biofilters-MFCs, DS-MFCs, and CW-MFCs. The integrated technology has so far achieved higher pollutants removal from the wastewater with simultaneous electricity generation.