Advancements in Microbial Fuel Cells

Dear Colleagues,

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) systems have attracted researcher’s attention due to the generation of energy (electrical energy) during wastewater treatment mediated by microorganisms. The increasing demand for energy and water reutilization has made this technology attractive for the treatment of wastewater streams containing organic pollutants and heavy metals, and more recently, this technology has been evaluated for its capacity to remove emerging pollutants (pharmaceuticals, personal and health care products, etc.). The study of microbial fuel cells has included the effect of different operational parameters on the performance of the system and the evaluation of different materials and configuration for the electrodes. The role of bacteria in MFCs has been explored in the anode (bioanode-based MFCs) and in the cathode (biocathode-based MFCs) for different applications. MFC technology combines the application of different disciplines: microbiology, chemical and biochemical engineering, electronics, electrochemistry, chemistry and biochemistry. Despite the efforts directed toward researching this process, to date, the same challenge remains, namely, the scaling up of MFCs for long-term operation within the wastewater treatment process (secondary or tertiary treatment) or as a stand-alone process for a specific purpose (the removal of a particular pollutant).

The Special Issue Advancements in Microbial Fuel Cells seeks high-quality research focusing on the advances in and applications of MFC technology. The contributions will include advancements in bioanode-based MFCs for the biodegradation of emerging pollutants and the effect of new biomass-based materials for anodes on the electron transfer process to the anode. Concerning biocathode-based MFCs, the contributing research will provide the latest progress in recent applications of this system. Studies focusing on the enhancement and long-term operation of MFCs are of high interest. Topics can include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Biodegradation or biotransformation of emerging pollutants in MFC systems;
• Removal of heavy metals in MFC systems;
• Biocathode-based MFCs;
• Novel materials for electrodes;
• Novel MFC configurations;
• Merging MFC technology with other wastewater treatment technologies;
• Elucidating microbial interactions with pollutants and electrodes.

Dr. Claudia Guerrero–Barajas
Guest Editor

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• bioelectrochemical systems
• bioenergy
• wastewater treatment
• biodegradation
• environmental bioremediation
• biomass reutilization
• nanomaterials