Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 45 (2021) 101226

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Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/seta

Review article

Recent advancement in scaling-up applications of microbial fuel cells: From

reality to practicability
Dipak A. Jadhav a, *, Arvind K. Mungray b, *, Ambika Arkatkar b, Smita S. Kumar c
a
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Maharashtra Institute of Technology, Aurangabad, Maharashtra 431010, India
b
Department of Chemical Engineering, SV National Institute of Technology Surat, Gujarat 395007, India
c
Department of Environmental Sciences, J.C. Bose University of Science and Technology YMCA Faridabad, Haryana 121006, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In the current scenario, application of microbial fuel cell (MFC) is limited at laboratory scale for wastewater
Environmental electrochemistry treatment and energy recovery. Scaling-up applications of MFC are constrained with microbes-electrode in­
Field applications teractions, design aspects, electrochemical limitations and multidisciplinary approach of environmental elec­
Microbial fuel cells
trochemistry and biotechnology. For transformation of bench-top MFC models towards the field applications,
Scaling-up
scaling-up can be achieved by enlarging the size of electrodes and stacking of modular units. However, the is­
Stacked electrodes
Techno-economic assessment sues of maintaining the proportionate energy harvesting rate and voltage reversal need to be addressed. Present
review focused on scaling-up barriers and realistic status of MFC technology towards practical use as well as
techno-economic assessment of the system. Field demonstration of Pee-Power MFC, Bioelectric toilet and other
onsite applications for industrial use are key indicators of successful implementation of MFC technology for field
applications. With advancement towards practical use, MFC can be sustainable competent technology against
conventional technologies for wastewater treatment and energy recovery.

Introduction inoculum conditions [4], design aspects [5], wastewater characteristics

[6], operating parameters [7,8] as well as microbes-electrode interac­
In the present era, water and energy crisis along with disposal of tion [9] have been widely explored till date. In general, MFC is capable
industrial effluent is a major concern facing the current population in of providing effective and efficient solutions for wastewater treatment,
the world. Researchers are looking for an alternative means to address energy recovery, electricity production, contaminant degradation [10],
these issues and nowadays working on waste-to-energy recovery tech­ resource recovery [11] and as an external power source for operating the
niques to deal with such problems. Considering the application of bio­ different electronic sensors and appliances. However, low power output
electrochemistry in wastewater treatment systems, novel technology of and economical constraints restrict the application of MFC at laboratory
microbial fuel cell (MFC) utilizes the flexible platform of electro­ scale. Such constraints give directions to find out the low cost alternative
chemical redox reactions. Such a bioelectrochemical system is capable to electrode material [12], catalysts and membranes [13] as well as use
to produce bioelectricity from organic matter present in the wastewater of power management circuitry for storing the electric power in order to
/ substrate during effective wastewater treatment using microbes as make it competent with existing technologies.
biocatalysts [1,2]. Understanding of microbes-electrode interaction and At present state, several studies have enlarged the size of reactor
electron transfer in anodic chambers help to improve the rate of electron from 100 mL to 5 L, however, the power output has not increased pro­
transfer and hence, enhance the energy recovery from MFC. portionally with increasing the size of MFC. As with many other
Over the last 100 years of research on the MFC domain, the scientists emerging waste-to-energy technologies, scaling-up of MFCs is a major
were capable of achieving the power from nW to kW/m3 along with challenge, which is rooted in gaps between laboratory-scale setups and
effective treatment of simple wastewater to complex industrial effluents those in real field applications [14]. Field application of this technology
[1,3]. Different factors governing the performance of MFCs such as can be possible with increasing the size or dimensions of anodic

Abbreviations: MFC, Microbial fuel cell; COD, Chemical oxygen demand; PEM, Proton exchange membrane; PMS, Power management system; WW, Wastewater;
LED, Light emission diode; USD, US Dollar; ORR, Oxygen reduction reaction.
* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (D.A. Jadhav), [email protected] (A.K. Mungray).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101226
Received 31 October 2020; Received in revised form 30 March 2021; Accepted 2 April 2021
Available online 17 April 2021
2213-1388/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D.A. Jadhav et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 45 (2021) 101226

chamber/electrodes or connecting number of modular MFC units elec­ be varied as per the requirement and internal resistance distribution
trically in stacked arrangement in order to store the electric charges [18]. These models are useful when we are specially working on the
produced [1]. Such scalable architectural design of MFC requires inex­ optimisation of MFC parameters such as dosage of microbial inoculum,
pensive electrodes and membrane materials along with optimized temperature, retention time in the anodic chamber, flow rate of anolyte
operating conditions, stacking of electrodes, electrokinetics and micro­ or catholyte and other operating conditions. The design aspects of re­
bial interaction for achieving the high energy harvesting rate from the actors are very useful when the capability of microbial population is to
given substrate [15]. Additionally, stacking of modular MFC units poses be understood and the degradation of given substrate has to be moni­
problems of voltage reversal which need to be addressed using advanced tored along with electron transfer mechanism [19,20]. The lab scale
power management systems (PMS). MFC has some compulsory components such as anodic chamber,
The experimental studies carried out on the MFC technology are cathodic chamber, proton exchange membrane (PEM) that internally
increasing from the last two decades (denoted with bar graph on pri­ separates the two chambers and conducting wires that helps in joining of
mary Y-axis Fig. 1). It can be seen that from the last decade, the number two electrodes externally through electric load [2].
of publications on studies related to the ‘field implementation of MFC’ The popular and basic design of MFC is dual chambered reactor
are increasing gradually. The technology is on its way from laboratory to (Fig. 2(a)). The reactor comprises two chambers, anodic and cathodic
practical application. The various field possibilities such as ‘Stacked chamber; it harbours two electrode anode and cathode, respectively.
MFC’ and ‘Integrated MFC’ are gaining sufficient attention (in terms of The operating capacity of dual chamber MFC ranges from 100 mL to 5 L
increasing publications, denoted with reference to line diagram on [4,15,21]. The anodic chamber having an anaerobic environment is
secondary Y-axis Fig. 1). The number of publications related to scale-up possibly active sites where microbes degrade the substrate and produce
of MFC technology is constantly appearing in the different scientific the desired electrons along with protons. The preferred microbes in this
journals. At present, >12,000 research papers have been published as chamber are exoelectrogens, which are capable of electron transfer to­
per Scopus database (2021) focusing on different dimensions and as­ wards anode electrode [22]. The cathodic chamber has an electron
pects of MFC research; out of which less than 0.5% papers have elabo­ accepting catholyte which experts a required potential difference that
rated the scaling-up issues and challenges facing towards directs the flow of electrons from anode to cathode electrode. The
commercialization of MFC technology. Scaling-up application of this anolyte can be a wastewater of domestic or industrial origin and cath­
technology is constrained due to microbial electrochemistry associated, olyte is generally a buffer having a chemical electron acceptor such as
materialistic limitations, design architectures, microbes-electrode potassium ferricyanide, potassium permanganate, and others. The ex­
interaction as well as multidisciplinary approach of biotechnology and periments were also conducted using biological entities such as algae in
environmental electrochemistry [16]. The bridge between trans­ the cathodic chamber [23], and released oxygen during algal meta­
formations of laboratory scale bench-top models into field application bolism act as a natural electron acceptor. In photosynthetic MFC or
looks for more full-scale demonstration of MFC technology into field microbial carbon capture cells, algal biocathode was used for supplying
scale applications [17]. Present review article addresses the gap be­ the oxygen to improve the cathodic reduction rate and thus reducing the
tween scalability and reality of MFC research and approaches towards cost of external aeration along with production of algal biomass
industrial applications and gives a realistic picture of MFC system. It also [24–26]. Similarly, in plant MFC or constructed wetland MFC, plant
focused on scaling-up challenges and limitations of stacking of electrode utilizes photosynthesis mechanism to release the oxygen for reduction
assemblies along with the present status of MFC systems towards field reaction in the cathodic chamber and hence can be scalable for energy
applications. and nutrient recovery from wastewater.
The dual chamber designs are commonly used for pure culture mi­
Bench-top MFC studies crobial studies that target microbial isolation, microbial characteristic
studies and resources recovery experiments. The major drawback of this
The laboratory scale demonstration of MFC is also termed as bench- design is the maintenance of catholyte. The modifications viz. change in
top MFC. The architectural design is generally kept simple so that it can anode electrode material [27], isolation of exoelectrogens [28,29],

Fig. 1. Number of publications published in SCI journals from the last two decades (This was taken from Web of Science (01 March 2021) ’microbial fuel cell’
as title).

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D.A. Jadhav et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 45 (2021) 101226

Fig. 2. The pictorial representation of popular bench top MFCs (a) double chamber MFC, (b) single chamber MFC, (c) up-flow MFC and (d) membrane-less MFC.

understanding the electron transfer mechanism of exoelectrogens used regularly on the lab scale was developed from the popular upflow
[6,30,31], change in size of reactor, electrode spacing, change of PEM anaerobic sludge reactor (Fig. 2(c)). The design has a vertical orientation
[13], are experimented by many researchers worldwide for performance and the cathode electrode is open to air. The operating capacity of dual
enhancement of MFC. The challenges faced during the operation of a chamber MFC ranges from 18 mL to 2 L. The design is used to study
dual chamber design initiated the development of MFC design that has mixed culture inoculum, continuous feeding mode and degradation of
only one chamber. The researchers were encouraged to do structural wastewater [48–50]. The next level design of MFC is the membraneless
modification in the reactor design for development of a compact single MFC (Fig. 2(d)). The design was inspired by the single chamber design
chambered MFC (Fig. 2(b)). This design has no separate cathodic (Fig. 2(b)). The advantage of this design is the reduction of internal
chamber and catholyte. The inner side of the cathode electrode is resistances to the electron flow [51]. The design also has a varied vol­
physically in close contact with the PEM. The outer side of the cathode ume capacity but is used for diverse studies like biosensors to check
electrode is open to air, which is efficient for the development of po­ water quality or electron kinetic study [52,53]. The major challenges
tential difference that can regulate the flow of electrons. faced while working with this model is the fast or uncontrolled exchange
The operating capacity of single chamber MFC is smaller than the of ions and electrons with the liquid.
dual chamber and ranges from 18 mL to 100 mL [2]. The major draw­ The bench top MFCs are applicable for preliminary studies related to
back is the diffusion of air/oxygen in the anodic chamber that hampers optimization of governing parameters of MFC technology. The field
the growth of exoelectrogens. To overcome this problem, researchers are applicability of such design is not achieved successfully due to limita­
trying to implement the strategies such as experimenting the electrode tions such as small capacity of the reactor. The smaller capacity with
materials [12], gas diffusion electrode, coating of cathode electrode, respect to availability of feed leads to the generation of limited power
[32], membrane modifications, etc. Due to its ease of handling, the (Table 1). Though the lab scale MFC is able to treat different types of
design is implemented for testing of various variations at laboratory wastewater from distillery industry to municipal wastewater, the power
scale. Along with the physical parameters as stated above other chemical generation is restricted. The chemical energy stored in the wastewater is
reactions like study of oxidation reduction reactions (ORR) [33] and higher than the current generated by the MFC. Thus, the degradation
electron metabolism [34] studies are also carried out using these re­ achieved in the process is higher (above 90%) but the Coulombic effi­
actors. The reactors are also used for the stacking experiments [35,36]. ciency (the ratio between the total number of electrons theoretically
The small reactors were experimented for modifications such as com­ available in the given substrate versus number of electrons recorded
mon cathode, coating of cathode [46], membraneless arrangements across the resistor) achieved by the lab scale MFC is low (10–20%)
[47], etc. the optimisation still varies with respect to the strength of the [37,54]. There can be two possibilities in the designing evolution of a lab
substrate and capability of microbial consortia. The two designs scale reactor, it can be scaled-down or scaled-up with respect to the
described above are having horizontal orientation. The next MFC design working volume. There are successful experiments for the application of

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D.A. Jadhav et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 45 (2021) 101226

Table 1 Field application of MFC is restricted by several electrochemical,

Bench top MFCs treating wastewater and producing power generation. microbial, engineering design, environmental as well as economical
Configuration Wastewater Power Remarks Refs. limitations [59]. The main challenge is to bring this complex multidis­
(mW/ ciplinary bioelectrochemical system out of the bench top models and
m2) engineer practical feasible systems for bioenergy production at field
Dual chamber Distillery 124.03 • It can be clearly seen [37] applications by overcoming the existing limitations. To deal with per­
(7.27 L wastewater that the performance of formance variation under field conditions, scaling-up of MFCs need to be
capacity) bench top MFC having tested in order to get high performance and energy efficiency.
Dual chamber Cheese 46.00 varying structural [37]
(0.310 L whey (design, volume, etc),
capacity) and chemical (different Scaling-up challenges
Dual chamber Chocolate 1.50 wastewater [38]
(400 mL each industry characteristics) The field application of MFC is restricted by electrochemical, bio­
chamber) components directly
logical, economical, material science and engineering aspects, which
affects its performance.
Dual chamber Dairy 621.13 • The factors like [37] depends on design of MFC and operational conditions as stated below.
(2 L capacity) industry electrodes material,
Dual chamber Human 70.80 coating of catalyst, [40] Designing limitations
(1 L capacity) faeces microbial consortia
wastewater should be considered
Single chamber Biodiesel 2110.00 while understanding [39]
The scaling-up of any bioreactor is majorly restricted due to the
(20 MFC, 28 wastewater the performance of the major changes one has to incorporate in the designing aspect. The pa­
mL each) MFC. rameters of the laboratory-based reactor and a pilot/field scale reactor
• The membrane used in does not go hand in hand following the simple multiplication/ doubling
a bench top MFC also
rule of mathematics. The pilot scale MFC design faces limitations in the
plays an important role
in the overall form of choice of fabrication material (should sustain corrosion), elec­
performance trode material (it should be durable and sustainable, to avoid frequent
evaluation. wear and tear), connecting the conducting wires, connectivity with
Single chamber Brewery 669.00 • Each type of [37]
other amenities [35,60], etc. The operating condition should be taken
(0.1 L wastewater arrangement will have
capacity) its effect on the
into consideration at the time of designing of the reactor for example,
Single chamber Human 0.055 performance of the [35] control of flow of influent and effluent (values should be designed at
(130 mL urine reactor. proper location) and sampling or cleaning port, etc. The helical design of
capacity) • The bench-top MFCs reactor, hexagonal arrangement of MFC chambers, tubular flow design,
Single chamber Red wine 111.00 can be used as a single [41]
stacking arrangement of units are unique design variations for effective
(28 mL wastewater structure, cascade
capacity) structure or in the form designing of electrochemical reactors used in MFCs.
of stacking model. The performance of MFC mainly depends upon electrode surface
Single chamber Starch 239.40 • The power production [42] area, catalysts used, electrode material and electrochemistry supporting
(10 cm × 5 processing is limited but ‘bench the redox reactions, which is an important consideration for design of
cm × 8.5 cm) top’ is the only model
Up flow air Animal 2190 that allows researchers [43]
MFC [61]. Cathode electrode is one of the major governing parameters
cathode MFC Carcass mW/m3 to experiment with as it controls the cathodic reduction reaction and poor cathode kinetics
(1.2 L wastewater different parameters lowers the performance of MFC. Researchers have used various catalysts
capacity) and to understand the in order to improve the cathodic reduction reaction rate; however, the
Up flow Molasses 1410.20 bioelectrochemical [44]
electrochemical losses occurring at the cathodic side are still on the
anaerobic wastewater reactions properly.
sludge higher side and reduce overall voltage generation from MFC. Addi­
blanket (2.2 L tionally, dimensions of anode area: cathode surface area need to be
capacity) optimistically selected for estimating the effective anodic chamber
Up flow (1.1 L Coconut 254.00 [45] volume in order to accelerate the electrochemical redox reactions [35].
capacity) wastewater
Such anode: cathode electrode surface area ratio of 1 to 1.33 was ob­
tained to be most favourable for minimizing the ionic and species
optimised volume MFCs those can be stacked for achieving desired diffusion and transport losses in the benthic MFC [62]. Considering the
power output [55]. The miniature design of MFC faces changes in the poor cathode kinetics, equal or slightly higher surface area was provided
parameters like mass transfer, surface to volume ratio, power density, over anodic surface area. Also, higher population associated with the
etc. [56]. The scope of this review specifically deals with the scaling-up electrode surface, promoted by the lower volume of anodic chamber in
of MFCs and its implications, thus to avoid confusion the author in the which other microorganisms can compete for the substrate [58].
following text restricts the discussion of scaling-down of lab-scale MFCs Scaling-up of a bioreactor can be performed with enlargement of volume
in this paper. of anodic chamber or connecting several MFC units in electrically
stacked arrangement to store the charges. Considering the electro­
Need of scaling-up of microbial fuel cells chemical limitations, single chambered MFC having 2 L capacity (anodic
compartment) will be sufficient to recover the maximum current output
The transformation of lab scale MFC design and its findings towards of 0.75 A with ensuring the optimum growth kinetics of electrogenic
the on-field experiments does not follow the theoretical calculations. bacteria on the biofilm developed on anode surface [13,57]. Maximum
During enlarging the size of an anodic chamber, the power output does anodic chamber size in this study was evaluated based on the electro­
not increase proportionally [57]. On the contrary, with increase in chemical governing equations and Butler-Volmer modified equation,
anodic chamber size from 4 to 20 mL, the overall power output charge transfer modelling and Tafel analysis derived from limiting
decreased from 420 to 89 mW/m2 [58]. Based on increasing the size of current density as well as energy recovered from the MFC with Pt-
the electrodes, doubling the cathode size resulted in an increase in electrode materials were taken into consideration. To maintain the
power by 62% whereas doubling the anode size increased the power uniform flow of substrate in the reactor, the reactor geometry and
output by 12% in MFC treating domestic wastewater [3]. electrode spacing need to be optimized for minimizing the electro-
kinetic barrier.

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Operation and maintenance limitations Table 2

Performance of scaled-up MFCs cited in the literature.
Longevity of performance is a major challenge which resulted in Scaled- MFC configuration Power/ Major Findings Refs.
reduction in the performance of MFC over long term of operation. Such up MFC current
decrease in power density may arise due to increased growth of meth­ size output
anogenic population in the sludge and majority of substrate is utilized 2.08 L Urine treatment in 280 mW Direct deployment of [66]
for non-electrogenic reactions for methane production instead of har­ stack (15, 18 (Initial) MFC as power source in
vesting the charges. The change in the strength of wastewater due to modules) MFC 860 mW decentralized area for
(Final) onsite use
climatic variation can limit the power production of the MFC [63]. 100 L 36 MFCs (air 36 mW Septic tank waste [67]
Additionally, sludge biomass granules formed during the operation cathode, Aqueous) treatment and
become responsible for choking of effluent pipes as well as blackening of disinfection
tubing used for hydraulic connections [60]. Moreover, maintaining the 113 L Stacked 2.33 mW Long term operation and [68]
arrangement of PMS circuits
homogenous mixing in the reactor is difficult throughout the reactor
sediment MFCs
depth and over the period of operation, which resulted in an increase in 250 L Horizontal plug 116 mW Higher COD removal [69]
diffusion resistance. Repetitive of experimental results and repeatability flow stacked MFCs rate (79%)
mainly depends on microbial activities in the reactor, which creates 300 L 96 modular MFCs 200 mW Treatment of primary [70]
errors in estimation and variations in result outputs over repetitive effluent from WWTP
720 L Septic tank MFC (6 61 mW Onsite application of [71]
experimentation even with maintaining the similar operating conditions chamber) MFC for sanitation
[59]. 1500 L Bioelectric toilet 75 mW Human faecal treatment [59]
The complicated processes such as biological processes, microbio­ MFC (49 MFCs)
logical constraints, electrochemical challenges, economical limitations
and self-sustainability make the system complex and facing challenges
retention time, external resistance was evaluated in such ceramic based
for scaling-up [59]. The hydrodynamic limitations such as uniform
MFCs for treatment of synthetic wastewater.
substrate distribution in continuous system, flow pattern, laminar and
Bioelectric toilet MFC, based on treatment of human excreta waste
homogeneous fluid characteristics need to be considered while
implemented at IIT Kharagpur, was capable of treating human waste
designing scaled-up reactor design of MFC. Homogeneity of substrate
effectively, illuminating the toilet premises at night time as well as
flow can be monitored in MFC with providing external mixing, main­
allowing treated effluent for flushing and other reuse purpose. Suc­
taining flow distribution profile, baffle arrangement and altering the
cessful implementation of 100 L, 720 L and 1.5 m3 capacity bioelectric
flow velocity in the reactor. Apart from the above mentioned challenges,
toilet MFCs with hexagonal design and ceramic separator showed
the microbiological challenges to improve electron transfer rate, elec­
feasible and sustainable ways towards field application of MFC tech­
trochemical limitations, cost economics associated with electrode and
nology for sanitation applications with cost effective solutions
membrane material, system complexity as well as operational con­
[59,71,72].
straints at pilot scale reactors are numerous challenges that need to be
During stacked arrangement of a number of MFC units, there is a
taken care in future research studies [59].
need to develop an advanced power management system (PMS) for
amplifying the power output achieved from MFC to operate different
Scaled–up reactors and field approaches of MFC
electronic appliances. Simple PMS was developed by connecting MFC
output to a supercapacitor, to control and store the electrical charge. The
Scaling-up of MFCs is of urgent need and stacking arrangement of
advanced PMS was designed with use of capacitors, supercapacitors,
modular multiple units seems to be the effective solution with using
Joule-Thief circuit, metal–oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor
advanced power management system. Miniature design of 560 MFC
circuit, triode and other electronic accessories [73]. Such electronic
units was capable of producing power of 245 mW (6.8 W/m3) during
circuitry is useful for storing the charges during voltage reversal in
urine wastewater treatment [17]. The output power density was five-
stacked MFCs and amplified further to operate different electronic ap­
fold higher in comparison with that of 300 L stack design of individ­
pliances for onsite use.
ual MFC (1.3 W/m3) [64]. Modular concept of multi-MFC units is a
promising strategy for implementation in wastewater treatment system
Stacking up of MFCs and challenges
[55,64,65]. The enlargement of surface area of electrodes does not
necessarily increase the proportional power harvesting rate, because of
Apart from enlarging the volume (size) of the reactors, one of the
the higher Ohmic internal resistances coupled with such microbial
options to scale-up the electrochemical reactor is to connect the number
electrochemical technologies [60]. Initial results reported by the earlier
of modular MFC units into electrically stacked arrangements (either
researchers for the scale-up development of a cascade industrial MFC
series or parallel) (Fig. 3A) depending upon desired power output to
system started from laboratory scale and demonstrated the promising
operate the electronic appliances [74,75]. Modular design of multi-
results and are summarized in Table 2. Over the past 10 years of
electrode assembly along with electrical circuit for charge storage is
research, progressive scaling up of this technology has been carried out
one of the proposed models for stacking of MFCs in real field application
with few attempts to field applications of MFC for wastewater treatment
[55,75]. The resultant output power can be sufficient to operate the
and energy recovery (Table 2).
different electronic appliances and monitoring sensors of low power
UK scientist Prof. Ieropoulos and team developed the progressive
requirement. In stacked arrangement, internal resistance of MFC is
scaling up models of 330 L ceramic membrane based MFC followed by
limited by parameters such as transport, kinetic, and Ohmic resistance,
self-stratifying stacked membraneless-MFC for treatment of human
which had to be diminished to improve the output of current [76,77].
urine and tested at Glastonbury music festival. The first model of 330 L
Although scaling-up of MFC by stacking has been conducted, the
ceramic MFC based on Pee Power urinal was successfully deployed for
power density obtained is comparatively low, mainly due to the issue of
treatment of human urine [64]. This model was further developed using
voltage reversal and mass transport limitations [55,78]. Notably, charge
stacked arrangement of modular MFCs in order to provide an illumi­
reversal can instigate the reverse of one or more cells’ polarity, thereby
nation during music festival and capable of treating urine generated
limiting the overall performance. Such voltage reversal in stacked MFCs
from 40 individual users [66]. Longevity of the scaled-up MFC system
can be minimized by connecting the MFCs with similar behaviour/
for urine wastewater treatment was tested in ceramic MFC for long term
performance, adopting PMS and maximum power point tracking
operation. Effect of operating conditions such organic loading rate,

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Fig. 3. MFC as treatment option for industrial/domestic wastewater treatment.

circuits, maintaining uniform operation conditions in the reactor, technology will also be incorporated in a step-wise treatment process.
applying external current or interchanging the polarity [15,79]. So, it becomes inevitable to design an integrated-MFC set-up.
Apart from electrical stacking, hydraulic stacking of modular MFCs is The integration of MFC with other technology certainly makes it
an important design consideration for scaling-up of MFCs (Supplemen­ important to understand the complex nature of available substrate and
tary Material). In similar fashion, a number of MFC units can be coupled the microbial degradation kinetics. The effective work principle of any
together either in series or parallel connection of inlet–outlet ports (with treatment process depends on the microbe to food ratio but the quality of
or without sharing the electrolyte) depending upon substrate to be food and community of microbes is also an important parameter [80].
treated as well as wastewater characteristics. However, maintaining The complexity of available substrate regulates the growth of specific
uniform mixing patterns and homogenous conditions is a challenge in microbes in its vicinity, for example sulphur reducing microbes can be
order to achieve a flow distribution profile. found in the environment where sulphur is abundantly available as
Such uneven distribution of anolyte and sharing of an electrolyte can substrate. The occurrence of exoelectrogens is dependent on the sub­
cause substrate diffusion losses and resulted into increase in mass strate as well as the potential difference applied in the surrounding. The
transport losses and diffusion resistance. Depending upon the applica­ electrogenic enrichment and applied potential experiments carried out
tions, such losses during hydraulic stacking can be reduced with by the researchers support the above statement [81].
providing uniform mixing conditions, allowing stacks to operate an The popular integrated MFC system is constructed wetland inte­
intermittent semi-continuous mode, provide more hydraulic retention grated MFC and integration of MFC as a post-treatment or pre-treatment
time as well as permit uniform mass and species transport from one MFC option with the sewage treatment plant. The wetland is an old but
to another MFC. constantly evolving area of research. It treats wastewater by the course
of its movement through different levels of coarse pebbles or rocks. The
Integrated MFC: A biotechnology approach plants on the top most layer of the constructed wetland utilise the waste
flowing through the wetland bed and solar energy for their survival
The bioelectrochemical technologies which will be applied to work [82]. The plant roots and granules in wetland form a site for bacterial
in field conditions have to be a part of an overall treatment process. The growth which have symbiotic relationship with the plants and
scale-up experiments gave us an idea regarding the different practical contribute towards wastewater treatment and electricity production.
needs of the bigger MFC set-up. Microbial electrochemical technology The depth of wetland provides the much-needed anaerobic condition for
can be added to an existing working wastewater treatment plant the growth of exoelectrogens. The popular design of a vertical flow
(WWTP) as an additional or supportive amenity. The MFC technology constructed wetland is similar to an up-flow reactor (Fig. 2(c)). The
can treat/degrade the wastewater and produce energy, this basic anode electrode is buried inside the wetland and the cathode electrode is
concept is well understood to all the research community but when placed near the plant bed to facilitate the cathodic reduction. The eco­
applied to a real wastewater treatment plant, what will be the nature of nomic separators (PEM) such as ceramic, earthen or some time fine sand
food that will be supplied as a substrate for a MFC chamber? How can we and clay are used as separating material between anodic and cathodic
manage the existence of exo-electrogen in a continuous operating mode chambers. The most common plant used in the wetlands studies is Oryza
set-up? The wastewater treatment does not work on a single-treatment sativa. The use of terracotta membrane in MFC by Kumar et al. obtained
mechanism; it treats or removes many pollutants from the wastewater a maximum power density of 42.9 mW/m2 against an internal resistance
simultaneously. So, how will the MFC set-up help in enhancing the of 692 Ω [83].
treatment capacity of such a plant? Thus, it can be estimated that like a The electron transfer in such microbial electrochemical technology is
membrane filtration or moving bed bioreactor technology, MFC also complex. The interspecies electron transfer is common under such

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integration processes [84]. Though the process of electron transfer is not robot applications [95]. The first successful demonstration of a robot
yet completely understood for such systems, it is evident that both completely powered by stacked MFC (8 units) is Ecobot-I and more
electron transfers can be active as it has mixed bacterial communities autonomous behaviour with advanced robot as Ecobot-II with 8 MFC
with the chamber. The direct electron transfer might happen near the units with an operational cycle of 12 days [96]. All these examples of
anode electrode and mediated electron transfer may occur in the distinct autonomous robots operated by stacked MFCs, under the controlled
part of the anodic chamber [85]. The power production reported by the boundaries of the working environment, could be assumed to be ener­
studies through wetland integrated MFC is in the range of 0.175 to 55.5 getically self-sufficient as well as self-sustainable means to be utilized for
mW/m2 and the removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen or space applications, underground environment as well as remote
phosphorous is achieved above 90%. It is the mutual cooperation of both locations.
abiotic and biotic components [83].
Though the genetically engineered microbes are hardly applied in a Techno-economic assessment of MFC technology
field system, the study of biofilm, activity of microbes, etc. are not
explored facts regarding this integrated MFC. The mechanism of elec­ The techno-economic evaluation of any technology should be done
tron transfer and regulatory measures for any loss of electron can be to understand its impact on the commercialisation planning. The eco­
beneficial for the further development of this system. nomic factors such as the investment cost of the reactor includes cost of
electrode, membrane (if applicable), electrical connections, reactor
Application of MFC fabrication (building or purchase), coating applied on any of the elec­
trode, maintenance of reactor, etc. The technical aspects are generally
Industrial applications of MFC the treatment efficiency, time duration required for the treatment,
power production, production value of any by-product (if applicable),
In the past few years, MFC serves as a promising technology for etc. The technologies are compared on the above stated parameters and
wastewater ranging from single sugars to complex wastewater as well as evaluated on the basis of its applicability on the commercialization scale
industrial effluents. It provides a pre-treatment and post-treatment op­ [97].
tion in addition to conventional sewage treatment plants. It also pro­ The linear and circular, two types of models are generally used for
vides replacement with typical biological processes in wastewater the evaluation of the process. The linear models are applicable to sewage
treatment plant as represented in Fig. 3. Moving from the lab-scale to treatment plants where the treated water is released in the nearby water
commercialization applications, MFC proved as an efficient and effec­ stream. The treatment processes applied in it are both aerobic as well as
tive treatment technology for contaminant removal and treatment of anaerobic. The comparison can be done on the basis that the aerobic
industrial effluents such as textile, distillery, brewery, molasses, leather, process requires pumping of air and thus is not cost effective and
pulp and paper industries, dairy effluent, food processing industries, anaerobic process requires no extra energy input but takes longer
agro-waste, etc. After few successful attempts towards field applications treatment time. The integration of the MFC system with this plant can
in the past two decades, several industrial companies and start-ups came convert it into a circular economic model [98]. In this the MFC system
forward for onsite industrial applications of MFC for industrial effluent takes care of anaerobic treatment and directly produces electricity
treatment [86]. which does not require any down-stream purification like the methane
Emefcy, Israel based MFC-leading-developer SME company, devel­ gas produced in the regular anaerobic digester. The solid waste gener­
oped a trial run of 16 module MFC units for treatment of wastewater ated in the conventional treatment plant is converted into electricity in
from factories using carbon felt electrodes and permeable filter as a the MFC. Thus, generation of solid waste and economic cost of its
membrane [87]. The idea of harvesting energy from dirt proposed by disposal is also reduced.
Lebone Solutions company (USA) based on application of MFC for The capital cost of MFCs is very high compared to conventional
treatment of manure and graphite cloth electrodes [88]. Plant-e B.V. wastewater treatments and sometimes it is even 30 times higher [103].
Netherland based company developed and commercialized the tubular In Table 3 construction cost of various MFCs has been shown and in this
plant MFC and patented the tubular electrode assembly for plant-MFC major cost is due to membranes and electrodes. The cost of current
applications [89]. Such companies IntAct Labs LLC (USA), Hy-SyEnce collector, membranes and PVC chambers was 80% of the total cost in the
(USA), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (India), Tata Consultancy Services study by Liang et al. but it can be reduced to 40% by replacing titanium
(India) and few others are working on development and enhancement of mesh with stainless steel or similar cheaper metal mesh [100].
performance of MFC with utilization of novel redox catalysts and For example, Valladares et al. have reported 38% of total cost was
materials. consumed by membrane separator and for Ge et al. it was 60% [70,101].
The challenges in terms of operation and cost has given a setback to the
Real time applications and sensor-based applications development of MFCs, still there have been attempts to operate micro­
bial fuel cells at pilot scales to analyse feasibility of operating MFCs at
Apart from wastewater treatment and contaminant removal from large scales so that they can shift from lab or pilot scale to commercial
industrial effluent, MFC can also serve as an external power source for scale. Various pilot scale studies and their performances have been
operating different electronic appliances and sensors. MFC offers online shown in Tables 3 and 4.
and in-situ measurement of environmental water quality monitoring The technical performance of microbial fuel cells is optimized based
parameters such as biological/chemical oxygen demand, dissolved ox­ on COD removal, energy generation, Coulombic efficiency, hydraulic
ygen concentration, heavy metal dose, volatile fatty acids, toxicity
detection, gas detection, microbial activities estimation [90]. MFC also
acts as an external power source for operating the small electronic Table 3
sensors used for various applications such as photo-sensors, LED bulbs, Construction cost of various microbial fuel cells.
pH sensors, mobile charging, etc [91–93]. MFC Volume (L) Cost (USD) Refs.
The promising application of MFC technology is in robotics, by
1 dual chamber 10 1956.36 [99]
mimicking opportunistic behaviour of machinery and powered by en­ Single MFC 20 720 [100]
ergy stored in the organic matter of substrate through electrochemical 96 tubular MFC modules 200 6064 [70]
redox reactions [94]. Early stage developed Gastrobots utilized the en­ 18 stacked MFCs 600 3300 [101]
ergy harvested from a stack of fuel cells using E. Coli to charge the on­ 50 module MFC 1000 36,000 [100]
2 dual chambers in series 2000 288,910 [102]
board batteries for operating the various controllers and actuators in

7
D.A. Jadhav et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 45 (2021) 101226

Table 4
Technical performance of pilot scale microbial fuel cell.
Configuration of MFC Type of wastewater (WW) Volume (L) Anode Power density (W/m3) COD Removal (%) HRT * Refs.

Two chambers Artificial WW 50 Activated semicoke 43.1 >95 0.5 day [104]
Stack Artificial WW 72 Activated carbon 50.9 78–97 2 day [105]
Stack Brewery WW 90 Carbon brush 0.12 82.7 3 day [106]
Stack Swine manure 94 SS mesh 2 40 – [36]
Stack Municipal WW 200 Carbon brush 0.009 75 18 h [70]
Single chamber Municipal WW 250 Carbon brush 0.47 86 5 day [69]
Stack Municipal WW 1000 Activated carbon 7–60 70–80 2h [100]
Stack Artificial WW 1000 Activated carbon 125 80–90 2h [100]
*
HRT- Hydraulic retention time; WW- Wastewater.

retention time (HRT), output voltage and power density. There are many Conclusion
factors which affect the performance of MFCs such as type of electrode,
type of substrate, volume of the reactor and use of membrane. It can be The gap between practicability and reality of MFC technology
observed that the use of single MFC cannot meet the demand currently transformation lies in scalability of MFC either by enlarging the size or
but the stacking of MFCs can be a solution towards sustainable devel­ by stacking arrangements and are subjected to certain design and
opment of wastewater treatment. The stacking of multiple MFC modules operational limitations. The understanding regarding the microbial re­
can increase the cost of construction drastically if alternative cheap actions happening within a live reactor, is still in the initial stages and
materials are not experimented without compromising the performance much research has to be done for having a clear picture of microbial
of MFCs. activity in the scale-up reactors. The design of the rector can be mod­
Stacking can also lead to complexity in design and operation as well ernised for self-sustainable utilization and manage disturbances during
as maintenance, leakage, very high cost and sometimes decrease in the its operation. Scalability of the MFC has directed the research towards
power output because as the volume of the system increases the internal the modularity and stacking of small sized units in order to store the
resistances in the system, also increases obstructing the flow of electrons charges using electrical circuitry. Implementation of MFC as a compe­
in the outer circuit causing lower performance (Table 4). Thus, the tent wastewater treatment option can be successful at larger scales;
optimisation studies are very much required before moving out from the however, MFC is far away as to be utilized as an independent external
lab. The role of microorganisms is very important here as well as the power source. Application of MFC for industrial companies and in ro­
interaction between the microorganisms and anode. botics as well as biosensor use along with valuable resource recovery is
The size of the reactor/plant directly affects the cost of the treatment the key successive indicators for future hope towards the commerciali­
plant. The larger sewage treatment plant can be more beneficial on the zation of such complex bioelectrochemical systems.
economic aspect for example when a paper pulp wastewater treated at
smaller level (1200 m3/day, COD of 610–1116 mg/L) it cost ≤$ 312 per Funding
m3 at > 85% COD removal and increase in size (100,000 m3/d) made it
beneficial ≤$ 39 per m3 with same efficiency [98]. The MFC technology Grants received from Department of Science and Technology (File
has a higher capital cost which is estimated as Rs. 329,000 ($4386) for a No. EEQ/2016/000802), Government of India to undertake this work is
capacity of 1.5 m3 that can be used to treat septage wastewater and duly acknowledged.
generate electricity, ‘Bioelectric toilet’ [59]. The life span assessment
and the payback period of 10 years can prove the sustainability of this Author statement
technology.
All persons who meet authorship criteria are listed as authors, and all
Future perspectives authors certify that they have participated sufficiently in the work to
take public responsibility for the content, including participation in the
Till the beginning of the 20th century, MFC was looked as promising concept, design, analysis, writing, or revision of the manuscript.
wastewater treatment and explored different horizons in the context of Furthermore, each author certifies that this material or similar material
contaminant removal, treatment of industrial effluents. Further, it was has not been and will not be submitted to or published in any other
developed as a power source to enhance the energy production from publication before its appearance in this SETA journal.
MFC using different materials, redox catalysts and design architecture.
However, there is limited increment in energy harvesting rate from MFC CRediT authorship contribution statement
with increase in size of anodic chamber. Scalability of MFC was forced to
go in the direction of modularity and stacking of small sized units in Dipak A. Jadhav: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft,
order to store the charges using electrical circuitry. Moreover, such Writing - review & editing. Arvind K. Mungray: Conceptualization,
modularity and stacking of bioreactors resulted in voltage reversal and Writing - original draft, Supervision, Writing - review & editing. Ambika
ionic cross-conduction in electrolyte solution [107]. Few successful tri­ Arkatkar: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft. Smita S. Kumar:
als of MFC for wastewater treatment and applications in robotics as well Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Reviewing.
as biosensors are new hopes towards field applications in this bio­
electrochemical technology. Initial investment for MFC technology is on Declaration of Competing Interest
higher sider; however, over the life span of 20 years it will be compa­
rable with existing wastewater treatment systems. Also, MFC technology The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
can be integrated with conventional systems in order to achieve higher interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
contaminant removal and resource recovery from wastewater [108]. the work reported in this paper.
Application of MFC for industrial wastewater treatment and companies
coming forward for the implementation of biofuel cells into field Appendix A. Supplementary data
demonstration are key successive indicators towards practical applica­
tion of this technology [109]. Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.

8
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