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Biocatalyst physiology and interplay: a protagonist of MFC operation

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Abstract

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) have been foreseen as a sustainable renewable energy resource to meet future energy demand. In the past, several studies have been executed in both benchtop and pilot scale to produce electrical energy from wastewater. The key role players in this technology that leads to the operation are microbes, mainly bacteria. The dominant among them is termed as “exoelectrogens” that have the capability to produce and transport electron by utilizing waste source. The current review focuses on such electrogenic bacteria’s involvement for enhanced power generation of MFC. The pathway of electron transfer in their cell along and its conduction to the extracellular environment of the MFC system are critically discussed. The interaction of the microbes in various MFC operational conditions, including the role of substrate and solid electron acceptors, i.e., anode, external resistance, temperature, and pH, was also discussed in depth along with biotechnological advancement and future research perspective.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology (DST-SERB) for the financial support received under IMPRINT with grant code IMP/2019/000286.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, 826004, India

    Priya Mukherjee & Saravanan Pichiah

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand, 247667, India

    Gopinath Packirisamy

  3. Department of Environmental Engineering, Kwangwoon University, 447-1, Wolgye-dong Nowon-Gu, Seoul, South Korea

    Min Jang

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  1. Priya Mukherjee
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PS and PM conceived idea for the article. PM executed literature search and paper drafting. PS, GP, and MJ critically revised the work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript

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Mukherjee, P., Pichiah, S., Packirisamy, G. et al. Biocatalyst physiology and interplay: a protagonist of MFC operation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 43217–43233 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15015-w

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