Fundamentals and Field Application of Microbial Fuel cells (MFCs)

Introduction of Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) technology has shown metabolic degradation of wide range organic substrates in wastewater and sludge. Intensified studies are geared towards elucidation behavior of bacteria in the process. This review presents the fundamentals of MFC technology and its application as power source for subsea and biomedical devices as well as biotreatment of wastewater. A wide variety of industrial, agro/agro allied and domestic wastewater as sources of organic and inorganic substrate is effectively converted to electricity with about 40-90% COD and BOD reduction, while achieving applicable power generation and Columbic efficiency. A good knowledge of the MFC is required for sustainable improvement of the MFC application.