Microalgae fuel cell for wastewater treatment: Recent advances and challenges

Electricity generation from wastewater using a microalgae-based microbial fuel cell (MFC) has captured a lot of attention from researchers these days. Microalgae-microbial fuel cell (m-MFC) is a device that can overcome the problem of fossil-fuel depletion and environmental pollution by generating electrical energy from wastewater and sunlight. Sustainable applications of the microalgae-based microbial fuel cells are not only reliable for wastewater treatment and bio-electricity generation but also versatile in the field of bio-hydrogen energy production, eco-friendly solution of desalination, and carbon sequestration. In this review article, we have summarized the mechanism and operational configuration of the microbial fuel cell using an anode chamber, a cathode chamber, and a separation membrane. The technological advancement of photosynthetic microalgae in the microbial fuel cell for energy production and wastewater treatment has been explored. The use of microalgae species such as the anode and cathode is also conferred with the resulting power densities. The challenges and possible solutions of the microalgae-microbial fuel cells in integrated energy production systems with wastewater treatment have been discussed for potential industrialization.