Algal-assisted Microbial Fuel Cell for Wastewater Treatment and Bioelectricity Generation

Abstract

The aim of the present work was to design a self-sustainable, low-cost microbial fuel cell using a blue green algae-assisted cathode as a substitute for chemical oxidant. The idea was to utilize the oxygen produced during photosynthesis by algae as an oxidant in the cathode chamber. Results successfully demonstrated that the algae-assisted microbial fuel cell is efficient for electricity generation and chemical oxygen demand removal from wastewater. The performance of a developed microbial fuel cell resulted in a maximum current density of 149.5 mA m(-2) and power density of 78.12 mW m(-2). Dissolved oxygen concentration in cathode solution achieved in the range of 3.5 to 5.5 mg l(-1). Furthermore, other species of algae like oil-algae can be grown in a cathode chamber, which can be used for bio-diesel production and greenhouse gas like CO2 sequestering. Further works are under progress on this aspect in our research group.