Recent Advances in the Design and Architecture of Bioelectrochemical Systems to Treat Wastewater and to Produce Choice-Based Byproducts

Abstract

Production of valuable chemicals and fuels using bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) from low-valued solids, liquid, and gaseous wastes has gained enormous attention among scientific communities. For example, a microbial fuel cell can produce bioelectricity using wastewater as substrate in anode and oxygen as oxidant in cathode. Partial desalination of sea water can be achieved in microbial desalination cells using the potential difference between the anode and cathode as a driving force. More interestingly, the microbial electrosynthesis cell is capable of producing organic acids, alcohols, methane, and bioplastics using CO2 (a major greenhouse gas) as sole carbon feedstock. However, these technologies are still in the growing phase—mostly validated in lab-scale studies and, thus, yet to find position among field-scale prototypes. The fabrication details, main output, and various glitches during the bioconversion, where there is scope for further development, are outlined systematically. This manuscript provides a bird’s-eye view of all the different categories of BES, which will be helpful for the beginners of this field of research to understand the topic more clearly.