The Potential of Microbial Fuel Cells for Remediation of Heavy Metals from Soil and Water—Review of Application

Abstract

The global energy crisis and heavy metal pollution are the common problems of the world. It is noted that the microbial fuel cell (MFC) has been developed as a promising technique for sustainable energy production and simultaneously coupled with the remediation of heavy metals from water and soil. This paper reviewed the performances of MFCs for heavy metal removal from soil and water. Electrochemical and microbial biocatalytic reactions synergistically resulted in power generation and the high removal efficiencies of several heavy metals in wastewater, such as copper, hexavalent chromium, mercury, silver, thallium. The coupling system of MFCs and microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) successfully reduced cadmium and lead without external energy input. Moreover, the effects of pH and electrode materials on the MFCs in water were discussed. In addition, the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated soil by MFCs were summarized, noting that plant-MFC performed very well in the heavy metal removal. Microorganisms 2019, 7, 697 2 of 13 electrode reaction using acetate as a substrate [6] and a two-chamber MFC setup (Figure 1) are shown below: Anodic reaction : CH 3 COO − +2H 2 O microbes → 2CO 2 +7H + +8e − (1) Cathodic reaction : O 2 +4e − +4H + → 2H 2 O. (2)

Microbial interaction with and tolerance of radionuclides: underlying mechanisms and biotechnological applications

“…Recently, new bioremediation technologies based on the use of redox behaviour of some microbes through exchange of electrons form cell compartments such as proteins and pili to metals and electrodes have been developed. This bioelectrochemical device-based bioremediation technology referred to microbial fuel cell (MFC) exhibits excellent abilities to remove pollutants along with electrical power generation within the concept of circular economy (Fang and Achal, 2019). MFCs consist of a two-chamber system where the anode chamber is occupied by bacterial cells separated from the cathode chamber by a polymeric proton exchange membrane.…”

SMFC as a tool for the removal of hydrocarbons and metals in the marine environment: a concise research update

“…Such microorganisms are able to use both organic and inorganic molecules as a source of electrons and, for this reason, electrogenesis entails the degradation of organic compounds (pollutants included) or even the change of the redox state of metals. In this last case, metals can be accumulated in biofilm at the cathode or at the anode and, thus, removed from the environment (Abbas et al 2017b;Fang and Achal 2019;Singh and Yakhmi 2014;Donovan et al 2014;Wang et al 2015). In comparison to other BESs, MFCs can work at environmental temperature and, generally, do not need an external source of energy if not for some peculiar applications like CO 2 capture (Nastro and Avignone-Rossa 2019).…”

“…Hence, the metal ions like Cr(VI), Co(III), Cu(II), and Hg(II), which are having a positive redox potential, can be removed from the sediments by the reductive precipitation process in SMFCs (Heijne et al 2010;Huang et al 2014;Wang et al 2008;Wang et al 2011). Nancharaiah et al (2015 and Fang and Achal (2019) report further information about the mechanisms at the basis of metal removal by SMFCs. As we discussed earlier, this entire metal removal process in SMFC is associated with substrate oxidation/organic removal from sediments, with simultaneous electricity generation (Nancharaiah et al 2015).…”

“…Electrodes fouling, with a consequent decrease in power outputs, can heavily affect SMFC performance. For this reason, the choice of electrode materials is of fundamental importance (Fang and Achal 2019;Mustakeem 2015;Tommasi et al 2016) because they have to withstand corrosion in a long-term period (Yaqoob et al 2020). Biocompatibility is a prerequisite for electrode materials, it is not possible to use any antifouling coating treatments so, the transition from lab-scale to an in-field utilization of SMFCs cannot exempt from an accurate preliminary study and testing of materials to be used in scaled-up devices.…”

Preparation of a Novel Millet Straw Biochar-Bentonite Composite and Its Adsorption Property of Hg2+ in Aqueous Solution

“…Mercury can migrate to crops through sewage irrigation, which can have adverse effects on human health [ 1 ]. To solve this problem, the environmental mercury content is controlled by the use of such methods as precipitation [ 2 ], adsorption [ 3 ], ion exchange [ 4 ], bioremediation [ 5 ], electric remediation [ 6 ], and flocculation [ 7 ]. Among these methods, an increasing amount of attention is being paid to the use of adsorbents because of their effectiveness and ease of operation.…”