State of the Art and Environmental Aspects of Plant Microbial Fuel Cells’ Application

Abstract

Environmental pollution is becoming ubiquitous; it has a negative impact on ecosystem diversity and worsens the quality of human life. This review discusses the possibility of applying the plant microbial fuel cells (PMFCs) technology for concurrent processes of electricity generation and the purification of water and soil ecosystems from organic pollutants, particularly from synthetic surfactants and heavy metals. The review describes PMFCs’ functioning mechanisms and highlights the issues of PMFCs’ environmental application. Generally, this work summarizes different approaches to PMFC development and to the potential usage of such hybrid bioelectrochemical systems for environmental protection.

Keywords

• plant microbial fuel cell
• electrogenic microorganisms
• biofuel cells
• synthetic surfactants
• ecosystem cleaning
• reduction of greenhouse gases