Towards Bio-Hybrid Energy Harvesting in the Real-World: Pushing the Boundaries of Technologies and Strategies Using Bio-Electrochemical and Bio-Mechanical Processes

Sustainable, green energy harvesting has gained a considerable amount of attention over the last few decades and within its vast field of resources, bio-energy harvesters have become promising. These bio-energy harvesters appear in a wide variety and function either by directly generating energy with mechanisms similar to living organisms or indirectly by extracting energy from living organisms. Presently this new generation of energy harvesters is fueling various low-power electronic devices while being extensively researched for large-scale applications. In this review we concentrate on recent progresses of the three promising bio-energy harvesters: microbial fuel cells, enzyme-based fuel cells and biomechanical energy harvesters. All three of these technologies are already extensively being used in small-scale applications. While microbial fuel cells hold immense potential in industrial-scale energy production, both enzyme-based fuel cells and biomechanical energy harvesters show promises of becoming independent and natural power sources for wearable and implantable devices for many living organisms including humans. Herein, we summarize the basic principles of these bio-energy harvesting technologies, outline their recent advancements and estimate the near future research trends.