FUEL CELLS – EXPLORATORY FUEL CELLS | Microbial Fuel Cells

Biological fuel cells – also referred to as bioelectrochemical fuel cells or biofuel cells – are fuel cells that exploit biological components as catalysts to facilitate the generation of electricity. Based on the biological component (biocatalyst), microbial fuel cells (MFCs), which use whole living microorganisms as the biocatalyst, and enzymatic fuel cells (EFCs), which utilize isolated redox enzymes, can be distinguished. The main advantages of biofuel cells when compared to conventional fuel cells are the mild operating conditions (20–40 °C, neutral pH) and the virtually unlimited range of potential fuels. The development of bioelectrochemical fuel cells requires combining of as different research disciplines as electrochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, as well as bio- and environmental technology. Although the first technical applications have begun to emerge, a great amount of fundamental research is still required to leverage this technology of the future. This article concentrates on the basic working principles and main developments of MFCs and EFCs, leaving the technological details to more specialized research and review articles.