Microbial Electrolysis Cell

Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) is an anaerobic biological system, which transforms the chemical energy of biological substrates into value-added bioproducts with or without supplementation of a small external energy source. Bioresources that can be recovered using MECs are H 2 , CH 4 , H 2 O 2 , alcohols, and organic acids. However, the inability of MECs to recover these valuable chemicals at a commercial scale has retarded their progress as a mainstream waste-to-energy technology. To circumvent this drawback, in recent times, different cathode catalysts have been extensively explored to enhance the efficiency and rate of bioproduct generation through MECs. Moreover, the role of biocatalysts in improving the electron transfer and product yield of MEC has also been thoroughly reviewed and presented. Integration of MEC with other technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, has dramatically improved CH 4 generation. Nevertheless, the MEC technology is still in its early stages of development, and considerable modifications are required to attain reliable resource recovery efficacy for meeting the prevailing socio-economic demands.