In the past 10-15 years, the microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology has captured the attention of the scientific community for the possibility of transforming organic waste directly into electricity through microbially catalyzed anodic, and microbial/enzymatic/abiotic cathodic electrochemical reactions. In this review, several aspects of the technology are considered. Firstly, a brief history of ...

Capacitive desalination is a promising desalination technique. A novel fl ow-through electrode architecture utilizes a newly developed porous carbon material to achieve dramatic improvements in desalination rate and salt concentration reduction. Image depicts a capacitive desalination cell with a fl ow-through architecture. Capacitive desalination (CD) is a promising desalination technique as, ...

Microbial electrochemical systems (MESs) use microorganisms to covert the chemical energy stored in biodegradable materials to direct electric current and chemicals. Compared to traditional treatment-focused, energy-intensive environmental technologies, this emerging technology offers a new and transformative solution for integrated waste treatment and energy and resource recovery, because it o...

Quaternary ammonium poly(2,6-dimethyl 1,4-phenylene oxide) (QAPPO) anion exchange membranes (AEMs) with topographically patterned surfaces were assessed in a microbial desalination cell (MDC) system. The MDC results with these QAPPO AEMs were benchmarked against a commercially available AEM. The MDC with the non-patterned QAPPO AEM (Q1) displayed the best desalination rate (a reduction of salin...

Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) have  great potential as a cost-effective and green technology for simultaneous water desalination, organic matter removal and energy production. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of a MDC under batch and continuous feeding conditions. Hence, power and current output, coulombic efficiency, electron harvest rate, desalination rate and COD re...

A microbial osmotic fuel cell (MOFC) has a forward osmosis (FO) membrane situated between the electrodes that enable desalinated water recovery along with power generation. Previous designs have required aerating the cathode chamber water, offsetting the benefits of power generation by power consumption for aeration. An air-cathode MOFC design was developed here to improve energy recovery, and ...

Seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane biofouling remains a common challenge in the desalination industry, but the marine bacterial community that causes membrane fouling is poorly understood. Microbial communities at different stages of treatment processes (intake, cartridge filtration, and SWRO) of a desalination pilot plant were examined by both culture-based and culture-independent approa...

Rising dissolution of anthropogenic CO2 in seawater may directly/indirectly cause ocean acidification and desalination. However, little is known about coastal physiological functions sensitivity to these processes. Here we show some links between ocean acidification/desalination and physiological functions in Thalassiosira weissflogii. Cell density (CD), protein, chlorophyll a (Chl a), malonald...

A microbial desalination cell (MDC) built on a modified surface has been studied for seawater desalination. The goal of this study is to provide and develop system that does not require energy support by applying modification the anode as an electron acceptor. different potential charges occur between cathode can serve driving force electrodialysis seawater, resulting in its Yeast applied bioca...