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Review
. 2022 Jun 20:826:154038.
doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154038. Epub 2022 Feb 21.

Microbial fuel cells for mineralization and decolorization of azo dyes: Recent advances in design and materials

Affiliations
Review

Microbial fuel cells for mineralization and decolorization of azo dyes: Recent advances in design and materials

Archana Yadav et al. Sci Total Environ. .

Abstract

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) exhibit tremendous potential in the sustainable management of dye wastewater via degrading azo dyes while generating electricity. The past decade has witnessed advances in MFC configurations and materials; however, comprehensive analyses of design and material and its association with dye degradation and electricity generation are required for their industrial application. MFC models with high efficiency of dye decolorization (96-100%) and a wide variation in power generation (29.4-940 mW/m2) have been reported. However, only 28 out of 104 studies analyzed dye mineralization - a prerequisite to obviate dye toxicity. Consequently, the current review aims to provide an in-depth analysis of MFCs potential in dye degradation and mineralization and evaluates materials and designs as crucial factors. Also, structural and operation parameters critical to large-scale applicability and complete mineralization of azo dye were evaluated. Choice of materials, i.e., bacteria, anode, cathode, cathode catalyst, membrane, and substrate and their effects on power density and dye decolorization efficiency presented in review will help in economic feasibility and MFCs scalability to develop a self-sustainable solution for treating azo dye wastewater.

Keywords: Decolorization; Dye remediation; Materials; Mineralization; Power density; Sustainability.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.