Electrochemical oxidation (biomass) and degradation of organic pollutant through a microbial fuel cell to produce electricity

An innovative approach, a microbial fuel cell (MFC), oxidizes organic wastes and substrates to generate electricity and reduce wastewater pollution. In the current day, the scientific community is focused on bringing this technology to a larger scale. Despite all attempts, generating electrons remains a challenge. It shows that the organic substrate is not stable and compactable with bacterial populations. To address this issue, easily available local sweet potato waste (SPW) was used as an organic substrate, while hydroquinone wastewater was used as MFC inoculation as well. After 20 days of operation, the system generated 150 mV and had a 65% hydroquinone degradation efficiency. The current density was 46.05 mA/m², and the power density was 1.09 mW/m². Analytical testing demonstrated that the redox reaction occurred gradually and oxidized the substrate. Similarly, SEM–EDX revealed an effective growth rate of biofilm throughout the process. The most prevalent bacteria identified in this study were Pectobacterium, Klebsiella, and Enterobacter. According to the parameter optimization, natural conditions are the most feasible for MFC to generate electricity. Finally, the mechanism of degradation (hydroquinone and sweet potato waste) and the latest challenges with future suggestions are enclosed briefly.