Recent Trends in Electricity Generation from Lignocellulosic Biomass-Fueled Microbial Fuel Cells

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) have gained immense popularity in recent years as a promising sustainable technology to meet ever-growing energy demand. The MFC technology is based on the exploitation of catabolic activities of microorganisms for the conversion of organic waste to sustainable electricity. Many different substrates have been investigated for use as feedstock for MFC. Among the main substrates that have been used, the prominent one is lignocellulosic biomass (LCB). The LCB as a feedstock is a viable option due to its abundance and renewability. However, it cannot be directly utilized by the microorganisms for energy conversion due to its recalcitrant nature. There are several other practical limitations of MFCs in fulfilling high energy demands. The performance of the MFC depends not only on the substrates utilized but also on the microorganisms used, electrode material, the reactor design, and the operating parameters such as type of substrate, temperature, pH, oxygen flow rate electrode material and construction, and choice of catalyst. The article provides a complete understanding of Microbial fuel cells including the pretreatment methods to disintegrate the recalcitrance of LCB, the diversity and role of microorganisms used in biomass-fueled MFC, various aspects impacting their performance, power output, advantages, various challenges, and prospects.