Modelling and Analysis of Microbial Fuel Cells with a Two-species Anode Biofilm

A mathematical model for continuous Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) with a two-species anode biofilm was developed, taking either Mediator-Based Extracellular Electron Transfer (MET) or Direct Conduction-Based Extracellular Electron Transfer (DET) as the electron transfer mechanism. The results of numerical simulation revealed the impact of key parameters on biofilm composition and current generation, several optimal settings for current generation, and a number of trade-offs between the impacts of different factors. These findings offer new insights on multi-species biofilms governed by bioelectrochemical kinetics and mass and electron transfer, and have the potential to guide the design and operation of multi-species MFCs or other similar systems.