Recent advancements in scaling up microbial fuel cells

Abstract The major challenge of microbial fuel cell (MFC) technologies is to enable them for large-scale applications. The main objective of the MFC scale-up is to improve the energy output with respect to the volume of treated wastewater. This can be achieved by increasing the volume or the capacity to handle wastewater or by electrically connecting the MFCs in series or parallel. The enhanced version of the MFC technology requires electrode materials and separators to be cost-efficient. In addition, a well-equipped scalable design should be provided for feasible wastewater treatment under the operating conditions. In this chapter, various challenges regarding different practical applications, such as wastewater treatment, that may hinder the MFC scale-up are analyzed. A brief discussion of the system’s life cycle assessment is also presented.