Effect of ammonium nitrate on novel cactus pear genotypes aided by biobattery in a semi-arid ecosystem

Abstract Plant Microbial Fuel cell (P-MFC) i.e., biobattery is an emerging sustainable technology, which has an obstacle in plant selection with minimal requirement of water resources. Further optimization of the semi-deserting plant under vigorous conditions has a great challenge. In the present study, a P-MFC has been used to evaluate the improvement of power generation in the growth of four cactus pear genotypes aided by ammonium nitrate under semi-arid conditions. Thus, a dosage of 150 mg L¯1 of NH4NO3 per week was applied to the cactus based P-MFCs. Polarization experiments showed that bioelectricity production went from 39 ± 2.74 to 499.2 ± 10.3 mW m¯3 in O. joconostle after treatment. In turn, regarding the long-term operation, O. joconostle showed the highest average power density of 145.39 ± 4.09 mW m¯3. The resultant correlation showed soil electrical conductivity (EC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC) with lower Rint and relative performance. For the plant height parameter, there were significant differences (P-value