On the importance of identifying, characterizing, and predicting fundamental phenomena towards microbial electrochemistry applications.
The development of microbial electrochemistry research toward technological applications has increased significantly in the past years, leading to many process configurations. This short review focuses on the need to identify and characterize the fundamental phenomena that control the performance of microbial electrochemical cells (MXCs). Specifically, it discusses the importance of recent efforts to discover and characterize novel microorganisms for MXC applications, as well as recent developments to understand transport limitations in MXCs. As we increase our understanding of how MXCs operate, it is imperative to continue modeling efforts in order to effectively predict their performance, design efficient MXC technologies, and implement them commercially. Thus, the success of MXC technologies largely depends on the path of identifying, understanding, and predicting fundamental phenomena that determine MXC performance.
Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, 1001 S McAllister Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85287-5701, USA; School for Engineering of Matter Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, 501 E. Tyler Mall ECG 301, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA. Electronic address: cit@asu.edu.
César Iván
CI
Torres
D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism*; D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources / Q000382:microbiology*; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes / Q000382:microbiology; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration