Fatemeh Ghaderiardakani, Juliet C. Coates, Thomas Wichard

FEMS Microbiology Ecology • 2017

The green marine macroalgae of the class Ulvophyceae (Ulvophytes) are common algae distributed worldwide particularly in intertidal areas, which play a key role in aquatic ecosystems. They are potentially valuable resources for food, animal feed and fuel but can also cause massive nuisance blooms. Members of Ulvaceae, like many other seaweeds, harbour a rich diversity of epiphytic bacteria with functions related to host growth and morphological development. In the absence of appropriate bacterially derived signals, germ cells of the genus Ulva develop into 'atypical' colonies consisting of undifferentiated cells with abnormal cell walls. This paper examines the specificity of bacteria-induced morphogenesis in Ulva, by cross-testing bacteria isolated from several Ulva species on two Ulva species, the emerging model system Ulva mutabilis and the prominent biofouler species Ulva intestinalis. We show that pairs of bacterial strains isolated from species other than U. mutabilis and U. intestinalis can fully rescue axenic plantlets generated either from U. mutabilis or U. intestinalis gametes. This laboratory-based study demonstrates that different compositions of microbial communities with similar functional characteristics can enable complete algal morphogenesis and thus supports the 'competitive lottery' theory for how symbiotic bacteria drive algal development.

Ramesh Kakarla, Booki Min

Bioresource Technology • 2019

Brendan T. Higgins, Ingrid Gennity, Stephanie Samra et al.

Algal Research • 2016

Lan Wu, Wei Wei, Lan Song et al.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews • 2021

Jafar Ali, Lei Wang, Hassan Waseem et al.

Environmental Pollution • 2020

Chayanika Putatunda, Manya Behl, Preeti Solanki et al.

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2022

David E. Berthold, Kateel G. Shetty, K. Jayachandran et al.

Biomass and Bioenergy • 2019

Samsudeen Naina Mohamed, Pohekar Ajit Hiraman, Karuppan Muthukumar et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2019

Jinxing Ma, Zhiwei Wang, Junyao Zhang et al.

Water Research • 2016

Chikashi Sato, Ghazaleh Alikaram, Oluwafemi Oladipupo Kolajo et al.

Membranes • 2025

Microalgae are promising candidates for renewable biofuel production and nutrient-rich animal feed. Cultivating microalgae using wastewater can lower production costs but often results in biomass contamination and increases downstream processing requirements. This study presents a novel system that integrates an algae cultivator (AC) with a single-chamber microbial fuel cell (MFC) equipped with photosynthetic and air-cathode functionalities, separated by a ceramic membrane. The system enables the generation of electricity and production of clean microalgae biomass concurrently, in both light and dark conditions, utilizing wastewater as a nutrient source and renewable energy. The MFC chamber was filled with simulated potato processing wastewater, while the AC chamber contained microalgae Chlorella vulgaris in a growth medium. The ceramic membrane allowed nutrient diffusion while preventing direct contact between algae and wastewater. This design effectively supported algal growth and produced uncontaminated, harvestable biomass. At the same time, larger particulates and undesirable substances were retained in the MFC. The system can be operated with synergy between the MFC and AC systems, reducing operational and pretreatment costs. Overall, this hybrid design highlights a sustainable pathway for integrating electricity generation, nutrient recovery, and algae-based biofuel feedstock production, with improved economic feasibility due to high-quality biomass cultivation and the ability to operate continuously under variable lighting conditions.

Ade Rahmawati Idris, Ahyar Ahmad, Abdul Karim et al.

AIP conference proceedings • 2022

The continuous use of oil and gas fuels causes a global energy crisis and environmental pollution, so it is necessary to use renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources. Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a technology that can generate electricity by converting chemical energy into electrical energy using microorganisms as a catalyst. This research aimed to determine the potential of red algae (Eucheuma cottonii) as a substrate in MFC to generate electrical energy. This research used a dual-chamber MFC model. Anode chamber contains hydrolyzed red algae cellulose, peptone, yeast extract, KH2PO4, and methylene blue (this mixture is autoclaved before being put into the anode chamber), while the cathode chamber contains 0.2 M KMnO4 as the electrolyte solution. This reactor used Nafion 117 membrane as a proton exchange membrane. The electrical measurement was carried out every 4 hours for 48 hours. The highest power density using red algae as a substrate was 982 mW/cm2 with a value of maximum current 0.52 mA and potential different 370 mV. It is concluded that red algae (E. cottonii) extract can be employed as a subtract in the MFC system to produce electrical energy.

Ibram Ganesh

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews • 2016

Banu Taşkan

Firat University Journal of Experimental and Computational Engineering • 2022

Membrane-less microbial fuel cell (MLMFC) is one of the most promising technologies for energy generation from organic wastes. The use of biocathode in the MLMFC system reduces the operation cost and provides many benefits. In an algal MLMFC system, the photosynthetic microorganism facilitates the oxygen reduction in the cathode chamber and improves overall cell performance. However, the assessment of the long-term stability of biocathode is a primary concern. In the current study, the electricity generation performance of algal MLMFC using mixed-algae as a biocathode was investigated. The results showed that the electricity generation of algal MLMFC increased during the light cycle because of the photosynthesis of algal cells in the cathode. During the light cycle, the maximum power density and lowest cathode charge transfer resistance of algal MLMFC were 215.71 mW/m 2 and 29.73 , respectively. The electrochemical analysis demonstrated that the anode biofilm of algal MLMFC has high bioelectrogenic activity. This study plays a crucial role in determining the applicability of this technology.

Payel Choudhury, Rup Narayan Ray, Tarun Kanti Bandyopadhyay et al.

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2020

Shir Reen Chia, Saifuddin Nomanbhay, Kit Wayne Chew et al.

Chemosphere • 2021

Ihsanullah Ihsanullah, Arshad Jamal, Muhammad Ilyas et al.

Journal of Water Process Engineering • 2020

Mohammad Ali Abdelkareem, Maryam Abdullah Lootah, Enas Taha Sayed et al.

The Science of The Total Environment • 2020

Madhulika Shukla, Sachin Kumar

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews • 2017

Zhigang Yang, Haiyan Pei, Qingjie Hou et al.

Chemical Engineering Journal • 2017

Amitap Khandelwal, Jaichander Swaminathan, Stephen Nolan et al.

ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering • 2024

This study demonstrates the application of an algae-assisted microbial fuel cell (AMFC) in biogas upgradation. A proof-of-concept lab-scale biorefinery is presented that couples raw biogas upgradation with dairy wastewater treatment using an integrated approach of a bicarbonate-based integrated carbon capture and algae production system (BICCAPS) and a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The treated biogas had a CH4 content of 85–93% with no traces of CO2, H2S, or NH3. The system was able to remove H2S and NH3 from biogas with high sulfide (961 to 2800 ppm) and ammonia (1300 to 2800 ppm) concentrations. The power and current densities obtained from the MFC were 17.3 mW/m2 and 170 mA/m2, respectively. The normalized energy recovery (NERV) from this process was 6.91 kW h/m3. The CO2 captured in the form of bicarbonate led to a total algal biomass production of 6.8 (±0.15) g/L. Integrating the BICCAPS with an algae-assisted MFC makes the overall process more sustainable, as it can simultaneously treat wastewater, generate bioelectricity, upgrade biogas, and mitigate carbon (CO2) and nitrogen (NH3) emissions.

Amitap Khandelwal, Piet N.L. Lens

Environmental Technology • 2023

The anaerobic digestion (AD) process is one of the most practiced technologies for the remediation of organic waste and maximization of energy recovery in terms of biogas or biomethane. The presence of other gaseous components in biogas, e.g. CO 2 and H 2 S, often makes its direct application in engines and electricity production unsuitable. This work aimed to develop and utilize an algae-assisted microbial fuel cell (AMFC) for the purification of biogas by removing both CO 2 and H 2 S and simultaneous bioelectricity generation. In addition to biogas clean-up, elemental sulfur recovery and CO 2 utilization for algae cultivation add value to the proposed AMFC process. Experiments were performed with both sulfide and bicarbonate in their dissolved form, in the respective anodic and cathodic chambers of the AMFC. The sulfide concentration was varied from 100 to 800 mg/l and the AMFC exhibited a sulfide removal efficiency exceeding 97% at all concentrations tested. The process efficiency dropped, however, at sulfide concentrations above 300 mg/l in terms of both sulfide removal and power output. The AMFC performed best at 400 mg/l sulfide by exhibiting a power density of 24.99 mW/m 3 and sulfide removal efficiency of 98.87%. The system exhibited columbic efficiency (CE %) in the range of 7.85-80%. The total alkalinity representing CO 2 , carbonate and bicarbonate levels in the algae-based system was reduced by 49.54%. The electrical energy recovered from the AMFC was 0.1 kWh/m 3 and the total energy recovery, which is the sum of the electrical and algal lipid energy, amounted to 7.25 kWh/m 3 .

Huichao Zhang, Qian Yan, Zhongyi An et al.

SSRN Electronic Journal • 2022

Amitap Khandelwal, Jaichander Swaminathan, Akshat Mangal et al.

Process Safety and Environmental Protection • 2024

Payel Choudhury, Rup Narayan Ray, Tarun Kanti Bandyopadhyay et al.

Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering • 2020

Amitap Khandelwal, Kiran Dhindhoria, Ambesh Dixit et al.

Environmental Technology & Innovation • 2021

Arti Sharma, Prasenjit Sarkar, Meenu Chhabra et al.

Chemical Engineering Journal • 2023

Swati Das, Santosh Kumar, Arun Kumar Mehta et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2024

Cytotoxic, malignant, and mutagenic pollutants like heavy metals have emerged as a serious global threat to the ecosystem. Additionally, the quantity of noxious metals in water bodies has increased due to expanding industrial activities and the application of incompetent wastewater treatment techniques. Owing to the benefits of eco-friendly phytoremediation, the utilization of algae in photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFC) for removal of heavy metals has attracted increasing attention among researchers. Therefore, a successful fabrication and operation of a modular PMFC for simultaneous algal biomass production was exhibited, thus resulting in significant removal efficiency of Cu(II) (94 %) and Co(II) (88 %). Moreover, Co(II)-accumulated algal biochar after thermal activation was utilized as a cathode catalyst for the first time and attained 64.2 mW/m 2 of power density through PMFC. Hence, this easily synthesised green cathode catalyst proved its ability to enhance the overall performance of PMFC by attaining higher power output while treating wastewater.

Zhigang Yang, Jiaze Li, Feiyong Chen et al.

The Science of The Total Environment • 2021

Qingjie Hou, Zhigang Yang, Shuaiqi Chen et al.

Water Research • 2019

Qingjie Hou, Changliang Nie, Haiyan Pei et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2016

Simone Angioni, Luca Millia, Piercarlo Mustarelli et al.

Heliyon • 2018

Here, we demonstrate a very efficient simultaneous approach of bioenergy generation from wastewater and added-value compounds production by using a photosynthetic microalgae microbial fuel cells (PMFC), based on polybenzimidazole (PBI) composite membrane as separator. The use of PBI was proved to be very promising, even more convenient than Nafion™ in terms of energy performances as well as cost and sustainability. This polymer is also easily autoclavable, so allowing a re-use of the separator with a consequent beneficial cost effect. Two PMFCs were investigated: 1) Pt electrocatalysed and 2) Pt-free. They were operated as microbial carbon capture (MCC) device under continuous illumination, by using a domestic wastewater as anolyte and Scenedesmus acutus strain in the catholyte. The Pt-based cell allowed to generate higher volumetric power density (∼400 mW m -3 ) after more than 100 operating days. This resulted in an improved wastewater treatment efficiency, determined in terms of normalised energy recovery ( NER > 0.19 kWh kg COD -1 in case of Pt). The CO 2 fixation of the PMFC-grown microalgae leaded to a high accumulation of added-value products, namely pigments and fatty acids. A significant quantity of lutein was observed as well as a relevant amount of other valuable carotenoids, as violaxanthin, astaxanthin and cantaxanthin. The lipids were even excellently accumulated (49% dw ). Their profile was mainly composed by fatty acids in the range C 16-18 , which are particularly indicated for the biofuel production. These results demonstrate the feasibility and the implemented sustainability of such PMFCs as a great potential technology for the wastewater treatment and the simultaneous production of valuable products.

Dong Huang, Yiwen Yang

Fuel • 2023

Hai-Tra Nguyen, Booki Min

The Science of The Total Environment • 2020

Manoj Kumar Enamala, Rishibha Dixit, Amala Tangellapally et al.

Environmental Technology & Innovation • 2020

Hai-Tra Nguyen, Ramesh Kakarla, Booki Min

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy • 2017

Nethraa Kannan, Philip Donnellan

Bioresource Technology Reports • 2021

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have been a major topic of interest since the early 2000s. To overcome the scale-up issues posed with using only bacteria, studies have been carried out operating MFCs with algae-assisted cathodes (AFCs) to treat wastewater and produce electricity. Algae produce O2 during photosynthesis which drives down the operating cost as sparging air is not required. The biomass obtained is also used as biofuel thus making wastewater treatment environmentally friendly and economical. This review focuses on developments made in understanding the effect of reactor components and using this to improve power densities in AFCs. Since this is a rapidly evolving field, the review provides a comprehensive overview of the topic to novices and experts in the field alike and discusses methods to improve large-scale and practical applications of this technology in wastewater treatment.

Amitap Khandelwal, Ankisha Vijay, Ambesh Dixit et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2017

Samsudeen Naina Mohamed, Tamilmani Jayabalan, Karuppan Muthukumar

Energy Sources Part A Recovery Utilization and Environmental Effects • 2019

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) provides a promising technology to handle two problems by decomposing organic waste and power generation which is economical and clean source of energy. However, use of platinum catalyst in the MFC is quite expensive and not economically suitable for real-time applications that needs to find an alternative. Hence, the main aim of the present research is to investigate the power generation and food processing wastewater treatment with two types of microalgae (Oscillatoria sp. and Scenedesmus sp.) as a biocathode in the MFC. The experimental results showed that the peak power density of 32.5 ± 0.5 and 28.5 ± 0.3 mW/m2 was obtained for Oscillatoria sp. and Scenedesmus sp., respectively. The MFC power generation was also investigated with respect to CO2 supply and light intensity, respectively. The results of this study indicated that the possibility of bioelectricity generation using algae as a biocatalyst for economic feasibility and allowing the development of energy efficient systems for wastewater treatment.

S. Arun, Arindam Sinharoy, Kannan Pakshirajan et al.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews • 2020

Ming Li, Minghua Zhou, Jianmei Luo et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2019