Sameh S. Ali, Zeshan Sheikh

The 8th International Electronic Conference on Water Sciences • 2025

The expansion of the sugar industry has resulted in large amounts of untreated effluent, necessitating the development of energy-efficient treatment technologies, like microbial desalination cells (MDCs). However, the high cost and potential toxicity of chemical cathode catalysts limit MDC performance, making biocathodes a promising alternative. This study investigates the efficiency of a Scenedesmus obliquus-inoculated photosynthetic microbial desalination cell (PMDC) in the cathode chamber to treat sugar industry effluent, desalinate water, and generate electricity. The performance of the PMDC is compared to that of traditional MDCs. The results showed that the PMDC achieved 21.6% desalination, 73.8% anode COD removal, and a maximum power density of 6.8 mW/m2, outperforming MDC by 6.43%, 18.5%, and 112.5%, respectively. These results demonstrate that the PMDC offers an effective, energy-efficient alternative to MDCs with added benefits of nutrient removal and algal biomass production at the cathode, making it a promising solution for water and wastewater treatment.

Junyu Liang, Yong Gao, Wei Wu et al.

Water • 2025

Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) are an efficient method for the desalination of saline wastewater driven by the metabolism of bacteria via an organic oxidation mechanism. Systematic studies have been conducted to elucidate anion-dominated interactions to avoid unforeseen risks in microbial desalination cells during the long-term treatment of complex wastewater containing various anions. Despite different anion migration interactions having less effect on MDC operation compared with cations, they are influenced by their own properties (hydrated ion radius, diffusion coefficient and equivalent conductance) and the ambient solution. This also led to the removal efficiency of different anions in MDC in the following sequence: NO3− > Cl− > SO42−. The high Gibbs hydration energy of SO42− and the hydrophobicity of the anion exchange membrane affect the transmembrane migration of SO42−. However, the high steric hindrance formed on the membrane also inhibits reverse diffusion at the end of the cycle. In addition, the anodic biotopography and community caused by the migration of different anions change, such that the number of denitrifying bacteria increases and the relative abundance of electrogenic bacteria further improves. With decreasing anodic pH, electrogenic microorganisms form a shell to protect against anodic biogenesis. In this study, MDC was used to treat actual industrial tailwater, and the salt removal efficiency stabilized at 63.2–74.1%.

Talib R. Abbas, Majid A. Dixon, Mustafa H. Al‐Furaiji

Engineering and Technology Journal • 2019

A Three-chambers MDC was made using three identical cubicalplexi-glass sections. Each chamber has an effective volume of 35 cm3. An anionexchange membrane (AEM) was used to separate the anode from thedesalination chambers while a cation exchange membrane (CEM) was used toseparate the cathode from the desalination chambers. Two graphite sheets wereused as anode and cathode electrodes. Biotic experiments have included aircathode MDC fed with synthetic municipal wastewater, Bio-cathode MDC inwhich the cathode chamber was inoculated with microalgae as an oxygensource and air-cathode MDC was fed with floated oil layer in the anodechamber as an organic source. Maximum power density obtained from theMDC was 121 mW/m2. The corresponding current density was 410 mA/m2.Maximum power density obtained in this study was in consistency with thatpresented in previous studies. Maximum coulombic efficiency and chargeefficiency achieved were 9% and 165% respectively. The results of this studyconfirmed the validity of using MDC technology to treat municipal wastewateras well as oil, desalinate brackish water and generate electric powersimultaneously. Moreover, the results revealed the possibility of using mixedculture algae, available in the Iraqi environment, in the cathode chamber as anoxygen source to develop more energy efficient MDC. Further study deals withdifferent system configurations and different operating conditions are needed.

Musthafa O. Mavukkandy, Chahd Chabib, Ibrahim Mustafa et al.

Desalination • 2019

John Greenman, Iwona Gajda, Jiseon You et al.

Biofilm • 2021

Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) represent a wide range of different biofilm-based bioreactors that includes microbial fuel cells (MFCs), microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) and microbial desalination cells (MDCs). The first described bioelectrical bioreactor is the Microbial Fuel Cell and with the exception of MDCs, it is the only type of BES that actually produces harvestable amounts of electricity, rather than requiring an electrical input to function. For these reasons, this review article, with previously unpublished supporting data, focusses primarily on MFCs. Of relevance is the architecture of these bioreactors, the type of membrane they employ (if any) for separating the chambers along with the size, as well as the geometry and material composition of the electrodes which support biofilms. Finally, the structure, properties and growth rate of the microbial biofilms colonising anodic electrodes, are of critical importance for rendering these devices, functional living 'engines' for a wide range of applications.

Mostafa Ghasemi, Wan Ramli Wan Daud, Javed Alam et al.

Energy • 2016

Hongyi LI, Siqi TONG, Hongfa WANG et al.

Electrochemistry • 2023

Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) provide a sustainable approach to desalinate saltwater powered by bacterial metabolism during organic oxidation. A systematic study was conducted to clarify the ion-dominated interactions for preventing unpredictable risks for long-term MDC operations in the treatment of complex ion-containing wastewaters. The investigation showed that the migration and unequal scaling of cations at different ion exchange membrane (IEM) surfaces greatly influenced their transmembrane processes, which were directly affected by the hydrolysis and precipitation behavior controlled by the solubility product and ambient solution, resulting in the following removal efficiency of MDCs: Na+ > Ca2+ > Cu2+ > Al3+ > Fe3+. A further study showed that the precipitation antagonism and pH buffer effect of multiple cations could positively promote the desalination of sparingly soluble cations. Eventually, the desalination efficiency of MDC in the treatment of actual industrial tailwater was maintained at 63.2–74.1 %. These findings not only elucidated the kinetics of ion migration in detail but also offered new application possibilities for MDCs.

Ying Zhang, Mengmeng Liu, Minghua Zhou et al.

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews • 2018

Israa Mudher, Shazia Farman Ali

PubMed • 2025

Microbial Desalination Cells (MDCs) have many advantages over conventional desalination techniques like reverse osmosis, including being able to cleanse wastewater and simultaneously generate renewable electricity with far reduced energy usage. Constant challenges are improving ion exchange efficiency, honing interactions between microbial communities, and increasing technological scale. Improving MDC performance and incorporating it into whole energy and water management systems is the main emphasis of research nowadays. This could be a perfect choice for encouraging more environmentally friendly energy sources and lessening the consequences of world water shortage.

Fachryan Zuhri, Rita Arbianti, Tania Surya Utami et al.

SHILAP Revista de lepidopterología • 2016

The microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a modification of the microbial fuel cell (MFC) system. The microbial desalination cell is a sustainable technology to desalinate  saltwater  by directly  utilizing  the  electrical  power  generated  by  bacteria  during  the oxidation process of organic matter. In this study, tempe wastewater will be used as a substrate.  Methylene blue (MB) at concentrations of 100 ?M, 200 ?M, and 400 ?M in the anolyte is added as a redox mediator, and the effect on electricity production and desalination performance are evaluated. The average power density increases by 27.30% and 54.54% at MB concentrations of 100 ?M and 200 ?M, respectively. On the other hand, the increase of the MB concentration in the anolyte results in a decrease in the salt removal percentage. The observation made using a scanning electron microscope showed the presence of MB adsorption on the surface of the anion exchange membrane (AEM) and is suspected to be the cause of the disruption of anion transfer between MDC chambers causing a decrease in the salt removal percentage.

Yaobin Lu, Haiping Luo, Kunpeng Yang et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2017

Maghfira Risang Khairiza, Raissa Maulina, Tasya Ayu Febriana et al.

AIP conference proceedings • 2020

Clean water is one of the main needs in people's life. However, its scarcity has been becoming a major problem. Seawater can be the alternative source for the problem, through desalination system. Previous desalination systems require high cost and energy. One of the low energy technology that can be utilized is the Microbial Desalination Cell, a bioelectrochemical system (BES) and a modified technology of Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC). Modifications of MDC are developed to enhance its performance in desalinating seawater, which one of it is through reactor modification into Stacked Microbial Desalination Cell (SMDC). In this research, the comparison of different reactor configurations on salt removal and desalination rate with tofu industrial wastewater as substrate will be determined. SMDC technology has a focus on cost effectiveness to be applied on large scale. Therefore, the use of modification of the cathode is also applied by using activated carbon as catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. The result shows that 2-SMDC effectively promote the TDR and buffer phosphate's salt removal performance, which proves to be lower than conventional catholyte, was able to be enhanced by activated carbon coating from 6,86% to 10,93% using optimum AC mass amount of 6 gram.

Chia‐Hung Hou, Chih-Yu Ma

ECS Transactions • 2017

In this study, we propose a hybrid, energy-saving electrochemical desalination system to deliver fresh water by coupling membrane capacitive deionization (MCDI) cell with microbial desalination cell (MDC) reactors. As a result, MDC produced electricity with open circuit voltage of 0.8 V and a current of 3 mA by using bacteria to degrade organic contaminants through anode bacterial oxidation and cathode reduction. In MDC, 91% removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) in synthetic wastewater can be achieved, and the solution conductivity of salt water in desalination chamber can be reduced from 17,000 µS/cm to about 300 µS/cm. More importantly, CDI device can be directly driven by harvesting electricity from the two MDC reactors in series, and as the downstream desalination process to further desalinate the salt water. The results of this study can demonstrate the feasibility of the integrated electrochemical MDC-MCDI system for simultaneous wastewater treatment, power production, and water desalination.

Yuru Shi, Jing Wang

2017 Chinese Automation Congress (CAC) • 2017

As a new energy technology, microbial desalination cell (MDC) can not only purify the wastewater, but also can produce electricity. It has attracted the attention of researchers in the field of control in recent years. In this paper, the generalized predictive control (GPC) algorithm for MDC is proposed to control the output current. A linear regression model of MDC is identified based on the recursive least square method, and the generalized predictive controller is designed for the identification model. Finally, the controller described above is applied to the actual device to verify the validity of the GPC controller. The simulation and application results show that GPC can make the system quickly reach the set value, and optimize the MDC dynamic performance.

Jianjun Wang, Mengqi Wang, Xu Ji et al.

Reactive and Functional Polymers • 2024

Jun Lan, Yong‐Xiang Ren, Yaobin Lu et al.

Chemical Engineering Journal • 2018

Oihane Monzón, Yu Yang, Jun Kim et al.

Biochemical Engineering Journal • 2016

Bo Ye, Hui Liu, Maoyou Ye et al.

Desalination • 2021

Bo Ye, Haiping Luo, Yaobin Lu et al.

Bioresource Technology • 2017

Ummy Mardiana, Christophe Innocent, Marc Cretin et al.

International Journal of Renewable Energy Development • 2021

A microbial desalination cell (MDC) built on a modified surface has been studied for seawater desalination. The goal of this study is to provide and develop a seawater desalination system that does not require energy support by applying a modification of the anode as an electron acceptor. The different potential charges that occur between anode and cathode can serve as the driving force for electrodialysis of seawater, resulting in its desalination. Yeast has been applied as a biocatalyst and neutral red has been chosen as a redox mediator to facilitate the electron transport originating from the bioactivity of cells. Several types of surface modification have been conducted, i.e., biocatalyst-mediator immobilisation and electropolymerisation of neutral red at the anode surface. The optimisation of each device has been characterised by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. It has also been observed in a microbial fuel cell (MFC), prior to being functioned in the MDC. The concentrations of salt ion migration have been determined by ion exchange chromatography. This study found that the best configuration of a modified surface was obtained from carbon felt coated by polyneutral red film (CF/PNR); this generated the maximum value of all tested parameters: 42.2% of current efficiency; 27.11% of bio-devices efficiency; 92.5 mA m-2 of current density; and 61% of NaCl transport. Moreover, the modified surface could be a promising method for improving anode performance.

Chin‐Tsan Wang, Kavya Arun Dwivedi, Wai-Ming Lui

Chemosphere • 2024

Clement Nyadroh, Tajalli Keshavarz, Godfrey Kyazze

Desalination and Water Treatment • 2025

Water scarcity affects approximately 2.8 billion people globally. Conventional desalination methods like reverse osmosis are energy-intensive and produce concentrated brine, necessitating sustainable alternatives. Microbial Desalination Cells (MDCs) are a promising technology integrating desalination with wastewater treatment and bioenergy generation, but their efficiency is limited by poor anode performance and membrane biofouling. This study investigated the effect of novel 3D-printed bioelectrodes with immobilised Shewanella oneidensis in sodium alginate-graphene nanoplatelets (SAGNP), sodium alginate (SA), and gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) bio-inks. The 3D-printed bioelectrodes were tested in MDCs operated in fed-batch mode for 33 days. Results showed that MDCs with the 3D-printed bioelectrodes outperformed conventional MDCs (p < 0.05). SAGNP MDC achieved the highest desalination rate of 0.84 mS/h for brackish water (10 g/L, EC 37.5 mS/cm), compared to the SA MDC (0.74 mS/h) and the GelMA MDC (0.56 mS/h). For artificial seawater (38.2 g/L, EC 53.4 mS/cm), SAGNP exhibited 0.63 mS/h. SAGNP MDC recorded a maximum power density of 22 mW/m 2 , a 1.1- and 1.85- fold increase over the SA and GelMA MDCs, respectively, alongside 84.4 % COD removal (0.34 g/m 3 /day). This work demonstrates the potential of 3D-printed bioelectrodes to optimise MDC efficiency, advancing their technical feasibility as a sustainable and energy-efficient solution for water desalination. • Immobilised electroactive bacteria as 3D-printed bioelectrode showed potential to mitigate membrane biofouling. • SAGNP 3D-printed bioelectrode MDC exhibited the highest desalination rate of 0.84 mS/h in brackish water. • SAGNP 3D-printed bioelectrode MDC achieved a desalination rate of 0.63 mS/h in artificial seawater. • SAGNP MDC achieved peak power density of 22 mW/m 2 , a 1.1- and 1.85-fold increase over the SA and GelMA MDCs, respectively.

Sandhya Prakash, Samsudeen Naina Mohamed, P. Kalaichelvi

Environmental Science Water Research & Technology • 2024

The impact of salinity on the performance of exoelectrogens in the novel MDC was studied. MDC – 1 performed better at 30 g L −1 NaCl concentration and MDC – 2 performed better in brackish water.

Raoof Rabiee, Mahsa Sedighi, Seyed Morteza Zamir

Journal of Environmental Management • 2024

Fanyu Meng, Qingliang Zhao, Xiaolin Na et al.

Environmental Science and Pollution Research • 2016

Shruti Singh, Ankit Kumar, Soumya Pandit et al.

Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology • 2024

Raissa Maulina, Maghifra Risang Khairiza, Tasya Ayu Febriana et al.

AIP conference proceedings • 2020

Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) is a developed technology for reducing salt concentration of seawater, so it could be used for people’s daily needs. Since there were many tofu industry in Indonesia, so that the substrate in this research came from model of tofu wastewater. For increasing MDC performance, there was modification in reactor design, whereas the IEM (Ion Exchange Membrane) was arranged in two stacked design, yet in the end of desalination cycle there was a recirculation through anolyte-catholyte solution to maintain pH level. The variations of flowrate recirculation were 0.5 and 5 mL/ min. The result showed that the optimum flowrate for anolyte-catholyte recirculation was 0.5 ml/minute with TDR (Total Desalination Rate) of 2.447 g/h and it showed that recirculation process could increase the salt removal of desalination process.

Fariba Mirzaienia, Ahmad Jonidi Jafari, Mohammad Malakootian

Desalination and Water Treatment • 2019

Haiping Luo, Hui Li, Yaobin Lu et al.

Desalination • 2017

Chenglong Xu, Mengyu Cheng, Yinjiang Zhang et al.

IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science • 2019

Water resources are an important source of energy for Human existence. Water shortages and Water environmental pollution are receiving more and more attention. Desalination of seawater and brackish water, recovery and utilization of municipal wastewater and industrial wastewater are two important ways to increase water resources. In this paper, the Microbial Desalination Cell is coupled with the bio-algae-inhibiting technology. Based on the original MDC, the water purification system, the algal inhibition system and the water delivery system are established, and the design parameters are optimized.A new reactor of algal-inhibition based on Microbial Desalination Cell (A-MDC) with anti-algal function was designed and constructed, and preliminary study of its algae-inhibiting performance. The maximum inhibition rate of algae can reach 79.41%. Compared with other treatment methods and technology, Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) has obvious technical characteristics and advantages, and has great development potential.

Jing Wang, Qilun Wang

2018 5th International Conference on Control, Decision and Information Technologies (CoDIT) • 2018

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) is a new technique for the environmental protection and new energy. Microbial desalination cells (MDC) is a kind of MFC which has the function of desalination while producing electricity. The design of control strategies is a scarcity part in the field of microbial fuel cells. This paper presents to design an explicit model predictive controller for a kind of microbial fuel cell, which uses the machine learning method for easy to implement. Also, a systematic data-driven control method is presented for the design of explicit model predictive controller for time-varying output tracking in nonlinear model systems. The design consists of (1) sampling the admissible state space by the mathematical model to make the controller better suited to the model; (2) solving for optimal model predictive control actions at each sampled data point and determining feasible region of the nonlinear programming problem; and (3) constructing the control surface of explicit model predictive controller using artificial neural network. In particular, the designed control algorithm is performed on a seven-dimensional mathematical model of microbial desalination cells to test the good control performance.

Shilpa Kumari, Rahul Kumar Mishra, Vishal Sorathiya et al.

Desalination and Water Treatment • 2024

Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC) is an innovative approach for water desalination that concurrently produces energy through the process of substrate oxidation. The primary issue of the technique is its limited power on capabilities during the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). While the depletion of oxygen is a significant process in electrochemical energy conversion, its slow kinetics hinder its utilization in MDCs. One potential resolution to this problem is the utilization of a cathode catalyst with a high level of activity, which effectively enhances the rate of ORR. Different concentrations of copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles (NPs) were used to investigate the behavior of ORR and its impact on the performance of the MDC. The optimal concentration of silver oxide (AgO) NPs was utilized to conduct a comparative analysis of both types of NPs. The size of CuO NPs and AgO NPs was found to be 65 nm and 55 nm respectively by material characterization studies. The power density achieved in the absence of the catalyst was 1.1 W/m3, and this value increased to 4.9 W/m3 with the incorporation of 3 mg/cm2 AgO. The use of a catalyst loading of 3 mg/cm2 has been determined to be efficacious in enhancing the desalination rate in MDC. The electrochemical investigations conducted also showed an improvement in the electrocatalytic behavior of cathodic kinetics while operating under these specific afterward. Therefore, the utilization of AgO catalyst exhibits potential as a viable option for the expansion of MDC processes, thereby contributing to the achievement of sustainable development objectives.

Hosein Yazdi Dehnavi, Hajar Rajaei Litkohi, Azra Qavami et al.

Journal of Water Process Engineering • 2024

Adetunji Alabi

Journal of Cleaner Production • 2025

The microbial desalination cell (MDC) is a recently discovered desalination technology driven by the electrochemical gradient generated from the exoelectrogenic microbial degradation of organic matter. It has gained interest largely because of its self-sufficiency: it is capable of simultaneously desalinating salty water, treating wastewater, and generating electricity. Over the years, several studies have intensely researched MDCs, resulting in a plethora of MDC technologies available in literature. In this review, we cover the progress of the MDC technology, propose a comprehensive classification of MDCs, formulate a new parameter (termed the MDC desalination index), (re)introduce a dimensionless parameter (termed here as the MDC input ratio), systematically assess the performance of MDCs, and synthesize our findings to generate insights into this budding technology. Essentially, this work provides an integrated toolbox for researchers to better understand MDCs and thus improve MDC studies going forward. Lastly, aspects that must be addressed to successfully advance this technology from concept to maturity are discussed. • Steps to advance MDC technology and research for a circular economy are suggested. • A comprehensive classification of MDCs is proposed for adequate MDC categorization. • A new parameter (MDC desalination index) is introduced for assessing MDCs. • Detailed analyses of the desalination performance of MDCs are carried out. • MDCs are renewable, but cannot yet be described as sustainable.

Tasya Ayu Febriana, Maghfira Risang Khairiza, Raissa Maulina et al.

Engineering Journal • 2020

The objective of this research is to obtain the optimum concentration of Sodium percarbonate (SP) as catholyte which gives the best desalination performance in Stacked Microbial Desalination Cell (SMDC) system using tofu wastewater as a substrate. SMDC is a promising technology for wastewater treatment and water desalination to overcome the problem of water crisis and the use of Sodium percarbonate will prevent pH imbalance which is one of the major issues in SMDC technology. Four Sodium percarbonate concentration variations of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2M were examined at 50 hours operating time. The optimum performance of Sodium percarbonate is then compared with other commercial catholyte Potassium permanganate. The result of this research is the optimum concentration of sodium percarbonate as a catholyte is at concentration equal to 0.15 M with 1.77% salt removal in Desalination-Cathode Chamber and 0.82% salt removal in Desalination-Anode Chamber. Also, the best catholyte is SP in comparison to KMnO4 because it acts as a better electron acceptor (oxidation agent) as well as buffering catholyte with higher value of SDR and TDR equal to 1.2469 g/(L.h) and 1.8704 g/h respectively.

Jiahuan Li, Rudong Liu, Shan Zhao et al.

Journal of Cleaner Production • 2020

Hussein H. Abd‐almohi, Ziad T. Alismaeel, Mohanad J. M‐Ridha

Journal of the Indian Chemical Society • 2024

Karishma Maheshwari, Monika Sogani, Zainab Syed et al.

Desalination • 2025

Sabarija A. Mohandas, Sravan Janardhanan, P. Abdul Rasheed et al.

Heliyon • 2023

In the present study, carbon cloth (CC) was functionalized using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and employed as an excellent bioanode for improving defluoridation efficiency, wastewater treatment, and power output from a microbial desalination cell (MDC). The Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of DMSO modified carbon cloth (CC DMSO ) confirmed the functionalization of CC DMSO , and the water drop contact angle of 0° ensured its superior hydrophilicity. The presence of -COOH (carboxyl), S[bond, double bond]O (sulfoxide) and O -C[bond, double bond]O (carbonyl) functional groups on CC DMSO aids in enhancing the performance of the MDC. Besides, cyclic voltametric and electrochemical impedance analysis revealed that CC DMSO had an excellent electrochemical performance with low charge transfer resistance. Replacing CC with CC DMSO as anode in MDC, the time required for 3,10 and 20 mg/L of initial fluoride (F - ) concentrations in the middle chamber was reduced from 24 ± 0.75 to 17 ± 0.37, 72 ± 1 to 48 ± 0.70, and 120 ± 0.5 to 96 ± 0.53 h, respectively to meet the prescribed standards (1.5 mg/L). Furthermore, using CC DMSO, the anode chamber of MDC exhibited a maximum of 83% substrate degradation, and simultaneously, the power output is increased by 2-2.8 times. CC DMSO improved the power production from 0.009 ± 0.003, 1.394 ± 0.06 and 1.423 ± 0.15 mW/m 2 to 0.020 ± 0.07, 2.748 ± 0.22 and 3.245 ± 0.16 mW/m 2 , respectively, for initial F - concentrations of 3,10, and 20 mg/L. Modifying CC with DMSO thus proved to be an efficient and simple methodology for enhancing the overall performance of MDC.

Fangfang Yang, Kai Zhang, Daijun Zhang et al.

Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology • 2020

Abstract BACKGROUND Due to the rapid development of shale gas extraction, the treatment of flowback water (FW) is becoming one major challenge because of its high saline, high ammonium (NH 4 + ), high phosphorus (PO 4 3− ), and complex organic contents. This study aimed to treat the high‐salinity synthetic FW and recover nutrient using the air‐cathode (PMo/CB) microbial desalination cells (MDCs). RESULTS The removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand (COD) exceeded 90% along with an electricity generation of 105.6 mW m −2 . The highest removal and the recovery efficiency of 300 mg L −1 NH 4 + and 100 mg L −1 PO 4 3− were 65.6 ± 19.0% and 75.8 ± 32.0%, 52.6% and 57.8%, respectively. High‐throughput sequencing analysis of anodic biofilms indicated that Firmicutes , Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria enriched at high influent NH 4 + concentration were responsible for producing electricity and degrading complex organics. Two denitrifying bacteria, Trichococcus and Marinobacterium , promoted the COD removal and also improved the electricity generation. Rhodococcus , a kind of heterotrophic nitrification–denitrification bacteria, contributed to nitrification in the cathodic chamber along with enhancing the denitrifying degradation of COD. Nitrincolaceae , capable of heterotrophic nitrate reduction to ammonium, were favorable to the recovery of NH 4 + . CONCLUSIONS Overall results concluded that PMo/CB‐MDC could be a promising alternative technique for the efficient treatment of FW and a pretreatment process for separating nutrient from the recovery chamber. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI)