Benchmarking Power Generation from Multiple Wastewater Electrolytes in Microbial Fuel Cells with 3D Printed Disk-Electrodes

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) have recently gained attention, as they are inexpensive, green in nature, and sustainable. As per the report, by Allied Market Research the global market size of MFCs will increase from $264.8 million in 2021 to $452.2 million in 2030, growing at a CAGR of 4.5%. The present work is a comparative study of various types of electrolytes that can be used in MFCs. The working electrodes were printed using conducting graphene-based Polylactic Acid (PLA) filaments with the help of a 3D printer under the principle of the fused deposition method. Simulated electrolytes and natural environmental microbial electrolytes were used here. Also, electrolytes of
pure E. coli
culture were studied. Lake water reported the highest power density of 8.259 mW/cm
²
while
Stale E. Coli
reported the lowest around 0.184 mW/cm
²
. The study comprehensively lists potential wastewaters that can fuel the MFCs. With the pioneering of various comparative studies of electrolytes, one can insight into the recruitment of electrolytes with high-performance benchmarks for miniaturized energy storage and other microelectronics applications.