Mahendiravarman Elangovan, Rajamohan Natarajan, Rajasimman Manivasagan, Rameshwar Sankar Sudharsan, Abrar Iyman
Department of Chemical Engineering, Annamalai University Annamalainagar 608 002 Tamilnadu India
Chemical Engineering Section, Faculty of Engineering, Sohar University Sohar PC-311 Oman
RSC Adv. 2025 May 13;15(20):15842-15869. doi: 10.1039/d5ra01149c. eCollection 2025 May 12.
The global bioenergy research community is very interested in the microbial fuel cell (MFC), a biofuel conversion technology that cleanses wastewater and produces power at the same time. Separators have come a long way, but problems like oxygen leakage and limited proton transfer still exist. These issues cause internal resistance and lower MFC performance, which restricts the practical use of separators. This review provides a thorough analysis of the latest membrane separators that are appropriate for MFCs, explaining their components, operating principles, and major performance-affecting elements such pH splitting problems, oxygen and substrate crossover, membrane resistance, and biofouling. Various membrane materials are explored, such as porous materials like textiles, glass fibers, and polymer, microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes, and ion exchange membranes (anion, cation, and bipolar). Specifically, characteristic ionic groups that are essential for the best MFC performance are what make anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and cation exchange membranes (CEMs) stand out. In addition, it provides a thorough overview of customized polymeric membranes for MFCs, including their function, necessary characteristics, advantages, types, structures, uses, manufacturing processes, characterization techniques, and strategies to enhance performance. This study emphasizes the crucial role of tailored polymeric membranes in advancing MFC technology for sustainable energy generation, while also exploring their future potential for enhanced performance.
全球生物能源研究界对微生物燃料电池（MFC）非常感兴趣，这是一种生物燃料转换技术，可同时净化废水并产生电能。分离器已经取得了长足的进步，但仍存在氧气泄漏和质子转移受限等问题。这些问题会导致内阻并降低MFC性能，从而限制了分离器的实际应用。本文综述对适用于MFC的最新膜分离器进行了全面分析，解释了它们的组成、工作原理以及影响性能的主要因素，如pH分裂问题、氧气和底物渗透、膜电阻和生物污染。探讨了各种膜材料，如纺织品、玻璃纤维和聚合物等多孔材料、微滤和超滤膜以及离子交换膜（阴离子、阳离子和双极膜）。具体而言，对MFC最佳性能至关重要的特征离子基团使阴离子交换膜（AEM）和阳离子交换膜（CEM）脱颖而出。此外，本文还全面概述了用于MFC的定制聚合物膜，包括其功能、必要特性、优点、类型、结构、用途、制造工艺、表征技术以及提高性能的策略。本研究强调了定制聚合物膜在推动MFC技术实现可持续能源生产方面的关键作用，同时也探讨了其未来性能提升的潜力。
