ABSTRACT
The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is revealed as one of the promising and alternative renewable energy technologies, which produces electrical energy from a wide range of waste soluble substrates, by simultaneous treatment of wastewater. Alternative proton exchange membrane (PEM), such as salt bridges, composite membranes, and porous materials have been developed in order to address the issues associated with Nafion. Salt-bridge PEM exhibits low oxygen diffusion and a higher cation exchange than Nafion membranes, but it produces a low power production due to high internal resistance. The ideal PEM should be able to limit oxygen and wastewater crossover without compromising proton transport. The membrane utilized in MFCs compared to the standard fuel cell is in contact with the solution; therefore the PEM must have a reasonable tensile strength in order to sustain the MFC for long-term operation. The PEMs under investigation displayed competitive structural and performance attributes for electrical generation and organics removal.
