ABSTRACT
332Microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) is a novel bioelectrochemical device that produces hydrogen and value-added products from waste biomass or wastewaters. In recent years, the research interests in MECs have grown tremendously because of their high hydrogen conversion efficiency, low input energy requirement, and applicability to many organic feedstocks. Consequently, the MEC technology has been rapidly advancing. However, MECs are still in the early stages; several technical challenges remain prior to scale-up and their real-world application. Much work is needed on biofilm engineering, reactor architectures, and electrode materials to improve overall performances of system. This chapter presents an introduction to the MEC technology and its operating principle, electron transfer mechanism. Furthermore, the most crucial factors to enhance performance of MEC such as the MEC reactor design and materials are comprehensively reviewed. Finally, the main technical challenges and future research directions are discussed.
