One-year operation of 1000-L modularized microbial fuel cell for municipal wastewater treatment.

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) power performance improvement through enhanced microbial electrogenicity.

Electrochemical wastewater and soil treatments are exciting set of technologies that has been well-studied over the recent years as one of the most-effective remediation techniques for the removal of hazardous pollutants from liquids effluents and soil. The main requirement of these technologies is electricity and their sustainability can be largely improved if they are powered by renewable energy sources. Likewise, this green energy powering can help to apply these technologies in remote areas, such as rural communities in developing countries, where no electricity grid is available. This review presents a comprehensive discussion on fundamental concepts and applications of renewable energy driven electrochemical technologies for treating hazardous pollutants in wastewater and contaminated soils. In the first section, the fundamentals of different electrochemical remediation technologies are presented, whereas the next two sections focused on the most applied technologies for powering these electrochemical devices: the solar photovoltaic (PV) (Section 3) and the wind turbines (Section 4). After that, the non-near future is faced with the study of the principles of biomass energy production and how bioelectrochemical systems are starting to be evaluated for powering electrochemical technologies (Section 5). Then, new approaches in the renewable energy driven electrochemical technologies such as triboelectric nanogenerators and photocatalytic fuel cells are described in Section 6. The last section focused on the challenges expected for the near future, describing the most promising storage system and evaluating the scale-up, environmental and economic concerns of the technologies studied in this work.

Renewable energies driven electrochemical wastewater/soil decontamination technologies: A critical review of fundamental concepts and applications

Bioelectrocatalysis is an interdisciplinary research field combining biocatalysis and electrocatalysis via the utilization of materials derived from biological systems as catalysts to catalyze the redox reactions occurring at an electrode. Bioelectrocatalysis synergistically couples the merits of both biocatalysis and electrocatalysis. The advantages of biocatalysis include high activity, high selectivity, wide substrate scope, and mild reaction conditions. The advantages of electrocatalysis include the possible utilization of renewable electricity as an electron source and high energy conversion efficiency. These properties are integrated to achieve selective biosensing, efficient energy conversion, and the production of diverse products. This review seeks to systematically and comprehensively detail the fundamentals, analyze the existing problems, summarize the development status and applications, and look toward the future development directions of bioelectrocatalysis. First, the structure, function, and modification of bioelectrocatalysts are discussed. Second, the essentials of bioelectrocatalytic systems, including electron transfer mechanisms, electrode materials, and reaction medium, are described. Third, the application of bioelectrocatalysis in the fields of biosensors, fuel cells, solar cells, catalytic mechanism studies, and bioelectrosyntheses of high-value chemicals are systematically summarized. Finally, future developments and a perspective on bioelectrocatalysis are suggested.

Fundamentals, Applications, and Future Directions of Bioelectrocatalysis.

Development And modification of materials to build cost-effective Anodes for microbial fuel cells (MFCs): An overview

Recent advances in the development and utilization of modern anode materials for high performance microbial fuel cells

We demonstrate a new form of capillary force experienced by neutrally buoyant spherical particles adsorbed simultaneously at both interfaces of a thin liquid film of spatially varying thickness. The force is proportional to the slope of the interface and the difference between the local contact angle and the equilibrium value, and exists even when the two bounding interfaces have zero curvature. We derive the expression for the force, which when balanced against the hydrodynamic drag gives the trajectory of the particle. The measured trajectories for spherical particles of varying diameters in thin films compare well with predictions.

Capillary-Induced Motion of Particles Bridging Interfaces of a Free-Standing Thin Liquid Film.

We report a novel method for the fabrication of large area, free standing monolayer films of close-packed colloidal particles. The method involves creating a free-standing, wet film of colloidal dispersion containing mono-dispersed hard particles (such as polystyrene or silica) mixed with smaller and softer polymer particles. During drying, hard particles present in the free standing film arrange in a hexagonal close-packed structure in a monolayer while the softer particles fill the interstices, and deform and coalesce to produce a continuous matrix around the hard particles. The deformation of the soft particles dissipates the stress generated during drying thereby preventing rupture of the monolayer film. The method is facile and very general, applicable to a large variety of colloidal particles. The monolayer films exhibit strong iridescence indicating potential application in photonic devices.

Free-standing monolayer films of ordered colloidal particles

We report a novel method for the fabrication of large area, free standing monolayer films of close-packed colloidal particles The method involves creating a free-standing, wet film of colloidal dispersion containing mono-dispersed hard particles (such as polystyrene or silica) mixed with smaller and softer polymer particles During drying, hard particles present in the free standing film arrange in a hexagonal close-packed structure in a monolayer while the softer particles fill the interstices, and deform and coalesce to produce a continuous matrix around the hard particles The deformation of the soft particles dissipates the stress generated during drying thereby preventing rupture of the monolayer film The method is facile and very general, applicable to a large variety of colloidal particles The monolayer films exhibit strong iridescence indicating potential application in photonic devices

Abhishek Yadav

Papers

Recent advances in the development and utilization of modern anode materials for high performance microbial fuel cells

Capillary-Induced Motion of Particles Bridging Interfaces of a Free-Standing Thin Liquid Film.

Free-standing monolayer films of ordered colloidal particles

Free-standing monolayer films of ordered colloidal particles.