Microbial fuel cells are biochemical factories which besides recycling wastewater are electricity generators, if their low power density can be scaled up. This also adds up to work on many factors responsible to increase the cost of running a microbial fuel cell. As a result, the first step is to use environment friendly dead organic algae biomass or even living algae cells in a microbial fuel cell, also referred to as microalgal microbial fuel cells. This can be a techno-economic aspect not only for treating textile wastewater but also an economical way of obtaining value added products and bioelectricity from microalgae. Besides treating wastewater, microalgae in its either form plays an essential role in treating dyes present in wastewater which essentially include azo dyes rich in synthetic ions and heavy metals. Microalgae require these metals as part of their metabolism and hence consume them throughout the integration process in a microbial fuel cell. In this review a detail plan is laid to discuss the treatment of industrial effluents (rich in toxic dyes) employing microbial fuel cells. Efforts have been made by researchers to treat dyes using microbial fuel cell alone or in combination with catalysts, nanomaterials and microalgae have also been included. This review therefore discusses impact of microbial fuel cells in treating wastewater rich in textile dyes its limitations and future aspects. 

A techno-economic approach for eliminating dye pollutants from industrial effluent employing microalgae through microbial fuel cells: Barriers and perspectives.

Green synthesis and characterizations of bi-functional Mo-doped ZnO nanostructures for antimicrobial and photocatalytic applications

Textile industries play a crucial role in Indian economy and also cause serious issues on environmental pollution. The demand of colors, fade-resistant garments, and other hue products are increasing in day-to-day lifestyle, triggering the blooming of dyeing industries. These factories utilize colossal volume of water and various chemical substances for dyeing process and release toxic organic pollutants such as organic azo-dyes, surfactants, and phenolic compounds with effluent to the environment which severely disturb the natural balance and affect all forms of living beings. Higher concentration of colored compounds in the effluent mixed with surface water reduces the flow of sunlight and prevents the photosynthetic process of aquatic vegetation. Also, it affects the fertility of agricultural land and health impacts in human and animals. The changes in physicochemical nature of surface and underground water quality due to textile effluent lead to water crisis. Conventional treatment methods are expensive and not sufficient in efficient removal of organic pollutants from the wastewater. Thus, economically and ecologically safe approaches are needed for the treatment of textile industry effluent to prevent and conserve natural resources without affecting the growth of this sector. In this chapter, eco-friendly techniques such as bioremediation, phytoremediation, coagulation process by natural coagulants, and biogenic nanomaterials applied for the removal of organic pollutants from the textile effluent are elaborately discussed.

S. K. Vinodini

Papers

An Overview on Eco-friendly Remediation of Toxic Organic Contaminants from Textile Dyeing Industry Wastewater