Tubular ceramic performance as separator for microbial fuel cell: A review.

The depletion of unsustainable conventional energy sources and global warming issues create world demand for green energy sources. The microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology with the capability to convert environmental waste to energy can be improved with cheap ceramic material. The ceramic is structurally porous, thus allow a direct exchange of cation. The ceramic material also enhances stability thermally and chemically, non-ion selective characteristic, high mechanical strength, and easily washable. Commercially produced ceramic structures have been proven to reduce Chemical Oxygen Demand up to 92% and allow high power output. It is also comparatively durable in the long-term operation of MFC, compared to the commercially available membrane. The novelty of using tubular design is the efficient use of space, which leads to the possibility of scaling up. As a conclusion, a combination of both ceramic material and tubular design could be an excellent alternative separator for MFC. • Performance of ceramic membrane is on par or better than conventional membrane. • Ceramic membrane is 'hardy' against fouling and chemical scaling. • Cost per energy produced using ceramic membrane is more profitable than conventional membrane. • Tubular ceramic membrane is the most reported type of design. • Previous studies use multiple tubular design instead of single big volume cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]