Advances in anodes of microbial fuel cells for wastewater remediation and power generation

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are promising for realizing wastewater remediation and electricity co-generation, which may significantly promote the formation of an environmentally friendly, clean energy society. Unfortunately, most of the available MFCs show relatively low electricity generation. Anodes, the major component of MFCs, play the most critical role in electron transfer and organic decomposition, which directly determine the performance of MFCs. In the past decades, various carbonaceous materials and carbon-supported conductive composites have been extensively exploited to optimize the electron transfer on the anode due to their versatile properties, such as large surface area and excellent electrical conductivity. The development of anode materials with a particular structure and performance to satisfy field-scale long-term operation of MFCs remains a huge research challenge, which attracts great attention and urgently needs in-depth exploration of the material engineering of anodes for MFCs. In this review, recent advances in the development and optimization of anodes for MFCs are summarized, and applications of MFCs with advanced anodes in the remediation of different types of wastewater are discussed. Advances of anodes for promoting electron transfer, microbial attachment and organic decomposition are the main focuses. The superiorities of MFCs on different aspects of wastewater remediation are elucidated, along with perspectives on future research of MFCs, aiming to provide useful guidance in related fields.