A decade of plant-assisted microbial fuel cells: looking back and moving forward

Plant microbial fuel cells (PMFCs) have emerged as a renewable source of energy that can produce concurrent bioelectricity and biomass continuously in a clean, sustainable and efficient manner. The core idea lies in the conversion of the solar energy trapped by plants into electricity with the aid of bacterial actions in the rhizosphere of plants. PMFC research is still in an early phase. However, many stakeholders including private organizations, universities and individuals are currently experimenting with and building their own PMFC prototypes to improve the power delivered while exploiting complementary advantages such as treatment of wastewater. PMFC is a new technology and involves multidisciplinary fields ranging from the study of microbes to electrochemistry, electrical engineering, chemical engineering and plant science itself. The science of the relationship that exists among these aspects in terms of system performance is still not clarified. PMFC relies on a biological process and can be operated under mild operating conditions. After proof of the principle in 2008 on rhizosphere-mediated electricity production, many advancements have been made. This mini review aims to provide a concise update on PMFC research. Some important breakthroughs are mentioned, along with discussion of the present scenario and future directions.