The microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a device that generates electricity from organic material by bacteria that live on the electrodes of the anode and/or cathode chamber. In essence, it is very similar to a hydrogen fuel cell, but it has a lower power output. Since wastewater treatment reactors have a large reactor volume and organic material in wastewater must be purified anyway, such a lower power output may not be a problem. It is simply an added value to produce electricity even if the power output is lower. How does a conventional MFC work (pdf).

We perform research on MFCs with either a diverse community of bacteria or a pure bacterial culture in the anode or cathode chambers. Our tenet is to study the mechanisms of electron transfer from bacteria to the electrode or vice versa, to optimize the reactor conditions, to overcome current limiting factors, and to design practical reactor configurations. We have published papers on the upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC) a reactor concept that may be used one day as a practical wastewater treatment system that can produce electrical power. We are currently optimizing this type of configuration.

Zhen (Jason) He, Jeff Fornero, and Miriam Rosenbaum are the persons working on MFCs.