Evaluating application of photosynthetic microbial fuel cell to exhibit efficient carbon sequestration with concomitant value-added product recovery from wastewater: A review

The emission of CO2 from industrial (24%) and different anthropogenic activities, like transportation (27%), electricity production (25%), and agriculture (11%), can lead to global warming, which in the long term can trigger substantial climate changes. In this regard, CO2 sequestration and wastewater treatment in tandem with bioenergy production through photosynthetic microbial fuel cell (PMFC) is an economical and sustainable intervention to address the problem of global warming and elevating energy demands. Therefore, this review focuses on the application of different PMFC as a bio-refinery approach to produce biofuels and power generation accompanied with the holistic treatment of wastewater. Moreover, CO2 bio-fixation and electron transfer mechanism of different photosynthetic microbiota, and factors affecting the performance of PMFC with technical feasibility and drawbacks are also elucidated in this review. Also, low-cost approaches such as utilization of bio-membrane like coconut shell, microbial growth enhancement by extracellular cell signalling mechanisms, and exploitation of genetically engineered strain towards the commercialization of PMFC are highlighted. Thus, the present review intends to guide the budding researchers in developing more cost-effective and sustainable PMFCs, which could lead towards the commercialization of this inventive technology.