Mitigating membrane biofouling in biofuel cell system – A review

A biofuel cell (BFC) system can transform chemical energy to electrical energy through electrochemical reactions and biochemical pathways. However, BFC faced several obstacles delaying it from commercialization, such as biofouling. Theoretically, the biofouling phenomenon occurs when microorganisms, algae, fungi, plants, or small animals accumulate on wet surfaces. In most BFC, biofouling occurs by the accumulation of microorganisms forming a biofilm. Amassed biofilm on the anode is desired for power production, however, not on the membrane separator. This phenomenon causes severities toward BFCs when it increases the electrode’s ohmic and charge transfer resistance and impedes the proton transfer, leading to a rapid decline in the system’s power performance. Apart from BFC, other activities impacted by biofouling range from the uranium industry to drug sensors in the medical field. These fields are continuously finding ways to mitigate the biofouling impact in their industries while putting forward the importance of the environment. Thus, this study aims to identify the severity of biofouling occurring on the separator materials for implementation toward the performance of the BFC system. While highlighting successful measures taken by other industries, the effectiveness of methods performed to reduce or mitigate the biofouling effect in BFC was also discussed in this study.