Enhancing electrokinetics and desalination efficiency through catalysts and electrode modifications in microbial desalination cells.

Microbial desalination cells (MDCs) are considered as a sustainable technology for water desalination, wastewater treatment, and power generation. However, this neoteric technology suffers from different challenges, including sluggish oxygen reduction reaction and poor electron transfer from microbes to electrodes, ultimately leading to less power generation and desalination efficiency. This review delves into the intricate roles of both abiotic and biocatalysts in enhancing performance of MDCs through ion removal and charge transfer mechanisms. Detailed discussions highlight the comparative advantages and limitations of different catalyst types and insights into electrode modifications to optimise catalytic activity and biofilm formation. Further, recent advancements in electrode engineering, including surface coatings and integration of nanomaterial, geared towards enhancing efficiency of MDC and performance stability are discussed. Finally, future recommendations are provided, focusing on innovative catalyst designs, material integration, and considerations for scale-up and commercialisation, thereby offering a comprehensive roadmap for the continued advancement of MDC.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Makarand M. Ghangrekar reports financial support was provided by Praj Industries Pvt. Ltd. Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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