138
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of plant microbial fuel cell
Table 1 Factors affecting the performance of plant MFC
Parameters
MFC design
Wastewater
treatment (%)
Power density
(mW/m
2
)
References
Plant species
Ipomoea aquatic plant
COD—92%;
TN—90%
12.42
Liu et al. [3]
Electrode
material
Stainless steel (SS) vs.
graphite (G)
–
0.35 (SS);
0.12 (G)
Pamintuan and
Sanchez [4]
Electrode
placement
5 cm deep soil and 3 cm
overlaying water
–
0.72
Deng et al. [5]
Electrode
design
Flat plate design
COD—85%
440
Helder et al. [6]
Operating
conditions
Soil water content
(water logged soil)
–
10.13
Nguyen and
Nitisoravut [7]
Temperature 34 °C and
41 °C
–
1.9;
0.6
4.1 Plant Species
Selection of plant species in plant-MFC greatly affects the performance of MFC due
to rate of biomass formation, oxygen release rate, as well as root zone depth of
plant. Several plant species such as Ipomoea aquatica and Phragmites australis,
lemon grass, algae, and rice plants are widely used for plant and constructed wetland MFC. Marshy grasses, lemon grasses, and locally available grasses are widely
D. A. Jadhav et al.