ABSTRACT

Microbial Electrochemical Tehnologies (MET) are a recent research field related to environmental biotechnology. The main concept for its development is related to the ability of the microorganisms of producing electricity from organic matter degradation, using an insoluble electron acceptor (i.e. electrodes).
Thus, organic wastes could be converted into fuels using by using Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC). MFCs are devices in which one (or both) electrodes host an electrogenic biofilm, and they could be considered as the first attempt of application. New developments include biosensors, microbial desalination, bioremediation and microbial electrosynthesis using CO2.
It is important to indicate that in all aforementioned applications, the interaction between microorganisms and the electric conductive material is clue among other factors.
The communication is focused on the basic concepts and the new developments carried out by Bioelectrogenesis Research Group at University of Alcala and IMDEA Water.