Durum wheat semolina-modified ceramic membranes as novel porous separators for enhanced power generation and wastewater remediation using microbial fuel cell

This proof-of-concept study describes the enhanced performance efficiency of the dual-chambered microbial fuel cell equipped with the fabricated unmodified ceramic membranes and ceramic membranes modified with 5 % and 10 % (w/w) durum wheat semolina in comparison with the commercially available Nafion^TM 117 membranes. The chemical oxygen demand removal efficiencies were determined to be 85.6 ± 0.1, 72.1 ± 0.2 and 68.6 ± 0.1 % for microbial fuel cell equipped with 10 % (w/w) semolina-modified, 5 % (w/w) semolina-modified and unmodified ceramic membrane, respectively, which indicated the improved wastewater treatment efficiency with increasing content of semolina. Preliminary studies showed that the 10 % (w/w) semolina-modified ceramic was cost-effective (64 USD/m²) with improved water uptake, good proton mobility, low oxygen diffusion in addition to the enhanced power and current density output. The semolina-modified ceramic membranes have the potential to become a cost-effective alternative for the high-efficiency production of bioelectricity using microbial fuel cells.