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Waste to Energy Conversion and Sustainable Recovery of Nutrients from Pee

Power - Recent Advancements in Urine-Fed MFCs

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DOI: 10.2174/1570193X16666191004101739

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Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, 17, 1-12 1

REVIEW ARTICLE

Waste to Energy Conversion and Sustainable Recovery of Nutrients from

Pee Power - Recent Advancements in Urine-fed MFCs

Natarajan Narayanana, Vasudevan Mangottirib,* and Kiruba Narayananb

a
Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi - 642003, Tamil
Nadu, India; bDepartment of Civil Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam - 638401,
Tamil Nadu, India

ARTICLEHISTORY
Received: July 27, 2019
Revised: September 04, 2019
Accepted: September 11, 2019
DOI:
10.2174/1570193X16666191004101739
Abstract: Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) offer a sustainable solution for alternative energy production
by employing microorganisms as catalysts for direct conversion of chemical energy of feedstock into
electricity. Electricity from urine (urine-tricity) using MFCs is a promising cost-effective technology
capable of serving multipurpose benefits - generation of electricity, waste alleviation, resource re-
covery and disinfection. As an abundant waste product from human and animal origin with high nu-
tritional values, urine is considered to be a potential source for extraction of alternative energy in the
coming days. However, developments to improve power generation from urine-fed MFCs at reason-
able scales still face many challenges such as non-availability of sustainable materials, cathodic limi-
tations, and low power density. The aim of this paper was to critically evaluate the state-of-the-art
research and developments in urine-fed MFCs over the past decade (2008-2018) in terms of their
construction (material selection and configuration), modes of operation (batch, continuous, cascade
etc.) and performance (power generation, nutrient recovery and waste treatment). This review identi-
fies the preference for sources of urine for MFC application from human beings, cows and elephants.
Among these, human urine-fed MFCs offer a variety of applications to practice in the real-world sce-
nario. One key observation is that, effective disinfection can be achieved by optimizing the operating
conditions and MFC configurations without compromising on performance. In essence, this review
demarcates the scope of enhancing the reuse potential of urine for renewable energy generation and
simultaneously achieving resource recovery.

Keywords: Bioenergy, disinfection, microbial fuel cells, nutrient extraction, resource recovery, urine, waste to energy.

1. INTRODUCTION final disposal since the accumulation of these elements can

As an abundant waste product at a global production rate
of 17.4 billion liters per day, urine requires special attention
for its proper treatment and disposal [1]. Including the urine
produced from farm livestock (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs,
which is about 4.15 billion) roughly three times as much as
that produced by human beings, the global annual production
of urine will mount up to about 6.4 trillion liters [2]. In most
of the conventional sanitation systems, flushing of urine
along with the feces to the septic tanks or to the wastewater
treatment plants is common. Nonetheless, the major source
of nutrients in municipal wastewater is human urine, which
accounts for 75% of the nitrogen, 50% of the phosphorus,
and 10% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) concentration
[3]. In fact, this necessitates tertiary treatments to remove
phosphorus and nitrogen from the wastewater before their
*Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Civil Engi-
neering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam -
638401, Tamil Nadu, India; Tel/Fax: +91-4295226112, +91-4295-226666;
E-mails: devamv@gmail.com; vasudevan@bitsathy.ac.in
1570-193X/20 $58.00+.00
lead to eutrophication. Moreover, struvite (transformation of
phosphate into magnesium ammonium phosphate) formation
from urine can block the water pipes in the plants, forcing
them to clean or replace, thereby adding up the operation and
maintenance cost of the plants [4, 5].
Apart from this, the stringent enforcement of rules on the
discharge of effluents from the industries has also led to the
search of novel methods of degrading the organic contami-
nants. In the recent past, a well-known approach of utilizing
urine for electricity production using microbial fuel cells
(MFC) was introduced [1, 6]. MFCs are unique in their ca-
pacity for treating organic waste and producing electricity
through bio-electrochemical reactions (Fig. 1).
The bacteria attached to the anode electrode by releasing
electrons, protons, and other smaller organic compounds into
the solution degrade the organic matter. These electrons flow
to the cathode through an external circuit generating electric
current (Fig. 2). The electricity generated from the MFCs,
known as “urine-tricity”, is one of the crucial technologies
that can generate electricity from waste without the input of
an external energy source.
© 2020 Bentham Science Publishers
2 Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00
Fig. (1). Various applications of MFCs.
Fig. (2). Schematic representation of a two-chamber microbial fuel
cell.
MFCs not only facilitate energy production, but also help
in the recovery of essential nutrients from urine. Resource
recovery of nitrogen as ammonia and phosphorus as struvite
has been extensively reported [2, 7-10]. The latest research
in this direction has revealed that MFCs are also capable of
providing satisfactory disinfection of pathogens in the urine.
Apart from human urine, researchers have also started inves-
tigating the potential of using cow’s urine and elephant’s
urine in the production of electricity. Nonetheless, so far
there is no quantitative evaluation of these emerging con-
cepts on improving the synergetic aspects of MFCs for effec-
tive power generation and resource recovery from urines of
various origins. The present study reviews the state of the art
technology with a broad preview on its practical implemen-
tation such as modular design, performance and associated
technical challenges. The progress of urine-fed MFC over
the past decade covers three major scopes: recent advances
in MFC materials, configuration and mode of operation of
MFCs and performance assessment of MFCs. Since most of
the literature on urine-fed MFCs focus on human urine, the
major discussion deliberately addresses this theme while the
developments of MFCs with urine from other animals origin
find special mention. Nonetheless, it emerges as an inevita-
Narayanan et al.
ble outcome of the increasing demand for sustainable energy
resources and efforts towards optimizing power production.
2. DEVELOPMENTS IN MFC DESIGN
2.1. Selection of Electrodes and Other Construction Ma-
terials
The selection of materials is a crucial step in MFC de-
sign, not only during feasibility studies, but also in scaling
up of reactors. As one of the major factors influencing the
performance of MFC is the electron transfer between elec-
trodes, a good quantum of research is available based on the
preparation of low-cost and efficient materials as electrodes,
catalysts and proton exchange separators [11]. Table 1 pro-
vides a comprehensive list of the construction materials used
in human urine-fed MFCs.
2.1.1. Cathode Materials
As far as the cathodic catalyst is concerned, platinum (Pt)
often employed in MFCs due to its biocompatibility and high
performance. Santoro et al. [12] investigated a novel treat-
ment process for human urine with membrane-less single-
chamber microbial fuel cells (SCMFCs). The performance of
this system was tested with Pt-based and Pt-free cathode for
over 1000 hours of operation. The results suggested that the
performance of urine-fed MFC was anode-limited as the
anodic performance was not affected by the rise of pH from
5.4 - 6.4 to 9 due to urea hydrolysis. The initial current gen-
erated was 0.13-0.15mA and later stabilized at 0.1mA. The
Pt-based cathode power decreased from 0.18-0.23mA to
0.13mA.
Santoro et al. [13] further conducted a similar study for a
longer duration (1000 hours) under the batch-mode operation
of MFCs using Pt-based cathode to explore the chemical
removal and nitrogen/phosphorus harvesting in MFCs. The
power generation (55µW) with Pt was higher than that of Pt-
free cathodes (23µW) at the beginning of the operation but
the difference reduced with time. Up to 75% reduction of
COD in urine resulted after 4 days of treatment. The ammo-
nium concentration significantly increased while the reduc-
tion in sulfate concentration was nominal due to its simulta-
neous transformation to hydrogen sulfide. Calcium and mag-
nesium precipitation dropped at high pH, and phosphorus
concentration decreased by 20-50% due to struvite formation
on the cathode surface and at the bottom of the anodic chamber.
Chouler et al. [22] developed an innovative air-cathode
miniature MFC and investigated the effect of the electrode
length. They found that doubling the electrode length in-
creases the power density by an order of magnitude (from
0.053 to 0.580 W/m3). The usage of biomass-derived redox
reaction catalysts (at the cathode) increased the power densi-
ty generation by the MFC up to 1.95 W/m3. The small-scale
air cathode microbial fuel cells were prototyped using the 3D
printed molds.
2.1.2. Anode Materials
Finding a suitable anode material for increasing the per-
formance and biocompatibility has been a hot topic for
Waste to Energy Conversion and Sustainable Recovery of Nutrients Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00 3

Table 1. Specifications of the main components used in the construction of MFCs fed with human urine.

Reference Anode Cathode Separator Current Collector

Three analytical type MFCs made

[1] Open to air cathode half cell (25ml) Cation exchange membrane -
of acrylic with 25ml anode

Carbon fibre veil electrodes with

Open air cathodes, Hot pressed activated
12 layers of 4.18 cm2 (width: 2.2 Cation exchange chamber with Nickel chromium
[2] carbon with a macro surface area of 4.9
cm, length: 1.9 cm) with 6.25 ml 25mm diameter wire
cm2
capacity

Anode -9cm2 made of carbon felt Pt coated carbon paper (4cm2, 2mg/cm2
[8] - -
(without wet proofing) load)

A cylindrical tube (2.2cm dia and

Ni/C inks were printed onto pre- 2.5 cm long) with saturated KCl
[9] treated carbon cloth(4cm2) with Bare carbon cloth as catalyst free cathode blocked by cation exchange mem- -
Ni loading of 8mg/cm2 as anode brane(Nafion) and anion exchange
membrane on both sides

Membrane electrode assembly

(100cm2) produced by hot pressing
[10] Graphite felt Pt coated Ti felt -
a platinum coated titanium fine
mesh

Carbon brush with a titanium wire Platinum based (0.25mg Pt/cm2load)and

Single MFC chamber (130ml) air
[12] for connection used as material Pt free carbon cloth with a microporous -
cathode
for anode (6x4cm) layer

130ml chamber, Carbon brush Air cathodes, carbon cloth coated with
[13] - -
with surface area of 24 cm2 microporous layer conductive ink

Carbon felt with surface area of

[14] Carbon felt with surface area of 755cm2 Wall material of clayware pot -
394cm2

80g of Activated carbon with 20% PTFE

mix was applied on carbon veil and hot
[15] Piece of carbon veil (90x27 cm2) - Stainless steel wire
pressed resulting in carbon electrode of
90cm2

90x27cm2 untreated carbon veil

Gas diffusion electrode with carbon veil Stainless steel wire
[16] with density of 30g/cm2, Anode -
as support material and microporous layer (0.5mm)
chamber – 200ml

Carbon veil (20g/cm2) with sur- Activated carbon (30%wet proofed with
[17] - Ni-Cr wire
face area of 2430 cm2 PTFE) – 90cm2

Carbon veil with load of 20g/cm2 Graphite print with loading of 0.851gC
[18] - Ni-Cr wire
and surface area of 252 cm2 and surface area of 24.18 cm2

Carbon veil folded and wrapped

Carbon veil (25cm2) coated with mixture
[19] on the ceramic cylinder (surface - Ni-Cr wire
of carbon and each binder.
area 420cm2)

Carbon veil fibre with total sur- Carbon micro-porous materials with 5mm spacer between anode and
[20] -
face area of 30000 cm2 surface area of 3612 cm2 cathode

X-Shape skeleton for electrodes

3DP-Ti and 3DP-SS were made
[21] X-Shape skeleton for electrodes - -
of microporous cubes of size
1cmx1cmx1cm
4 Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00
research in MFC studies [23-27]. Many studies have shown
that a three-dimensional (3D) structure is most beneficial for
the anodes [28-33]. Zhou et al. [21] used three-dimensional
printing (3DP) technology to fabricate 3D structure anodes
which is advantageous in improving the performance of the
MFC. Macro-porous 3D anodes for MFCs fabricated by 3DP
and polyaniline (PANI) surface modification resulted in
good electrochemical performance. The power densities of
MFCs equipped with PANI-modified 3DP anodes were
0.934 W/m3 for PANI/3DP-Stainless steel skeleton anode
and 0.798 W/m3 for PANI/3DP-Titanium alloy skeleton an-
ode. PANI/3DP-SS is more biocompatible when compared
to PANI/3DP-Ti.
2.1.3. Catalysts and Support Materials
Ceramic materials have proven to be suitable as elec-
trodes and separators due to their low cost, abundance in
nature, high thermal and chemical stability [19, 34-37]. Re-
cently Jimenez et al. [15] performed a study to analyze the
effect of ceramic wall/membrane thickness, in terms of pow-
er as well as catholyte production from MFCs using urine as
a feedstock. For this, a series of cylindrical MFCs were ar-
ranged in fine fire clay of different thicknesses (2.5mm, 5m
and 10mm). The power generation increased when the thick-
ness of the ceramic membrane decreased, reaching 2.1 ±
0.19mW per single MFC, which was 50% higher than that of
MFCs with the thickest membrane of 10mm [16]. The
amount of catholyte collected reduced with a decrease in
wall thickness but the pH and the total solids accumulation
increased. The catholyte production with 2.5mm thick MFC
membrane was 44.3 cm3/7 days’ operation under 100Ω load-
ing and 56.6cm3/7 days operation under open-circuit voltage.
Although platinum cathode is good in performance, the
high cost of platinum leads to the development of alternative
materials like activated carbon (AC). To fix the AC layer to
an electrode, support materials like poly-tetra-fluoro-
ethylene (PTFE) and Nafion are found to be the best binders.
However, the cost of PTFE is roughly 500 times lower than
that of Nafion, but the performance of PTFE based elec-
trodes is generally lower in comparison and they are also
proven to be toxic in nature [38]. Sagar-Garcia et al. [19]
used four non-flourinated and low-cost polymers (Poly vinyl
chloride (PVC), Ludox (colloidal silica), chitosan and sili-
cone) as binders to investigate the best alternative to PTFE.
PVC, Ludox and chitosan confirmed as suitable materials for
the construction of MFC. Among them, Ludox and chitosan
were the most sustainable options due to their chemical na-
ture. Cathodes prepared with 2.5 % weight of chitosan, being
8 times less than the amount needed for PTFE in MFCs,
reached a maximum power output of 510 µW, which repre-
sented 60.3% of the power output from MFCs with PTFE
cathodes. The COD removal was the highest with chitosan-
based MFCs (26%) in comparison with PTFE based cath-
odes with only 23.5%. The performance of iron-based elec-
tro-catalyst showed improved power generation (44.8mW/
m3) compared with metal-free materials [20]. This study also
supports ceramic material for MFC design because of low
cost, simple operation and effective nutrient recovery.
Narayanan et al.
In a remarkable study on composite materials, a ternary
composite from active carbon, nano-materials and conduc-
tive polymer improved the performance of air cathode MFCs
with prolonged life guarantee [21]. The highest power and
current density values reported from the study were
3525mW/m2 and 9153mA/m2 respectively. Their study illus-
trated the significance of surface modifications to improve
the structural stability of high performance of air cathode
MFCs.
With respect to another aspect, sediment MFC (SMFC)
offers compact reactor architecture and substrate-dependent
microbial growth with simultaneous environmental remedia-
tion under practical conditions. In an interesting study, nano-
chitosan enriched sediment MFC exhibited 2-3 folds better
power density (59.48 mW/m2) and current density
(290.45mA/m2) than its primitive versions [22]. In account
of biodegradability, solubility, size and surface area, nano-
sized chitosan showed improved performance.
2.2. Factors Affecting MFC Design
Research on the specifications of the materials for elec-
trode and MFCs is at the beginning stage and requires more
attention. The thickness of the MFCs, nature of the material
used as anode and cathode, and the structure of the elec-
trodes that are used are some of the important parameters
while designing urine fed MFCs for power generation. The
characteristic of the urine also plays a critical role in the
power production process. As mentioned earlier, diluted
urine can reduce the power generation and similarly, urine
mixed with sea salt produces more electricity compared to
raw urine. Human urine finds its way for various other day-
to-day applications like charging of mobile phones and smart
phones. This provides a hope that in the future, urine fed
MFCs find their way in the operation of other electrical ap-
pliances at the domestic level. This technique efficiently
reduced organic loading in terms of COD, total nitrogen,
phosphate and ammonia with simultaneous power genera-
tion. Another important feature is the configuration of multi-
ple cells in MFCs. The open-circuit voltage observed in a
series-stacked MFC was high (1363 ± 49mV) compared to
parallel connection (962 ± 21mV), but the trend was reverse
for current density (8.23A/m3 for series against 11.84
A/m3for parallel). Though numerical additions were not pos-
sible to calculate the net power output, the performance of
the low performing cell limits the overall performance [14].
MFCs can also be versatile for generating electricity as well
as disinfection of pathogens, making them adaptable for
treatment of wastewater in addition to power generation (Fig.
3). Table 2 provides details of the MFC configurations from
recent literature.
3. PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF URINE-FED
MFCS
3.1. Power Generation and Pollutants Removal
Ieropoulos et al. [1] conducted the first study on the utili-
zation of urine in MFCs for the production of electricity. The
injection of urine has resulted in increased current production
Waste to Energy Conversion and Sustainable Recovery of Nutrients Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00 5

Table 2. Operational conditions for urine-fed MFCs.

External Retention
Reference MFC Configuration Inoculation Temperature Feed Rate
Load Time

Three analytical type half-cell Anolyte @4ml/min

Microflora from activated
[1] MFCs made of acrylic with ca- - - & catholyte
sludge
pacity 25ml each @30ml/min

96 mL/hr – 48
[2] 6.25 mL capacity Activated sewage sludge 1KΩ 22 ± 20C
mL/hr

Anaerobic sludge collected

Single chamber air cathode cell
[8] from a upflow anaerobic - 250C Batch mode
(working volume of 110mL)
sludge blanket reactor

[10] - - - 20 ± 20C

Batch mode- membrane-less Pt-

[13] - 1KΩ 30 ± 20C
based single chamber 0.13 L

Dual chambered; 2.5L cathodic Mixed anaerobic septic tank 30 ± 0.28 kg

[14] 100Ω No control
chamber and 0.4L anodic chamber bottom sludge COD/m3

50:50 mix of activated sew-

Terracottaa cylindrical (200ml
[15] age sludge and fresh human 2KΩ 22 ± 20C 296 ml/ MFC/ day 23 h
capacity)
urine

Cylindrical ceramic MFCs using

fine fire clay with 3 different wall Mix of 50% activated sewage
[16] 2KΩ 22 ± 20C
thickness, Cylinder ht- 84mm, sludge and 50% fresh urine
external dia. -48mm

Terracotta cylinders sealed at one

end:Length 100mm, outside dia.
[17] - - -
Of 42mm and inside dia. Of
36mm, thickness of 3mm

Ceramic earthenware cylinder,

[18] - - -
Interval volume of MFC-11.4ml

5cm tall fine fire clay cylinders

1:1 ratio of activated sewage
[19] sealed at bottom with external dia 500Ω -
sludge and neat human urine
2.2cm and internal dia. 1.75cm

Anolyte effluent from estab-

lished MFCs running under
[20] - - 22 ± 0.50C
long term continuous flow
conditions with urine

Mixed bacterial culture with

[21] 1KΩ 350C
domestic waste water

Two geometries – one with short

length and other with longer
length. Both consist of a single
[22] chamber made of a rectangular - - -
piece of Polydimethylsiloxane and
sandwitched between two Perspex
plates

[39] - Luria broth - -

6 Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00
Fig. (3). Points of specific research strategies in urine-fed MFCs.
Fig. (4). Schematic representation of hydraulic and electrical flow
lines in a microbial fuel cell.
in MFC from 0.9mA/m2 to 2.9mA/m2 within a period of one
hour from the point of injection. However, the initial rate of
increase at the point of injection was 0.2 mA/m2/min, which
decreased to 0.02 mA/m2 during the first hour. The power
output continued to increase until it reached a peak value of
8mA/m! ± 0.5mA/m! . They also observed that power
generation is limited by the reactor capacity (25ml) as effi-
ciency decreased from 60-70% to 20-30% when the cell vol-
ume increased from 25ml to 700ml. Kuntke et al. [10] used
the MFC to recover ammonia and generate electricity simul-
taneously. The recovery of ammonia was successful from the
liquid-gas boundary through volatilization and subsequent
absorption into an acid solution. The rate of ammonia recov-
ery was 3.29 g/d/m2 at a current density of 0.5 A/m2. The
energy balance showed that energy produced in excess than
that needed for the ammonium recovery. Table 3 provides
details of the performance studies on urine-fed MFCs based
on the literature.
Narayanan et al.
Advances in MFC design have reached new heights with
the advancement of material characterization techniques.
However, the scope of advancement in MFC design exists in
the modifications of flow arrangement, incorporating materi-
al recovery arrangements in-line with MFC operations etc.
(Fig. 4).
In order to maximize urine utilization in terms of electric-
ity generation and struvite recovery, You et al. [2] developed
a 3-stage MFC/struvite extraction process system and tested
its feasibility. In total, 20% of COD and 82% phosphate of
undiluted human urine removed with the help of a three-
stage system. The power produced was in the range of 14.32
W/m3 and 11.76W/m3 from the first and third stages of the
system, respectively. Xu et al. [9] showed the method of
reducing Cr (VI) by human urine with self-generation elec-
tricity via a urine/Cr (VI) fuel cell in which urine functions
as fuel and Cr (VI) serves as an oxidant. The maximum
power density reached was 3.4 W/m2 with an open-circuit
voltage of 1.3 V. More than 90% of the Cr (VI) reduced with
coulombic efficiency of more than 98%; meanwhile, the total
carbon and nitrogen in urine were also removed with 78%
efficiency.
Zang et al. [8] used an integrated approach for the recov-
ery of slow-release fertilizer and electricity combining pre-
cipitation of magnesium ammonium phosphate with an
MFC. Without the dosage of phosphate, the removal effi-
ciencies of phosphate, ammonia and COD were 94.6%,
28.6% and 64.9% and power output was 2.6 W/m3. With a
dosing of 620 mg/l of PO4 3—P, the removal efficiencies
were reported to be 42.6%, 40% and 62.4%, and a power
output of 0.9 W/m3 was achieved.
Jimenez et al. [15] investigated the effect of magnesium
additives on catholyte generation and the power output of the
MFCs. Several magnesium sources such as MgCl2, artificial
seawater, commercially available sea salt mixture for
Waste to Energy Conversion and Sustainable Recovery of Nutrients Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00 7

Table 3. Performance comparison of different urine-fed MFCs.

Source of the Current/ Voltage

Reference MFC Configuration Power Generation Nutrient Recovery
Urine Output

Average of 0. 25mA Improved N,P,K recov-

[1] Human urine - with a peak of 8mA/m2 ery under excess carbon
± 0.5mA/m2 addition

Neat untreated Power density 14.32 Struvite recovery in

Four MFC cascaded with 6.25
[2] and undiluted W/m3; Output power 294 4.2 V terms of 82% of phos-
mL capacity each
human urine mW phate and 20% of COD

94.6% of PO43- and

Single chamber air cathode 28.6% NH4+-N through
Internal resistance
[8] Human urine cell (working volume of Output power 2.6 W/m3 Magnesium Ammoni-
261Ω
110mL) um Phosphate (MAP)
precipitation

h-type cells ((2.2 cm diame- Open circuit voltage of

[9] Human urine 34000mW/m2
ter, 2.5 cm length) 1.3V

Current density of
250mW/m2 for real urine;
0.5A/m2 for real urine;
[10] Human urine - 222mW/m2 for synthetic
0.47 A/m2 for synthetic
urine
urine

55µW with Pt based cath- COD removal efficien-

Pt-based single chamber MFC
[12] Human urine ode; 23µW with Pt free Output current 0.23 mA cy of 60 -75% in 4-day
- 0.13 L
cathode cycles

0.13-0.15mA for Pt free

Batch mode membrane-less cathode and 0.18-
[13] Human urine
single chamber 0.23mA for Pt based
cathode

Power density of 52.87 ±

Dual chambered; 2.5L ca-
4.50mW/m2 & 5.23 W/m3 1.36 ± 0.05 V (series); COD removal efficien-
[14] Cow urine thodic chamber and 0.4L
@ feed rate of 3 kg 48 A/m3 (parallel) cy 82 ± 4.1%
anodic chamber
COD/m3

Terracotta ceramic cylinders

2055 ± 268 µW for urine
[15] Human urine (11cm ht, 42 cm ext. dia and 94 % struvite recovery
+ seawater
2mm thickness)

Cylindrical ceramic MFCs 2.1 ± 0.19mW (2.5mm

using fine fire clay with 3 thick MFC), 1.8 ±
[16] Human urine different wall thickness, Cyl- 0.12mW(5mm thick
inder ht- 84mm, external dia. MFC), 1.4 ± 0.21mW
-48mm (10mm thick MFC)

Terracotta cylinders sealed at

one end: Length 100mm,
[17] Human urine 4mA
outside dia. 42mm, inside dia.
36mm, thickness of 3mm

Ceramic earthenware cylin-

[18] Human urine der, Interval volume of MFC- 60µW
11.4ml

15.1 kJ for direct charging

of 1000mA h battery and
[20] Human urine -
25.7 kJ for direct charging
of 1650mA h battery

0.798 W/m3 for

[21] Human urine PANI/3DP-Ti and 0.934
W/m3 for PANI/3DP-SS

(Table 3) contd…
8 Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00 Narayanan et al.

Source of the Current/ Voltage

Reference MFC Configuration Power Generation Nutrient Recovery
Urine Output

Two geometries – one with

short length and other with
longer length. Both consist of
a single chamber made of a
[22] Artificial urine 1.95W/m3
rectangular piece of Polydi-
methylsiloxane and sand-
witched between two Perspex
plates

[25] Human urine - Power density of 2.6W/m3

65 ± 10 µW for pilT mu-

[39] Human urine - tant and 24 ± 4 µW for
PAO1

3.5mA with salt bridge;

Plastic anaerobic container of
[40] Cow urine 20mA without salt
1.5 l capacity
bridge

0.53mA with salt

[41] Cow urine - bridge; 20mA without
salt bridge

PIC micro-controller assisted

[42] Elephant urine system for anaerobic sludge 12V per 3 liter of urine
based-feed

Series and parallel configura- 1.222W from 4 liters in 24

[43] Cow urine
tion hours

seawater preparation (SeaMix), deionized water mixed with
the real fresh human urine have been used in order to en-
hance the struvite precipitation. The commercial SeaMix
showed the best performance in terms of the struvite precipi-
tation (94%) and power production increased by over 10%.
The properties of the catholyte observed also changed in
terms of increased pH, conductivity and concentration of
chloride ions. They also observed that diluted urine reduces
power generation.
Walter et al. [23] investigated the use of power generated
from the MFCs fed with urine for the charging of mobile
phones. Direct charging of 1000mA h battery took 42 hours
with 4.2 liters of urine, while it took 68 hours to fully charge
a 1650mA h battery in a smartphone in OFF condition and
82 hours in ON condition. On the other hand, conventional
battery charging using built-in energy management circuitry
took 68 hours for the 1000mA h battery and 110 hours for
the 1650mA h battery used in smartphones. Shreeram et al.
[39] used an MFC operated by a genetically engineered bac-
terial strain for the generation of electricity. They observed a
2.7 fold increase in the peak power density by using a pilT
mutant of the gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeru-
ginosa compared to a mild type strain PAO1. They also re-
ported that the absence of twitching motility and increased
piliation increased the power output.
3.2. Nutrient Recovery Systems
The nutrient content of municipal wastewater serves the
purpose of energy production through various means. Con-
ventionally, bio-energy recovery relies on anaerobic diges-
tion or cultivation of micro-algae for mixed wastewater ap-
plications [24]. The available methods for nutrient recovery
include struvite precipitation (to recover nitrogen and phos-
phorous), anammox (nitrogen removal) and advanced oxida-
tion and nanofiltration processes for the removal of mi-
cropollutants. Simultaneous removal of two important nutri-
ents namely phosphorus and nitrogen is achieved by magne-
sium ammonium phosphate (MAP) precipitation as a unique
successful process in urine-fed MFCs.
An up-scaled undiluted urine-fed MFC cascade system
showed sustained power production (150mW) over a hydrau-
lic retention time of 44 hours sufficiently capable of meeting
the lighting requirements and power storage [25]. The MFC
stack system was also effective in reducing organic loading
(COD by 48% and nitrogen by 13%).
3.3. Pathogen Removal
Gadja et al. [17] reported that the catholyte generated in
the internal chamber of the MFC demonstrated bactericidal
properties, compared to the control (open-circuit) diffusate,
and reduced biofilm formation on the cathode electrode. The
resulting bacterial kill curves confirmed the killing effects of
MFCs in operation. The COD removal/g was higher in
MFCs in an open-circuit voltage than MFCs that were in
working condition. Similarly, the total nitrogen/mg removal
from the anolyte was higher in MFCs in an open-circuit volt-
age compared to MFCs in working condition.
Ieropoulos et al. [18] investigated the fate of pathogenic
bacteria under the continuous operation of MFCs for the first
time. Salmonella bacterium was introduced into the MFC
Waste to Energy Conversion and Sustainable Recovery of Nutrients Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00 9

Table 4. Construction details of MFCs fed with urine from other animal origin.

Reference Urine source Anode Cathode Additional Features

Carbon Rods 15cm length and Zinc Rods 15cm length and 1.0cm Salt bridge with agar
[40] Cow urine
1.5cm diameter diameter as separator

[41] Cow urine - -

2
[42] Elephant urine Surface area – 10 cm Surface area – 10 cm2

[43] Cow urine Zinc plate Copper plate

Open air cathode, carbon cloth,

carbon cloth, surface area of 16mm2
surface area of 16mm2 for
[22] Artificial urine for MFC_small and 32mm2 for
MFC_small and 32mm2 for
MFC_large
MFC_large

[14] Cow urine carbon felt surface area of 394 cm2 carbon felt surface area of 755 cm2

cascade system treating urine, to determine the anodic killing
efficacy when operating in continuous flow conditions. A
number of viable counts and the level of bioluminescence
could reduce them up to 4.43 and 4.21-log fold respectively.
On the other hand, the killing efficacy for MFCs operating
under closed-circuit conditions was higher by 1.69 and 1.72
log fold reduction when compared to open circuit MFCs.
They managed to reduce the pathogens significantly, but
they did not reduce them down to zero.
4. MFCS FED WITH URINE FROM OTHER ANIMAL
ORIGIN
4.1. Cow Urine-fed MFCs
Very few studies only reported on electricity production
using cow’s urine. Vignesh and Rani [46] used cow’s urine
to generate electricity. The values of current of 1.4mA, 0.7V
and 1.2mA, 0.2V were obtained using wastewater as a medi-
ator. Similarly, when cow’s urine is the mediator, the provi-
sion of a salt bridge resulted in 0.53mA, 0.878V and without
salt bridge, it resulted in 20mA, 1.35V. Therefore, the BOD
(biological oxygen demand) and COD also reduced. The
electrogenic Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also isolated. A
very similar study by Mali et al. [40] used sewage water and
other industrial effluents to generate the power of 0.9-1.5V,
sufficient to light an LED. Agar salt bridge served as the
membrane. The COD reduced during the process. In addi-
tion, the electrogenic bacteria including the bacillus species
and pseudomonas species were also successfully isolated.
The current produced using cow’s urine was 3.5mA using
the salt bridge and 20mA without the use of salt bridge. They
produced the higher current compared to that with other ma-
terials like sewage water, agro waste and dairy waste. Hasan
et al. [48] generated electricity from cow urine-fed MFCs.
They were able to generate electricity of 287mA using 4
liters of cow’s urine and 187 mA of current using 5 liters of
cow’s urine in 24 hours duration. With time, the magnitude
of current generated reduced while using 4 liters as well as 5
liters of urine. Table 4 gives more insights into the studies
using animal urine-fed MFCs.
The treatment of cow’s urine was explored in the clay-
ware MFC for the first time by Jadhav et al. [14]. They in-
vestigated the effect of different concentrations of cow’s
urine in the feed and an improvement in the power output of
MFC was obtained with an increase in the feed concentration
from 1.5 to 3 kg COD/m3, however, further increase in the
influent COD up to 30 kg COD/m3decreased the power out-
put. While these studies focused on the generation of elec-
tricity using cow’s urine, the effect of concentration of urine
to enhance the performance of the MFC was not studied by
them. Moreover, the internal resistance was high in the salt
bridge MFC model and the attainment of maximum urine
treatment efficiency was not exploited [14]. The power out-
put obtained with an optimum feed of 3 kg COD/m3 in the
MFC was significantly higher when compared to that ob-
tained from MFC treating elephant’s urine [47], raw cow’s
urine [45] and even human urine [1]. The COD removal of
77 ± 3.7% attained with this feed of 3 kg COD/m3 was
significantly higher than 65% obtained using human urine
[30]. Some of the salient features of their study include high
COD removal, low-cost fabrication of MFC, inexpensive
clayware separator, and low internal resistance. Moreover, to
study the grouping effect of MFC units, they also evaluated
the effect of electrical connections of electrodes such as in-
dividual, series and parallel connections on the performance
of MFC. Using two MFCs fed with diluted cow’s urine, they
achieved a maximum voltage of 1.36 ± 0.05𝑉 in series
connection and maximum current of 48 A/m3 in parallel
connection.
Very few studies on electricity generation have been car-
ried out using cow’s urine. The concentration of cow’s urine
plays a major role in the magnitude of generated power. Di-
luted cow’s urine produces more power when compared to
raw cow urine. Some of the topics for further exploration in
this line include the effect of various types and shapes of
electrode materials on power generation, the effect of differ-
ent MFC thicknesses on power generation, usage of cow’s
urine for charging batteries and mobile phones, disinfection
of microbes, etc.
10 Mini-Reviews in Organic Chemistry, 2020, Vol. 17, No. 00
4.2. Elephant Urine-fed MFCs
Gireeshan et al. [48] used MFC to generate electricity us-
ing elephant urine. They were able to generate 12V from 3
liters of urine. The surface area of the anode and cathode was
10 cm2. This is the only study that was conducted on elec-
tricity generation using elephant urine. From the authors’
perspective, while this solution of using elephant urine seems
to be very promising for alternative energy generation, the
access to elephant urine is very limited in today’s scenario.
5. FUTURE PERSPECTIVE
An important strategy for enhancing the power produc-
tion from urine-fed MFC lies in innovative system architec-
ture and layout that can offer minimum internal resistance.
Similarly, modifications in electrode spacing and selection of
air cathode system can lead to extract maximum power den-
sity. For scaling up some of the efficient laboratory-scale
models, future designers will need to come up with structur-
ally stable supporting materials having coatings that are
more conductive [49]. The electrochemical capabilities of
the consortium of microbial communities on the anode sur-
face keep scope for extending the performance of urine-fed
MFCs. It is also challenging to identify the microbial com-
munity that can sustain high power production for mixed
urine-based substrates with improved substrate degradation
rates, improved nutrient recovery and increased biofilm con-
ductance [50]. As technology brings changes in the separa-
tion of human urine from feces in toilets as well as the col-
lection of animal urines effectively, it is highly imperative to
have large-scale MFCs with improved power production in
the near future.
CONCLUSION
This paper systematically analyzes and summarizes the
research works carried out on urine-fed MFCs over the past
decade. Ideally, urine-fed MFCs are very effective in simul-
taneously achieving power generation, resource recovery,
pathogen removal and urine treatment. The advancement in
materials research has brought about a revolution in improv-
ing output power production, minimizing the internal re-
sistance and reducing the space requirements. A variety of
composite materials are effective as catalysts while surface
modifications on the air cathode system find new horizons
based on nanotechnology. Researchers have used urine only
from human beings, cows and elephants for electricity gen-
eration. There is good scope for research from the viewpoint
of investigating the potential of urine from other animals that
are rich in nutrients for the renewable energy production
with simultaneous resource recovery. MFC is the only bioe-
lectric technology capable of treating neat urine without any
biochemical inhibition effects. Nonetheless, there exist chal-
lenges to remove the pathogens/harmful bacteria while treat-
ing urine in MFCs. The reduction in nutrient recovery as
well as organic reduction efficiency over time due to the
decline in power generation is another major concern.
Hence, it is important to device sustainable output-based
reactor configurations with maximum treatment efficiency.
Narayanan et al.
Despite these challenges, MFCs can play a vital role in not
only generating alternative energy but also in improving the
sanitation of the environment, which is of high interest for
the developing countries. Essentially, there is a huge scope in
developing urine-fed MFCs to facilitate the production of
clean and green energy for future generations.
CONSENT FOR PUBLICATION
Not applicable.
FUNDING
None.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no conflict of interest, financial or
otherwise.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to express sincere thanks to the
students, staff and management of their institutes for extend-
ing access to the resources while conducting this study. The
corresponding authors extend their gratitude to the anony-
mous reviewers for their critical and positive comments.
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