D. Holtmann, J. Schrader, A. Hannappel
The combination of the advantages of biological components (e.g., reaction specificities or self-replication) and electrochemical processes to bioelectrochemical systems offers the opportunity to develop efficient and sustainable processes. In bioelectrochemical systems (BES), at least one electrode reaction is catalyzed by living microorganisms or isolated compounds, e.g., enzymes. Besides electro-enzymatic processes [1–3], intact microorganisms can be used to produce energy and chemicals. The application of a microbial electrocatalyst in microbial fuel cells (MFC) and microbial electrolysis (MEC) has been investigated for several years. In these applications microorganisms are used to oxidize organic or inorganic substances at an anode to generate electrical power or H2. The discovery that electrical current can also stimulate microbial metabolism has led to a range of applications in bioremediation [4, 5] and in the production of fuels and chemicals.
