The microbial fuel cell (MFC) research at Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) is carried out in the group “Separation and Conversion Technology”. The group recently has a strategic focus on sustainable chemistry aiming for integration of reaction technology (bio, electrochemical) and separation technologies. The research team excels due to the combined expertise of material development, microbiology, biotechnology and electrochemistry. The team members have a lot of experience in industrial wastewater treatment, bioremediation and alkaline and PEM fuel cell development and testing. The research focus at VITO in MFCs so far has been development of low cost and efficient electrodes and membranes. Besides, two stage processes from fruit and vegetable waste combined with sewage are also being explored involving MFCs as a second treatment step. Currently work is underway to develop improved electrodes to be used as air cathodes in MFCs as well as up scaling of these systems.

Being the expert team in electrode development, we collaborate with other groups like Prof. Bruce Logan in Penn State University. For more details please contact Dr Deepak Pant ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

The home page: http://wwwa.vito.be/english/index.htm