Sustainable Green Hydrogen Production from Wastewater by An Integrated Solar-Microbial System

Abstract

This study demonstrates the development of a hybrid system, in which a microbial fuel cell (MFC) fed with wastewater was used as a power source to drive sustainable production of green hydrogen (H2) in a photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) based on stacked titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO2 NTs) as a photoanode. The integrated system showed superior current output and hydrogen generation in comparison with the control PEC. The integrated PEC–MFC system utilizing the stacked TiO2 NTs photoanode demonstrated impressive efficiency in H2 production, achieving 0.45 m3- -H2 m3- d-1 with no applied power when exposed to solar light. This study opens up new opportunities for developing eco-friendly and highly efficient approaches to sustainably produce H2 from renewable resources, highlighting the advantageous function of MFCs in producing electricity, which enables self-biased hydrogen production in PECs