Performance Investigation of Aloe Vera Plant-Based Microbial Fuel Cell Using Anode Constructed of Carbonized Ipomoea Carnea

The escalating trajectory of worldwide atmospheric temperature, resulting from a surge in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, needs to be promptly tackled to prevent reaching a critical threshold beyond which reversal becomes impossible. Novel technologies utilizing the principles of plant microbial fuel cells (PMFC) have the potential to both capture CO₂ and generate electricity. This study demonstrates the synergistic impact of employing carbonized Ipomoea carnea anode and Aloe vera plant in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) to generate cleaner and more sustainable bioenergy. The carbonized Ipomoea carnea, when utilized as an anode, has a combined positive effect on both power generation and plant development. PMFC with Ipomoea carnea anode had an average power density of 260 mW/m² over a period of 35 days, which was 3.25 times higher than the power density of carbon rod anode (73.9 mW/m²). We propose that the anode of Ipomoea carnea exhibits good biocompatibility and can, therefore find future applications in microbial electroremediation systems due to its ability to enhance bioelectricity production in plant microbial fuel cells.