CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Microbial fuel cells were rediscovered twenty years ago, and now are a very active research area; the reasons behind this new activity are the relatively recent discovery of electrogenic or electroactive bacteria, and the vision of two important practical applications, as wastewater treatment coupled with clean energy production and power supply systems for isolated low power sensor devices. Although some analytical applications of MFCs were proposed earlier (as biochemical oxygen demand sensing), only lately a myriad or new uses of this technology are being presented by research groups around the world, which combine both, biological-microbiological and electroanalytical expertise. This is the second part of a review of MFC applications in the area of analytical sciences. In Part I a general introduction to biological based analytical methods, including bioassays, biosensors, MFCs design, operating principles, as well the perhaps main and earlier presented application, the use as a BOD sensor, was reviewed. In this Part II, all other proposed uses are presented and discussed.