Textile wastewater treatment using microbial fuel cell and coupled technology: a green approach for detoxification and bioelectricity generation

The textile industry uses a huge quantity of water in the processing and manufacturing of textile fabrics. This water ends up in wastewater constituting dye itself as a significant toxic pollutant. Depending on the class of dye, 2.0%-50.0% of the total dye weight used in the process comes in wastewater streams. The nondegradability of dyes enhances its commercial value and attracts its application in textile, food, paper printing, and cosmetics, with the textile industry as the largest consumer, but simultaneously presents environmental risks. The recalcitrant nature of dye prevents its degradation by most of the chemical, physical, or biological processes. The low cost and recalcitrant nature of synthetic dyes make them more acceptable than natural dyes. The largest class of synthetic commercial dyes is “azo dye” which is one among the least degradable ones. Azo dyes are toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic in nature, causing severe health hazards and environmental degradation. The untreated or insufficiently treated dye wastewater ultimately reached water bodies imparting color and odor to it. The nondegradable characteristic of dyes severely affects aquatic ecology. The treatment of dye-enriched wastewater, particularly azo dye, from various consumer industries, is a big challenge to the modern world, taking into account its increasing applications. Recently, microbial fuel cell has emerged out as a renewable, biological, and economical wastewater treatment technology that shows its potential in the treatment of azo dye, presenting a solution in the current scenario.