TITLE:
Bioelectricity Generation by Using Mixed Organic Waste and Soil in Microbial Fuel Cell
AUTHORS:
Tun Ahmad Gazali
KEYWORDS:
Bioelectricity Generation, Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC), Organic Waste, Persimmon Fruit Waste, Power Density
JOURNAL NAME:
Voice of the Publisher,
Vol.12 No.1,
March
13,
2026
ABSTRACT: The increasing global energy crisis and the urgent need for sustainable solid waste management have stimulated growing interest in renewable bioenergy technologies. Developing countries, in particular, face significant challenges in managing large volumes of organic agricultural residues. This study explores the feasibility of utilizing persimmon fruit waste (PW), an organic by-product representing approximately 15% of total persimmon production, as a substrate for bioelectricity generation in a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) system. PW contains abundant fermentable sugars such as sucrose, glucose, and fructose, which can serve as effective carbon sources for electroactive microorganisms. Laboratory-scale MFCs were constructed using rectangular acrylic chambers equipped with carbon felt electrodes serving as both anode and cathode. To evaluate substrate performance and validate the system, several experimental conditions were tested, including pure substrates (PW, soil (S), leaf mold (LM), and rice bran (RB)) and mixed substrates (PWS, PWLM, and PWRB). The pure substrates acted as experimental controls to provide a comparative baseline for assessing the electrochemical performance of PW-based mixtures. Among the tested configurations, the PW + soil (PWS) mixture exhibited the highest performance with a maximum power density of 16.180 mW/m2, followed by PW + leaf mold (PWLM) with 9.663 mW/m2, indicating a synergistic interaction between persimmon-derived sugars and mineral-rich soil that enhances microbial activity and electron transfer. Further validation through scale-up experiments demonstrated that increasing the electrode surface area from 100 cm2 to 500 cm2 significantly enhanced the power density, reaching 10317.19 mW/m2, confirming the scalability of the system. Compared with other tested substrates, PW-based mixtures consistently generated higher electrical outputs, highlighting the effectiveness of persimmon waste as a bioelectrochemical feedstock. These findings demonstrate that persimmon fruit waste can serve as a promising substrate for MFC-based bioelectricity generation while simultaneously contributing to sustainable organic waste management and renewable energy development.