Iron sulfur mineral-based microbial fuel cells: functional orientation, performance-affecting factors, and...

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) directly convert chemical energy into electrical energy via the microbial catalytic oxidation of organic substrates, demonstrating immense potential for simultaneous pollutant degradation and bioenergy recovery. However, their industrialization has long been hindered by bottlenecks like low electron transfer and energy conversion efficiencies, high material costs, and poor large-scale stability. Iron-sulfur minerals, possessing unique electron transfer properties and environmental compatibility, provide an effective solution for the sustainable development of MFCs. Nevertheless, current literature predominantly focuses on their abiotic catalytic oxidation processes, lacking a systematic review of their applications in MFCs. This partially neglects the complex interactions among intrinsic mineral properties, environmental factors, and interfacial microbial dynamics, limiting an in-depth understanding of system efficacy and engineering bottlenecks. Therefore, this paper systematically reviews the research progress on the applications of iron-sulfur minerals in MFCs, elucidating their core mechanisms of action under diverse application forms. Furthermore, it summarizes key factors influencing the power generation performance and pollutant removal efficiency of the system. Finally, this review analyzes the engineering challenges and proposes future research directions, aiming to provide a fundamental reference for promoting both the technical optimization and practical application of iron-sulfur mineral-based MFCs.