Wastewater Treatment at the Cathode of Microbial Electrochemical Systems: Focusing on Carbon-Based Materials

ShengJia Zhang; Shujuan Liu; Ke Shi; Qing Jiang; Feng Wang; Bo Wang; Zhun Ma; Jianliang Xue

Abstract

The cathode of the microbial electrochemical systems (MESs) can continuously provide electrons to drive microbial or electrode-based reduction reactions for pollutant degradation. Cathode material is a key factor influencing the efficiency of MESs in wastewater treatment. Carbon-based materials have attracted widespread attention due to their property tunability and low toxicity. This review focuses on enhancing the performance of MESs for wastewater treatment through the modification of carbon-based cathodes. It summarizes common modification strategies for carbon-based cathode materials and evaluates their application performance in both abiotic and biotic cathode systems. The results indicate that the modification of carbon-based cathodes significantly improves the wastewater treatment efficiency of MESs. Moreover, this review discusses the current limitations, noting that most studies remain at the laboratory stage, and proposes future research directions for practical implementation. Overall, carbon‑based cathode modification is a promising strategy to advance MESs toward practical wastewater treatment and resource recovery.

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