Electroactive Biofilms in Water and Air Pollution Treatment

Biofilms are used in wastewater treatment and in the production of valuable compounds. Bioelec- trochemical system (BES) technology represents one practical application of biofilms. In these systems, bioelectrogenic biofilms are a bacterial consortium capable of performing electron trans- fer to the conductive material on which they are grown. This capacity of these organisms has been used in environmental biotechnology to couple pollutant removal, mainly from water but also from air streams, for the production of energy or valuable products. The following chapter outlines the details of such a consortium, highlighting the mechanisms of extracellular electron transfer and their main applications.