Electricity Generation and Plastic Waste Reduction Using the Fungus Paecilomyces as a Biodegrader in Microbial Fuel Cells

The great utility that plastics generate for society has generated a large amount of waste, producing tons of garbage from this material that damages the ecosystem, human health, and farmland. Likewise, the issue of the absence of electricity in low-income areas is critical for society. This research proposes a novel solution to simultaneously solve these two problems, which, through single-chamber microbial fuel cells, introduce plastic waste and the fungus Paecilomyces. The microbial fuel cells (MFCs) showed a maximum electric current of 0.547 ± 0.185 mA with a peak voltage of 0.575 ± 0.106 V on day 36; on this day, the MFCs operated with a pH of 6.524 ± 0.360 and electrical conductivity of 264.847 ± 6.395 mS/cm. These results demonstrate the potential of this system to generate electricity from plastic waste, addressing the issue of electricity scarcity in low-income areas. The chemical oxygen demand was also reduced by 85.47%, indicating the system’s ability to degrade plastic waste. The power density calculated on day 36 was 0.0624 ± 0.0053 mW/cm² at a current density of 0.0052 mA/cm² and an internal resistance of 55.254 ± 7.583 Ω. The reducing action of the fungus on the plastic was demonstrated in the FTIR transmittance spectrum because the characteristic peaks (3378, 2854–2911, 1642, 1472, and 720 cm⁻¹) of the plastic suffered reductions in the final state, and the micrographs of the plastic surfaces showed the lifting of layers and the formation of irregular structures and a decrease in the thickness of the plastic sample of 139.66 ± 4.19 µm.