The combination of biological processes with electrical monitoring and control mechanisms has resulted in bioelectronics, a technology that holds significant potential for improving waste treatment systems. In this study, the authors investigate the use of bioelectronics in waste treatment systems and their potential to contribute to environmental sustainability and resource recovery using TAM theory. Bioelectronics, which combines biological processes with electrical monitoring and control systems, has emerged as a viable method for waste treatment optimization. Waste treatment facilities can use bioelectronic sensors, actuators, and monitoring devices to optimize different process parameters, improve treatment efficiency, and reduce their environmental impact. Bioelectronics improves waste treatment operations by merging modern electronic monitoring and control systems with biological treatment mechanisms.
Top1. Introduction
Bioelectronics, in the broadest sense, is the field that combines electronics with biology. For instance, the bioelectronic device can be used to investigate a biological response. In this situation, the biological process causes a change in the bioelectronic device, which is subsequently converted into a readable signal. In this way, a glucose biosensor can determine blood glucose levels. A bioelectronic device can also be used to stimulate a biological process under regulated conditions. A pacemaker, for example, can stimulate and control the heartbeat. Bidirectional connections between electronics and biology may occur at several levels and range in complexity from both a biological and technical standpoint. When discussing biology, we can talk about simple cell components like proteins and nucleotides, organelles, complete cells, tissues, organs, and even complex organisms.
Electronics, on the other hand, include electronic materials, passive components (such as electrodes), active components (such as transistors), and even complicated devices and networks (Knopf & Bassi, 2018). The research and development of bioelectronic technologies is motivated by the desire to investigate and communicate with the biological world in order to better understand how it functions and/or change its behavior. Aside from scientific curiosity, one of the primary driving motivations behind bioelectronics is the creation of novel medicines and diagnostics to treat illnesses, enhance patient quality of life, and extend human life.
Electronic devices are generally stiff, their functioning is based on electronic currents, and their active components are isolated from the environment to guarantee optimal performance. Furthermore, the functioning and physics of classic electrical devices are widely understood. On the other hand, biological components are soft, operations occur in an aqueous medium, and long-distance communication is mostly achieved by ionic currents or chemical signaling. Biological processes are extremely complicated, and existing biophysical models accurately explain only simplified functions.
This book will look at developing concepts, materials, and technologies that aim to bridge the gap between biology and electronics (Malliaras & McCulloch, 2022). Bioelectronics research began in late 18th-century Italy, when Luigi Galvani performed experiments on frogs to examine the link between electricity and muscular contractions. Galvani's discoveries gave rise to the notion of “animal electricity,” while Alessandro Volta's studies with the voltaic pile in the early 1800s called into question Galvani's hypotheses.
Volta's discovery of the first battery proved the production of electricity through chemical processes, opening up new avenues for investigating electricity in biology. Although Galvani is often regarded as the pioneer of bioelectronics, substantial advances did not occur until the mid-twentieth century. In the 1930s, researchers such as Stevens investigated electrical stimulation of hearing, laying the groundwork for cochlear implant technology.
However, Andrew Huxley and Alan Hodgkin's seminal work in the 1940s and 1950s revolutionized our knowledge of the nervous system's electrical activity. They discovered the processes behind the action potential using intracellular electrodes and mathematical modeling, receiving the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1963. These pioneering discoveries laid the groundwork for current bioelectronics research, which continues to explore the interface of biology and electronics for applications in healthcare, neurology, and other domains (Stavrinidou & Proctor, 2022).
Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) in wastewater treatment plants combine microbial electron transfer and electrochemical transformation to generate sustainable, carbon-neutral power from waste. BES has evolved as a sustainable technique for producing renewable energy and useful items from garbage. They rely on the activities of microbial populations, which are becoming increasingly essential in these ecosystems. Microbial electrochemical systems (MESs) found in BESs may turn waste into energy via microbial metabolism and electrochemical processes. This procedure not only aids in garbage treatment but also produces renewable energy, making it a potential alternative to waste management.