Computational modelling as a design tool for bioelectrochemical systems

Design of bioelectrochemical systems (BESs) needs to consider complex biological, physicochemical, and electrochemical phenomena, as well as aspects related to mass, charge and momentum transfer. Experimental optimisation of such complex systems will be too expensive in terms of time and cost, so that a model-based approach is a necessary route in BES design. In this work, the relevance of modelling in the literature on BESs is quantitatively assessed, and the main pros and cons of the different models of BES are identified. Among the different models, computational bioelectrochemical models (CBMs) are the most promising, the main potential and drawbacks of CBMs are then discussed, and the issues open for future research are indicated.