Bacterial Nanowires and Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells

摘要: Microbial fuel cells are receiving increased scientific attention as their potential for alternative energy production, wastewater treatment, and bioremediation of contaminated environments is steadily realized. While advances in design engineering have yielded higher power output and increased efficiency, very little is known regarding the components and mechanisms involved in electron transfer from bacteria to electrode surfaces. Research has identified 3 possible strategies for facilitating extracellular electron transfer:(1) direct transfer involving proteins locate on cell surfaces,(2) use of small, redox reactive molecules that ‘shuttle’electrons from bacteria to electrode surfaces by diffusion-limited processes, and (3) electrically conductive appendages known as microbial or bacterial nanowires. Our work seeks to understand the molecular and electronic structure of bacterial nanowires from metabolically diverse …