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Synthetic curli enables efficient microbial electrocatalysis with stainless‐steel electrode
Author(s) -
Suo Di,
Fang Zhen,
Yu YangYang,
Yong YangChun
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.16897
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , electrode , anode , faraday efficiency , materials science , nanotechnology , cathodic protection , chemistry , electrochemistry
Microbial electrocatalysis systems (MES) provide a cutting‐edge solution to global problems associated with the environment and energy, but practical applications are hindered by the expensive electrode materials. Although stainless steel (SS) has been proposed as a promising inexpensive candidate, poor cell/SS interaction results in a low performance for MES. Here, a new synthetic biology approach was established for reinforcing the cell/SS interaction. Hybridized curli nanofibers fused with a metal‐binding domain were heterogeneously expressed onto the cell surface, which realized efficient cell binding with the SS electrode. Consequently, it enabled a ~420‐fold improvement of the anodic power output and a substantial enhancement of the cathodic Coulombic efficiency (from 0.6 to 4% to over 80%) with an SS electrode. This work demonstrates low‐cost MES with an SS electrode and introduces a new avenue to engineer the cell/electrode interaction, which is promising for future practical applications of MES.