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A High‐Performance Microbial Battery Based on the Chemotactic Biofilm of a Motile Microaerophilic Bacterium
Author(s) -
Parthasarathy Meera,
Narayanan Anantha,
Narasimhan Siddarth,
Alex Sruthi Ann,
Ogirala Vivek,
Kalidasan Viveka
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
energy technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.91
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 2194-4296
pISSN - 2194-4288
DOI - 10.1002/ente.201300190
Subject(s) - chemotaxis , microbial fuel cell , biofilm , anode , bacteria , battery (electricity) , microorganism , microbial metabolism , chemistry , biology , biophysics , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , power (physics) , electrode , physics , receptor , quantum mechanics , genetics
Abstract Motile bacteria adapt themselves to changes in chemical environment by a stochastic mechanism called chemotaxis, which plays a major role in many bacterial processes. We report here for the first time that the preferential migration of bacteria across a nutrient gradient can be harnessed to generate useful electric power. The chemotactic battery demonstrated in the present work involves a nutrient‐localized anode toward which bacteria activated by starvation migrate and generate electricity by oxidation of the nutrient molecules. The chemotactic battery yields a significant power density (25±2 W m −2 ). Systematic investigation on biofilm morphology and electroactivity reveals significant differences between chemotactic and non‐chemotactic configurations. In addition, the chemotactic setup has also been integrated in the anode chamber of a microbial fuel cell to improve microbial biofilm properties. Thus the results of the study could be used to design miniature microbial batteries for portable applications as well as to improve the performance of microbial fuel cells.