A new strain of microbes was evolved by scientists, which dramatically increases the power output for every cell, as well as their overall bulk power. These experiments were conducted on Geobacter, the sediment-loving microbe that has hair-like filaments which help it to produce electric currents from mud and wastewater. This new microbe strain also works with a thinner biofilm than earlier microbe strains, thereby reducing the time it takes to reach electricity producing concentrations on the electrode.
This new research proves that output may be boosted by this microbe strain and it gives good insights into what it would take to genetically select a higher-power organism.
The findings in this research further allow for the development of fuel cell architecture in microbes and should result in new applications which will extend well beyond the extraction of electricity from mud. These new experiments saw the researchers adapting the environment of the microbe, which caused the microbe to adapt more efficient methods of electric current transfer.
In summary, the researchers increased the power output by eight-fold, thereby breaking through the plateau in power production that had been an obstacle to successful research in the last few years. But now, scientists can move forward in designing fuel cells of microbes which convert waste water and renewable biomass into electricity, treat the waste of a single home, while also producing localized power, in order to power vehicles, mobile electronics and implanted medical devices, as well as drive the bioremediation of environments which are contaminated. These fuel cells of microbes could in the long run prove very beneficial in developing countries.
The hair-like pili of this Geobacter microbe are very fine, measuring only 3-5 nanometers in diameter, or approximately 20,000 times finer that the human hair, and far more than 1,000 times longer than they are wide. In spite of all these, the hair-like pili of this Geobacter microbe – nicknamed nanowires, are very strong. The secret of how this microbe is able to produce electric current from organic waste and sediment lies in the pili. The pili of this microbe seem vital for the formation of the biofilm which helps the transference of electron products to iron in sediment and soil. In nature, colonies of bacteria form gluey biofilms in order to anchor onto a surface such as a tooth or an underwater rock, thereby providing a living environment which is close to a food source.
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