Electricity generation from digitally printed cyanobacteria
#MMPMID29109396
Sawa M
; Fantuzzi A
; Bombelli P
; Howe CJ
; Hellgardt K
; Nixon PJ
Nat Commun
2017[Nov]; 8
(1
): 1327
PMID29109396
show ga
Microbial biophotovoltaic cells exploit the ability of cyanobacteria and
microalgae to convert light energy into electrical current using water as the
source of electrons. Such bioelectrochemical systems have a clear advantage over
more conventional microbial fuel cells which require the input of organic carbon
for microbial growth. However, innovative approaches are needed to address
scale-up issues associated with the fabrication of the inorganic (electrodes) and
biological (microbe) parts of the biophotovoltaic device. Here we demonstrate the
feasibility of using a simple commercial inkjet printer to fabricate a thin-film
paper-based biophotovoltaic cell consisting of a layer of cyanobacterial cells on
top of a carbon nanotube conducting surface. We show that these printed
cyanobacteria are capable of generating a sustained electrical current both in
the dark (as a 'solar bio-battery') and in response to light (as a
'bio-solar-panel') with potential applications in low-power devices.
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