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How exactly do you 'wire up' E. coli bacteria? Is the idea here that we could somehow string a bunch of them together into a tiny battery? Or is it more like us
by etskinner 3y ago
How exactly do you 'wire up' E. coli bacteria? Is the idea here that we could somehow string a bunch of them together into a tiny battery? Or is it more like using them as the electrolyte in a battery?
- p1mrx 3y agoThey turn hydrogen+carbon and oxygen into protons, electrons, and CO₂. The protons and electrons serve the same role as hydrogen in a fuel cell.
- schainks 3y agoIt's more like using them as an electrolyte, but it acts like a battery (you charge by adding waste, discharge by extracting electrons), I guess? You run the bioreactor with some special electrodes that bacteria like to touch, and then directly harvest electrons from the medium as the little ones grow. Mohammed and Melania (the lead researchers on the paper) are both super talented scientists. I had the pleasure of meeting them both in SF last year when they were on the west coast for a conference.