251. Electricity generation from digitally printed cyanobacteria.
- Author
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Sawa, Marin, Fantuzzi, Andrea, Bombelli, Paolo, Howe, Christopher J., Hellgardt, Klaus, and Nixon, Peter J.
- Subjects
ELECTRIC power production ,MICROBIAL fuel cells ,MICROBIAL cells ,ELECTRON sources ,WATER currents - Abstract
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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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