Structural aspects of the electrochemical interactions between G. sulfurreducens and single cristal gold electrodes

BERNÁ GALIANO, ANTONIO; ESTEVE NUÑEZ, ABRAHAM; BUSALMEN, JUAN PABLO; FELIU, JUAN MIGUEL

Dourdan, France

Workshop; From fundamentals to microbial power plants: Electrochemically active biofilms state-of-the-art workshop; 2008

International Society of Electrochemistry

Modo de presentación: CONFERENCIAGeobacter species are able to produce electricity by transferring electrons from its metabolicprocesses to electrodes of different nature [1]. The most straightforward application of thisprocess is the use as the anodic counterpart in mediatorless microbial fuel cells (MFC).Nevertheless, the identification of the biological elements involved in the electron transfer tothe electrode and the nature of the physicochemical interactions are still a matter ofdiscussion. A recent study [2] combining electrochemical techniques and surface-enhancedinfrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) allowed the identification of outer membrane ctypecytochromes as the molecules responsible for the electrical wiring to gold electrodes.The existence of specific interactions within these outermost molecules and electrodes can beanticipated, thus suggesting that structural features of the electrode may play a role in theconditioning of the electronic transport. A fundamental study on these aspects represents acrucial step towards the implementation of more efficient microbial fuel cell.