Description du projet
Étudier le potentiel des bactéries-câbles pour la production d’électricité
Les bactéries-câbles sont des organismes multicellulaires filamenteux de quelques centimètres de long que l’on trouve dans les eaux douces et les sédiments marins. Elles sont connues pour leur capacité à transférer des électrons sur de longues distances. Financé par le programme Actions Marie Skłodowska-Curie, le projet Cable electricity O2 cultivera ces bactéries sur des électrodes, cherchant à exploiter leur potentiel pour la production d’électricité. Le projet consistera à mettre au point un système bio-électrochimique qui permette de passer de la production d’électricité au stockage d’énergie. Ce système sera testé pour sa capacité à alimenter biologiquement un microprocesseur. En cas de succès, il pourrait ouvrir la voie à l’électronique biodégradable. Les chercheurs examineront également si les bactéries-câbles peuvent produire de l’oxygène dans des environnements anaérobies, un mécanisme qui pourrait améliorer notre compréhension du transport de l’oxygène dans les interfaces oxiques-anoxiques.
Objectif
Cable bacteria are centimetre-long, filamentous, multicellular bacteria present ubiquitously in freshwater and marine sediments, and participate in long-distance electron transfer by coupling the oxidation of sulphide in anoxic sediment to the reduction of oxygen. Cable bacteria possess an internal electric grid, enabling them to transport electrons over centimeter-scale distances. This project proposes the cultivation of cable bacteria on electrodes to harness their potential to generate electricity. Further, the development of a switchable bioelectrochemical system altering between electrogenesis and electrotrophy is proposed. Such a device would enable biological power generation and energy storage in a single device, and will be tested to power a microprocessor biologically, enabling development of biodegradable electronics. These experiments would be performed in specialized bioelectrochemical systems by varying the applied potential from positive to negative to induce the switch. Electrochemical interactions of cable bacteria with electrodes will be monitored by amperometry, voltammetry, and impedance spectroscopy. The cables will be integrated into a power management system consisting of a microprocessor chip, a current and voltage-measuring circuitry and a microcontroller to power the microprocessor with electrons obtained from the sediment. Finally, the physiological possibility of dark oxygen generation by cable bacteria in anaerobic sediments will also be explored, that would enable the use of cables as intermediates to convert any aerobic microbe into an electrogen. This mechanism will potentially uncover an unknown mode of oxygen production and usher in a completely new understanding of oxygen transport through the oxic-anoxic interface. The project bridges the applied and fundamental by probing cable bacteria electrophysiology to develop robust applications that will enable sustainable power generation.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringcomputer hardwarecomputer processors
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- natural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistrybioelectrochemistry
- natural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistryelectrolysis
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsspectroscopy
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Régime de financement
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinateur
8000 Aarhus C
Danemark