Hybrid bio-organic interfaces with matchable nanoscale topography for durable high extracellular electron transfer activity

Nanoscale. 2014 Jul 21;6(14):7866-71. doi: 10.1039/c4nr01338g.

Abstract

Here, we developed a novel hybrid bio-organic interface with matchable nano-scale topography between a polypyrrole nanowire array (PPy-NA) and the bacterium Shewanella, which enabled a remarkably increased extracellular electron transfer (EET) current from genus Shewanella over a rather long period. PPy-NA thus exhibited outstanding performance in mediating bacterial EET, which was superior to normal electrodes such as carbon plates, Au and tin-doped In₂O₃. It was proposed that the combined effect of the inherent electrochemical nature of PPy and the porous structured bacterial network that was generated on the PPy-NA enabled long-term stability, while the high efficiency was attributed to the enhanced electron transfer rate between PPy-NA and microbes caused by the enhanced local topological interactions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electrochemical Techniques
  • Electrodes
  • Electron Transport
  • Electrons
  • Gold / chemistry
  • Indium / chemistry
  • Nanowires / chemistry*
  • Polymers / chemistry*
  • Pyrroles / chemistry*
  • Shewanella / chemistry
  • Shewanella / metabolism
  • Surface Properties
  • Tin / chemistry

Substances

  • Polymers
  • Pyrroles
  • Indium
  • polypyrrole
  • indium oxide
  • Tin
  • Gold