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The deepest mines, the bottom of the lakes and even our intestines are the source of energy. Yes, there are special bacteria that have to work hard to survive in an oxygen – free environment, and they do it perfectly – they produce electricity.
These small energy producers have been used experimentally and one day they can provide everything from bionam batteries.
Microfluidics rapidly breaks down bacteria based on their ability to generate electricity
© Qianru Wang / MIT
There are many types of bacteria that can produce electricity, but some bacteria are better than others. The main problem with these bacteria is that they are difficult and expensive to grow under laboratory conditions, which naturally slows down our ability to develop new technologies using these bacteria.
The new technology developed by MIT engineers makes it easier than ever to collect and identify the bacteria that produce electricity. This can make them more accessible and usable in various technological fields.
Thus, the electricity producing bacteria produce a kind of trap and produce electrons in their cells and release them through small channels of the cell membranes. Such a process is called "extracellular electron transfer" or EET.
The current processes for detecting bacterial electricity production are related to measuring the activity of the ECT protein, but it is a complex and tedious process.
Scientists sometimes use a process called "dielectrophoresis" to distinguish two types of bacteria, depending on their electrical properties. They can use this process to distinguish two different cell types, such as frog and bird cells.
However, the MIT team's research uses a method that separates cells based on how long they can generate electricity. By applying fine tension to microfluidic cannula bacteria in the form of a sand clock, the researchers were able to separate and measure different closely related cells.
By observing the voltage needed to manipulate bacteria and capture cell size, scientists have been able to calculate the polarization of each bacterium – how easy it is to generate electricity in a cell in an electric field.
The MIT study showed that higher polarization bacteria were also more efficient electricity producers.
The researchers will now start testing the bacteria as potent candidates for future energy production. And if scientists' polarization remarks will suit other bacteria, this new technique can make electricity producing bacteria more accessible than ever before.
You can read more about the results of the research in the science journal Science Advances.
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