A bionic mushroom that generates electricity

In their quest to replace fossil fuels, scientists are always looking for alternative energy sources that respect the environment. But who could have imagined a bionic mushroom producing electricity? It looks like something straight out of Alice in Wonderland, but researchers have now generated fungi with energy-producing bacteria and an array of electrodes. They report their results in the ACS journal Nano Letters.

Many examples of organisms that live closely with each other and interact with each other exist in nature. In some cases, this symbiotic relationship is mutually beneficial. A team of researchers led by Manu Mannoor and Sudeep Joshi of the Stevens Institute of Technology wanted to create an artificial symbiosis between Paris mushrooms and cyanobacteria. In their scenario, the fungus would provide shelter, moisture and nutrients, while 3D-printed bacteria on the mushroom cap would provide energy through photosynthesis. Graphene nanoribbons printed alongside bacteria could capture the electrons released by microbes during photosynthesis, producing bioelectricity.

To concretize their bionic mushroom, the researchers first printed in 3D an electronic ink containing graphene nanoribbons on the cap of a living fungus in a branched pattern. They then printed a bio ink containing cyanobacteria on the cap in a spiral pattern, which crossed the electronic ink at several points. At these sites, the electrons could be transferred through the outer membranes of the bacterium to the conductive network of graphene nanoribbons. Light the cyanobacterial photosynthesis activated by the fungus, generating a current of about 65 nanoAmps. Although this current is insufficient to power an electronic device, researchers say that a set of bionic mushrooms could generate enough current to illuminate an LED. Researchers are now working on ways to generate higher currents using this system. According to them, this 3D printing approach could be used to organize other bacterial species in complex arrangements in order to fulfill useful functions, such as bioluminescence.

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The authors do not recognize any source of funding.

The abstract of the article will be available November 7 at 8 am, Eastern time, at the following address: http: // pubs.acs.org /do I/abs /ten.1021 /acs.nanolett.8b02642

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