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American Chemical Society
A knob fungus covered with insects and nanowires can produce electricity from the light
American researchers have successfully tested the rather sordid idea of producing electricity from a fungus covered with bacteria.
Scientists have used 3D printing to connect groups of energy-producing insects to a mushroom's hat.
The fungus provided the ideal environment to allow cyanobacteria to generate a small amount of energy.
The authors say that their "bionic mushroom", free of fossils, could have great potential.
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While researchers around the world are looking for alternative sources of energy, there is great interest in cyanobacteria.
These organisms, widely present in the oceans and on land, are currently being researched to determine if they are able to turn sunlight into electrical current.
A big problem is that they do not survive long enough on artificial surfaces to exploit their energy potential.
This is where the humble mushroom button comes in.
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Sudeep Joshi
Cyanobacteria show great potential for transforming light into energy
This fertile mushroom already houses many other forms of bacterial life, providing an attractive range of nutrients, moisture and temperature.
Scientists at the Stevens Institute of Technology in the United States have therefore developed a clever method for combining the fungus with scintillating insects.
Appropriately, they had the idea while having lunch!
"One day my friends and I went to lunch together and we ordered mushrooms," said Sudeep Joshi, postdoctoral researcher and study author.
"In talking with them, we realized that they had a rich microbiota, so we decided to use the mushrooms as a support for the cyna bacteria, so we thought about merging them and seeing what's going on." . "
Using a special bio ink, the team printed the bacteria on the cap of the spiral mushroom. They had previously used an electronic ink to embed nano-graphene ribbons on the surface of the fungus in order to collect the current.
When they lit up this magic mushroom, cyanobacteria generated a small amount of electricity.
Not quite a moment of light bulb but proof that the idea works. The researchers say that several mushrooms plugged together could light a small lamp.
"We are trying to connect all the mushrooms in series, as a whole, and we also want to collect more bacteria," said Sudeep Joshi.
"These are the next steps to optimize bio-currents, generate more electricity, power a small LED."
The great advantage of the experiment lies in the fact that the insects present on the mushroom lasted several days more than the cyanobacteria placed on other surfaces.
Researchers believe that this idea could have potential as a source of renewable energy.
"Currently, we use cyanobacteria from the pond, but you can modify them genetically and modify their molecules to produce higher photocurrents, via photosynthesis," said Sudeep Joshi.
"It's a new beginning, we call it artificial symbiosis, and if we do more research in this area, we can really move that field forward by putting in place some kind of effective green technology."
The shift from fossil fuels to fungal fuels may not be so distant.
The study was published in the journal Nano Letters.
Follow Matt on Twitter @mattmcgrathbbc.
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