Scientists have created a "bionic mushroom", generating electricity

American researchers of the electric mushroom generator.

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The scientists at the Stevens Institute of Technology produce electricity by tying the energy producing cyanobacteria to the mushroom with the help of 3D printing. To collect the current used graphene network electrodes. A study published in the journal Nano Letters.

"Our system – a bionic mushroom produces electricity," says one of the authors of the study, Manu Mannur. – By integrating cyanobacteria, able to generate electricity with nanoscale materials that collect the current, we have been able to better appreciate the unique properties of both systems in order to improve them and create a brand new functional bionic system ".

Cyanobacteria, often found on land and in the ocean, are known to produce electricity. The researchers wanted to know if they would be able to manipulate them to produce electricity over a long period under good conditions. Ordinary mushrooms have the conditions necessary for the survival of the microflora.

The densely packed cyanobacteria, printed on a 3D printer, increase the amount of electricity generated / © Sudeep Joshi / Stevens Institute of Technology.

In the experiment, Mannur and his colleagues found that the cyanobacterial cells had remained a few days on the cap of the white fungus. Co-author of the study, Sudeep Joshi, explained that white fungi also harbored cyanobacteria, allowing them to generate electricity much longer than when they were grown on silicon.

In addition, it was necessary to collect the current. The team used a 3D printer with a robotic arm to print the electronic ink containing the desired graphene nanoribbon, which is then placed on the pileus. Graphene nanoribbon acted as nanosondes, having access to the bioelectronic cells of cyanobacteria.

They are also printed on the cap of the spiral pattern of the fungus with biocanal cyanobacteria. Electronics and biochemistry intersect at several points, allowing electrons to pass from cyanobacteria to belts.

Researchers will continue to study the process in the hope of producing a higher electrical current using the bionic mushroom.