Conjugated oligoelectrolytes increase current response and organic contaminant removal in wastewater microbial fuel cells

Membrane permeabilization by conjugated oligoelectrolytes accelerates whole-cell catalysis

“…10,15,21,22 Despite its utility, the origin of DSSN+ improvement in bioelectrochemical devices remains under debate. 9,10,17,21,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Model membrane studies have shown that COEs increase ion conductance across the membrane. 13 To add to mechanistic complexity, recent results suggest that COEs may interact with other components in the cell envelope, such as lipopolysaccharides and cholic acid.…”

“…14,15 COEs have a p-delocalized backbone bearing ionic pendant groups and are known to spontaneously intercalate into lipid bilayers. COEs have shown to improve electrochemical performance in devices utilizing yeast, 13 Escherichia coli, 16 Shewanella oneidensis, 10,15 mixed communities, 17 and even membrane-based photosystems.…”

Membrane permeabilization underlies the enhancement of extracellular bioactivity in Shewanella oneidensis by a membrane-spanning conjugated oligoelectrolyte

“…Previous reports on the enhancement of power generation by DSSN+ in bioelectrochemical systems using Escherichia coli suggested that DSSN+ might function as an artificial electron conduit and promotes direct cross-membrane electron transfer to electrode (Garner et al 2010;Garner et al 2012;Hou et al 2013;Wang et al 2013). Here, we show that DSSN+ causes membrane permeabilization and facilitates the release of flavins that can be used as electron shuttles to enhance shuttle-mediated electron transfer.…”

“…To this end, various biological and chemical approaches to boost extracellular bioactivity have been reported Liu et al 2013;Wu et al 2013;Yu et al 2011). Recently, a stilbene-based membrane spanning conjugated oligoelectrolyte 4, 4′-bis(4′-N,N-bis(6″-(N,N,N-trimethyl ammonium) hexyl) amino)-styryl) stilbene tetraiodide (DSSN+) has been reported to be able to enhance power generation in bioelectrochemical devices Garner et al 2012;Hou et al 2013). Since power generation in such devices is based on the extracellular reduction of the electrode by biofilms , we hypothesize that DSSN+ may also enhance extracellular bioactivity in biotransformation, which can be further harnessed to improve environmental or industrial microbial processes in contained environments such as bioreactors.…”

Transformation of dissolved organic matters in landfill leachate–bioelectrochemical system

“…Microbial fuel cells (MFC) were devices to convert energy in organic or inorganic substances into electricity (Garner et al, 2012;Chou et al, 2014;Lee et al, 2014;Zhang et al, 2015a). This device was applied for pollution removal and energy generation from landfill leachate (You et al, 2006;Zhang et al, 2008;Greenman et al, 2009;Gálvez et al, 2009;Puig et al, 2011;Tugtas et al, 2013;Özkaya et al, 2013;Ganesh and 2013; Vázquez-Larios et al, 2014;Damiano et al, 2014).…”