Miniature microbial solar cells to power wireless sensor networks

Liu, Lin; Choi, Seokheun

doi:10.1016/j.bios.2021.112970

Cited by 23 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Along with the continuous reduction in sensor size and power consumption, bio-photovoltaic cells have been successfully miniaturized and demonstrated as power sources for potential WSN applications. [66] The device miniaturization inherently provided great performance in a well-controlled microchamber with favorable operating conditions. Ever since the first reported micro-bio-photovoltaic cell in 2006, [67,68] the device performance has dramatically increased.…”

Section: Micro-bio-photovoltaics For Sustainable Outdoor Sensor Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rationale for pursuing this research is that the micro-bio-photovoltaics inevitably provide a unique route to offer a long-term, eco-friendly, constant power for WSNs by harnessing the most globally accessible and abundant renewable energy sources, solar energy, and water, even in unattended wild environments. [66] Howe and co-workers at the University of Cambridge have pioneered bio-photovoltaic cells and explored exoelectrogenic activities in photosynthetic microorganisms. [65,73,74] His group developed even many miniaturized bio-photovoltaic platforms with significant power improvement (Figure 4a,b).…”

Section: Micro-bio-photovoltaics For Sustainable Outdoor Sensor Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electrogenic Bacteria Promise New Opportunities for Powering, Sensing, and Synthesizing

Choi

2022

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Considerable research efforts into the promises of electrogenic bacteria and the commercial opportunities they present are attempting to identify potential feasible applications. Metabolic electrons from the bacteria enable electricity generation sufficient to power portable or small‐scale applications, while the quantifiable electric signal in a miniaturized device platform can be sensitive enough to monitor and respond to changes in environmental conditions. Nanomaterials produced by the electrogenic bacteria can offer an innovative bottom‐up biosynthetic approach to synergize bacterial electron transfer and create an effective coupling at the cell–electrode interface. Furthermore, electrogenic bacteria can revolutionize the field of bioelectronics by effectively interfacing electronics with microbes through extracellular electron transfer. Here, these new directions for the electrogenic bacteria and their recent integration with micro‐ and nanosystems are comprehensively discussed with specific attention toward distinct applications in the field of powering, sensing, and synthesizing. Furthermore, challenges of individual applications and strategies toward potential solutions are provided to offer valuable guidelines for practical implementation. Finally, the perspective and view on how the use of electrogenic bacteria can hold immeasurable promise for the development of future electronics and their applications are presented.

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Section: Micro-bio-photovoltaics For Sustainable Outdoor Sensor Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Micro-bio-photovoltaics For Sustainable Outdoor Sensor Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrogenic Bacteria Promise New Opportunities for Powering, Sensing, and Synthesizing

Choi

2022

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“…[1][2][3] As the tiny footprint sets stringent requirements for on-chip process flows and materials choices, the power supply is often provided by easy-to-fabricate miniaturized energy harvesters like piezoelectric generators or solar cells. [4][5][6] Unfortunately, these harvesters are often plagued by discontinuous supply of electricity because the external energy sources (vibration or solar light) are either location-or timedependent. Batteries, instead, can ensure a stable current supply as their energy storage ability does not depend on external conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbatteries with twin-Swiss-rolls redefine performance limits in the sub-square millimeter range

Zhu

Karnaushenko

et al. 2023

Nanoscale Horiz.

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“…To overcome these limitations, electrogenic photoautotrophs (or cyanobacteria) that can produce their organic matter through photosynthesis have been proposed as biocatalysts for biobatteries. [14,15] These cyanobacteria (CNB)powered biobatteries, interchangeably termed bio-photovoltaics, microbial solar cells, or biological solar cells, do not require replenishment of any reagents, nutrients, or gases during their operation. The photoautotrophs can be ideally self-sustaining for a long time through their closed-loop life support system in which their photosynthesis captures energy from sunlight to create organic matter and O 2 by taking in CO 2 and water while their respiration releases CO 2 and water by combining the organic matter and O 2 to produce cellular energy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[16] However, an extremely weak EET rate in the photoautotrophs and a lack of in-depth understanding of their EET mechanisms substantially reduce the potential use, relegating the photoautotrophs-powered biobatteries to the status of laboratory curiosity rather than a viable alternative power source. [14] The biobatteries that can provide strong, dense power with selfsustainability and long lifespan could be a superior substitute for conventional batteries, energy storage devices, and energy harvesting devices for many practical applications. However, to achieve this potential, an innovative approach is needed to enable high-performing, self-sustaining, and long-functioning power production that will ensure its practical feasibility as a power source.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Engineering of Microbial Consortium for Long‐Lasting, Self‐Sustaining, and High‐Power Generation in a Bacteria‐Powered Biobattery

Liu

Mohammadifar

Elhadad

et al. 2021

Advanced Energy Materials

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The innovative, miniaturized biobatteries create a new platform for microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that avoids energydemanding and maintenance-intensive fluidic feeding systems for the replenishment of organic matter. [1][2][3][4][5] Electric power can be produced by the metabolism of electrogenic heterotrophs in the device which are then discarded after the depletion of the organic matter that is introduced or had been stored in the biobattery. As biocatalysts, bacterial cells are inexpensive, stable, and efficient electrochemical agents, and they can readily access any available organic matter for bioelectricity production through anaerobic respiration. [6][7][8] Furthermore, the cells can be easily freeze-dried for longterm preservation and reanimate through a simple rehydration process. [1,5,9] Therefore, the bacteria-powered biobatteries can be a novel, realistic, and accessible solution as a power source for certain applications especially those to be used in resource-limited regions. [10] Many biobatteries using naturally occurring or genetically engineered bacteria have been developed as a disposable power source that can be readily operated by a wide range of environmental fluids. [10,11] Wearable or implantable biobatteries have been proposed that use human skin or gut bacteria and feed off sweat or other organics available in the human body. [12,13] However, because these biobatteries use heterotrophs that feed and generate power from organic Bacteria-powered biobatteries using multiple microbial species under well-mixed conditions demonstrate a temporary performance enhancement through their cooperative interaction, where one species produces a resource that another species needs but cannot synthesize. Despite excitement about the artificial microbial consortium, those mixed populations cannot be robust to environmental changes and have difficulty generating long-lasting power because individual species compete with their neighbors for space and resources. In nature, microbial communities are organized spatially as multiple species are separated by a few hundred micrometers to balance their interaction and competition. However, it has been challenging to define a microscale spatial microbial structure in miniature biobatteries.Here, an innovative technique to design microscale spatial structures with microbial multispecies for significant improvement of the biobattery performance is demonstrated. A solid-state layer-by-layer agar-based culture platform is proposed, where individual microcolonies separately confined in microscale agar layers form a 3-D spatial structure allowing for the exchange of metabolites without physical contact between the individual species. The optimized microbial co-cultures are determined from selected hypothesisdriven naturally-occurring bacteria. Vertically and horizontally structured 3-D microbial communities in solid-state agar-based microcompartments demonstrate the practicability of the biobattery, generating longer and greater power in a more self-sustaining manner than ...

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Miniature microbial solar cells to power wireless sensor networks

Cited by 23 publications

References 76 publications

Electrogenic Bacteria Promise New Opportunities for Powering, Sensing, and Synthesizing

Electrogenic Bacteria Promise New Opportunities for Powering, Sensing, and Synthesizing

Microbatteries with twin-Swiss-rolls redefine performance limits in the sub-square millimeter range

Spatial Engineering of Microbial Consortium for Long‐Lasting, Self‐Sustaining, and High‐Power Generation in a Bacteria‐Powered Biobattery

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