Microbe-mediated Electricity Generation

CBET-0854684 De Figueiredo微生物燃料电池是一种非凡的“绿色能源”设备，它利用微生物从有机化合物中发电。这些燃料电池在生物能源界引起了极大的兴奋，因为它们有潜力为各种技术提供动力，包括废水处理、用于低可获得性地区长期运行的自主传感器、移动机器人/传感器平台和可再生能源系统。不幸的是，目前的微生物燃料电池产生的电力很少，这一事实阻碍了该技术的广泛应用。更好地了解微生物如何发电将显著提高燃料电池的性能。此外，能够以大规模并行方式研究微生物发电的新平台对于显著推进该领域是至关重要的。考虑到这些想法，一种新的技术将被开发出来，它可以以一种大规模并行的方式，揭示微生物是如何发电的。此外，还将继续推行一项少数群体外联和教育计划，以培训生物能源科学方面的下一代领导人。综上所述，这些努力将对微生物发电的研究和下一代微生物燃料电池的开发产生深远的影响。

CBET-0854684de FigueiredoMicrobial fuel cells are remarkable "green energy" devices that exploit microbes to generate electricity from organic compounds. These fuel cells have generated significant excitement in the bioenergy community because of their potential for powering diverse technologies, including waste water treatment, autonomous sensors for long-term operations in low accessibility regions, mobile robot/sensor platforms, and renewable energy systems. Unfortunately, current microbial fuel cells produce low amounts of power, a fact that has stymied widespread application of the technology. A better understanding of how microbes can generate electricity will significantly improve fuel cell performance. In addition, new platforms that allow for microbial electricity production to be studied in a massively parallel fashion are essential to significantly advance the field. With these ideas in mind, a novel technology that can, in a massively parallel fashion, uncover how microbes generate electricity will be developed. In addition, a minority outreach and educational program that will train the next generation leaders in the bioenergy sciences will be pursued. Taken together, these efforts will have far-reaching implications for the study of electricity generation by microbes, and the development of next generation microbial fuel cells.