SolarBioChip: development of a solar bio-battery for printed bioelectronics

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We have recently described the development of a printed cyanobacterial biobattery with potential application as a biodegradable power supply for low-power devices including biosensors and printed bioelectronics (Sawa M, Fantuzzi A, Bombelli P, Howe CJ, Hellgardt K & Nixon PJ (2017): Electricity generation from digitally printed cyanobacteria. Nature Commun. 8, 1327). The biobattery is conveniently fabricated by a scalable inkjet method to print both cyanobacterial cells and carbon nanotube electrode surfaces on which the cells grow as a biofilm. In the light, the printed device acts as a biophotovoltaic cell producing electrical current from electrons released from the cell during photosynthetic electron transport. Importantly, the biobattery can also produce electricity in the dark from the breakdown of stored products of photosynthesis, such as carbohydrate. The aim of this project is to improve the power output of the first-generation solar biobattery so that it can meet the power requirement for use in printed bioelectronics, as defined in collaboration with ARM PLC. Areas for investigation include the development of novel cyanobacterial strains (Nixon), the testing of novel electrode materials for improved conductance and biocompatibility (Shaffer), the development of robust printing techniques and composite design (Hellgardt) and the testing of devices in printed electronic devices (ARM PLC). Ultimately, we aim to fabricate a semi-living electronic device powered by sunlight using cyanobacterial cells - the 'solarbiochip'.