Study on Mechanism of a Direct Photosynthetic/Metabolic Bio-Fuel Cell (DPBFC) using Gene manipulated Bacteria and Prototyping of Flexible DPBFC

本实验室开发了一种无介质的直接光合/代谢生物燃料电池（DPBFC），该电池采用聚苯胺微粒作为电极材料从细菌中提取电子。本文选择了红假单胞菌（Rhodopseudomonas palustris）作为一种新的燃料源，该燃料源被有机化合物激活并释放氢。为了提高稻瘟神的电子生成效率，通过基因操作抑制了稻瘟神的氢发射，使稻瘟神体内储存了更多的电子。结果表明，突变体的功率密度为18.3μW/cm^2，高于野生型。此外，为了延长细胞寿命，似乎有必要持续为细菌提供介质，因此，我们开发了一种采用吸水聚合物的介质流系统。平均流速为32nl/min，突变体的细胞寿命为12小时，比之前的DPBFC延长了6倍。此外，我们还利用热封膜和热压工艺制作了一种薄型柔性DPBFC原型。结果表明，当紫色光合细菌（Rhodopesudomonas palustris）作为燃料源时，所研制的薄型柔性DPBFC（50×50×1mm）可产生64μW（4.65μW/cm2）的最大功率。

In our laboratory, we have developed a mediator-less direct photosynthetic/metabolic bio-fuel cell (DPBFC) in which microparticles of polyaniline were adopted as the electrode material to extract electrons from bacteria In this paper, we selected Rhodopseudomonas palustris as a new fuel source which is activated by organic compounds and emits hydrogen. To improve the electron generation efficiency of R.palustris, gene manipulation was applied so as to suppress hydrogen emission and more electrons will be stored inside of R.palustris. As a result, the power density obtained by the mutant was 18.3μW/cm^2, which is higher than the wild type. In addition, to extend the cell life, it seems necessary to supply a medium to bacteria continuously, therefore, we have developed a medium flow system using water-absorbing polymer. The average flow rate was 32nl/min and the cell life for the mutant became 12 hours, that is six times longer than the previous DPBFC. In addition, we have prototyped a thin type flexible DPBFC by using a heat-sealing film and thermocompression process. As a result, the developed thin type flexible DPBFC(50×50×1mm) could generate the maximum power 64μW(4.65μW/cm2) when purple photosynthetic bacteria (Rhodopesudomonas palustris) was used as a fuel source.