Also: microbial nanowires, Geobacter sulfurreducens, protein nanowires
Some bacteria, like Geobacter, grow conductive filaments that carry electrons outside the cell. They may lead to green electronics and power from humidity.
Readiness: lab lab studies · prototype demonstrated objects · commercial products or buildings in real use · review summaries of other studies.
Reguera and colleagues showed Geobacter uses conductive filaments to pass electrons outside the cell.
As reported in: Reguera, McCarthy, Mehta et al. (2005). Extracellular electron transfer via microbial nanowires. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature03661
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Wang and colleagues found the nanowires are chains of cytochrome proteins with stacked hemes.
As reported in: Wang, Gu, O’Brien et al. (2019). Structure of Microbial Nanowires Reveals Stacked Hemes that Transport Electrons over Micrometers. Cell. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.03.029
Malvankar and colleagues measured metal-like conductivity in Geobacter nanowire networks.
As reported in: Malvankar, Vargas, Nevin et al. (2011). Tunable metallic-like conductivity in microbial nanowire networks. Nature Nanotechnology. doi:10.1038/nnano.2011.119
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Liu and colleagues made a device from protein nanowires that generates electricity from moisture in the air.
Built / tested: Air-gen
As reported in: Liu, Gao, Ward et al. (2020). Power generation from ambient humidity using protein nanowires. Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2010-9
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