Solar-Driven Microbial Photoelectrochemical Cells with a Nanowire Photocathode

We report a self-biased, solar-driven microbial photoelectrochemical cell (solar MPC) that can produce sustainable energy through coupling the microbial catalysis of biodegradable organic matter with solar energy conversion. The solar MPC consists of a p-type cuprous oxide nanowire-arrayed photocath...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nano letters 2010-11, Vol.10 (11), p.4686-4691
Main Authors: Qian, Fang, Wang, Gongming, Li, Yat
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Catalytic methods
Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science
rheology
Electric Power Supplies - microbiology
Electromagnetic Fields
Energy
Equipment Design
Equipment Failure Analysis
Exact sciences and technology
Light
Materials science
Methods of nanofabrication
Microelectrodes - microbiology
Nanocrystalline materials
Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization
Nanostructures - chemistry
Nanostructures - microbiology
Nanostructures - ultrastructure
Natural energy
Particle Size
Photovoltaic conversion
Physics
Quantum wires
Shewanella - physiology
Solar cells. Photoelectrochemical cells
Solar Energy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report a self-biased, solar-driven microbial photoelectrochemical cell (solar MPC) that can produce sustainable energy through coupling the microbial catalysis of biodegradable organic matter with solar energy conversion. The solar MPC consists of a p-type cuprous oxide nanowire-arrayed photocathode and an electricigen (Shewanella oneidensis MR-1)-colonizing anode, which can harvest solar energy and bioenergy, respectively. The photocathode and bioanode are interfaced by matching the redox potentials of bacterial cells and the electronic bands of semiconductor nanowires. We successfully demonstrated substantial current generation of 200 μA from the MPC device based on the synergistic effect of the bioanode (projected area of 20 cm2) and photocathode (projected area of 4 cm2) at zero bias under white light illumination of 20 mW/cm2. We identified the transition of rate-limiting step from the photocathode to the bioanode with increasing light intensities. The solar MPC showed self-sustained operation for more than 50 h in batch-fed mode under continuous light illumination. The ability to tune the synergistic effect between microbial cells and semiconductor nanowire systems could open up new opportunities for microbial/nanoelectronic hybrid devices with unique applications in energy conversion, environmental protection, and biomedical research.
ISSN:1530-6984
1530-6992
DOI:10.1021/nl102977n