Swiss scientists from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne have increased the ability of E. coli bacteria to generate electricity and use wastewater for it. To work published in the scientific journal Joule.
E. coli is able to generate electricity through a process known as extracellular electron transfer (ECT).
Researchers have grown microbes with enhanced WEP capacity, which allows the microbes to generate electricity by assimilating various organic substrates in wastewater. During the experiments, the sticks were placed in the effluent environment of a local brewery.
Thanks to the new method, the modified bacteria began to produce three times more electricity than conventional E. coli, the scientists said.
According to the authors of the development, “electric” microbes not only solve the problem of waste processing, but can also be used in bacterial fuel cells and biosensors. Genetic flexibility allows the microorganism to adapt to a particular environment and raw material, making it a versatile tool for sustainable technology development.
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