Microbial Coppersmiths

Electrogenic microbes utilize anodes as metabolic electron acceptors producing electrical current. Recently, Beuth et al. reported that, when grown on copper anodes in the presence of sulfate, they can induce the precipitation of copper sulfide, which becomes incorporated into the growing biofilms, increasing their conductivity and net electrical output. This biogenic biofilm “doping” presents a new strategy for improving current density of microbial electrochemical technologies and for considering new applications in microbial electronics.