Improved Microbial Fuel Cell Performance by Engineering E. coli for Enhanced Affinity to Gold

Justin P. Jahnke, Deborah A. Sarkes, Jessica L. Liba, James J. Sumner and Dimitra N. Stratis-Cullum
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Justin P. Jahnke: DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA
Deborah A. Sarkes: DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA
Jessica L. Liba: DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA
James J. Sumner: DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA
Dimitra N. Stratis-Cullum: DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-15

Abstract: Microorganism affinity for surfaces can be controlled by introducing material binding motifs into proteins such as fimbrial tip and outer membrane proteins. Here, controlled surface affinity is used to manipulate and enhance electrical power production in a typical bioelectrochemical system, a microbial fuel cell (MFC). Specifically, gold-binding motifs of various affinity were introduced into two scaffolds in Escherichia coli : eCPX, a modified version of outer membrane protein X (OmpX), and FimH, the tip protein of the fimbriae. The behavior of these strains on gold electrodes was examined in small-scale (240 µL) MFCs and 40 mL U-tube MFCs. A clear correlation between the affinity of a strain for a gold surface and the peak voltage produced during MFC operation is shown in the small-scale MFCs; strains displaying peptides with high affinity for gold generate potentials greater than 80 mV while strains displaying peptides with minimal affinity to gold produce potentials around 30 mV. In the larger MFCs, E. coli strains with high affinity to gold exhibit power densities up to 0.27 mW/m 2 , approximately a 10-fold increase over unengineered strains lacking displayed peptides. Moreover, in the case of the modified FimH strains, this increased power production is sustained for five days.

Keywords: bio-abio interface; bioelectrochemistry; bioelectricity; biomass-to-energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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