Screen-Printed Electrodes: New Tools for Developing Microbial Electrochemistry at Microscale Level

Marta Estevez-Canales, Antonio Berná, Zulema Borjas and Abraham Esteve-Núñez
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Marta Estevez-Canales: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid 28871, Spain
Antonio Berná: IMDEA WATER, Technological Park of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid 28805, Spain
Zulema Borjas: IMDEA WATER, Technological Park of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid 28805, Spain
Abraham Esteve-Núñez: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Madrid 28871, Spain

Energies, 2015, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-11

Abstract: Microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) have a number of potential technological applications. In this work, we report the use of screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) as a tool to analyze the microbial electroactivity by using Geobacter sulfurreducens as a model microorganism. We took advantage of the small volume required for the assays (75 ?L) and the disposable nature of the manufactured strips to explore short-term responses of microbial extracellular electron transfer to conductive materials under different scenarios. The system proved to be robust for identifying the bioelectrochemical response, while avoiding complex electrochemical setups, not available in standard biotechnology laboratories. We successfully validated the system for characterizing the response of Geobacter sulfurreducens in different physiological states (exponential phase, stationary phase, and steady state under continuous culture conditions) revealing different electron transfer responses. Moreover, a combination of SPE and G. sulfurreducens resulted to be a promising biosensor for quantifying the levels of acetate, as well as for performing studies in real wastewater. In addition, the potential of the technology for identifying electroactive consortia was tested, as an example, with a mixed population with nitrate-reducing capacity. We therefore present SPEs as a novel low-cost platform for assessing microbial electrochemical activity at the microscale level.

Keywords: screen-printed electrodes (SPEs); Geobacter sulfurreducens; microbial electrochemistry (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: 2015
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