Growth of electroautotrophic microorganisms using hydrovoltaic energy through natural water evaporation

Guoping Ren, Jie Ye, Qichang Hu, Dong Zhang, Yong Yuan () and Shungui Zhou ()
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Guoping Ren: Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Jie Ye: Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Qichang Hu: Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Dong Zhang: Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
Yong Yuan: Guangdong University of Technology
Shungui Zhou: Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract It has been previously shown that devices based on microbial biofilms can generate hydrovoltaic energy from water evaporation. However, the potential of hydrovoltaic energy as an energy source for microbial growth has remained unexplored. Here, we show that the electroautotrophic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris can directly utilize evaporation-induced hydrovoltaic electrons for growth within biofilms through extracellular electron uptake, with a strong reliance on carbon fixation coupled with nitrate reduction. We obtained similar results with two other electroautotrophic bacterial species. Although the energy conversion efficiency for microbial growth based on hydrovoltaic energy is low compared to other processes such as photosynthesis, we hypothesize that hydrovoltaic energy may potentially contribute to microbial survival and growth in energy-limited environments, given the ubiquity of microbial biofilms and water evaporation conditions.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49429-0

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