[SCAN] Boosting electroactivity to advance the practical application of electroactive bacteria

Title: Boosting electroactivity to advance the practical application of electroactive bacteria

Speaker: Catarina M. Paquete,

From: IBN group, ITQB NOVA

Abstract: Bioelectrochemical systems (BES) hold great promise in the innovation of different fields, including environmental bioremediation, low-power generation, biosensing, and production of added-value compounds. These systems rely on electroactive bacteria that grow on the electrode surface, forming a biofilm.

Through extracellular electron transfer, the bacteria use the electrode as the external electron donor or acceptor to drive their metabolic processes. Although BES offers extensive engineering possibilities to address many of today’s societal challenges, its application is still limited to small and pilot-scale projects. This limitation is due to the low power density achievable in these systems, resulting from the slow electron transfer process between the bacteria and the electrode.

This presentation will cover the fundamentals of extracellular electron transfer and explore different strategies to enhance electron transfer efficiency, with an in-depth discussion of each approach.