Generating Electricity from Water Evaporation Through Microbial Biofilms

Abstract

Sustainable strategies for energy production are required to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and to power electronics without generating toxic waste.1-7 Generating electricity from water evaporation through engineered materials is a promising approach,8,9 but power outputs have been low and the materials employed were not sustainably produced. Microorganisms can be mass produced with renewable feedstocks. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to engineer microbial biofilms as a cohesive, flexible material for long-term continuous electricity production from evaporating water. The biofilm sheets were the functional component in devices that continuously produced power densities ([~]1 W/cm2) higher than that achieved with non-biological materials. Current production scaled directly with biofilm-sheet size and skin-patch devices harvested sufficient electricity from the moisture on skin to continuously power wearable devices. The results demonstrate that appropriately engineered biofilms can perform as robust functional materials without the need for further processing or maintaining cell viability. Biofilm-based hydroelectric current production was comparable to that achieved with similar sized biofilms catalyzing current production in microbial fuel cells,10,11 without the need for an organic feedstock or maintaining cell viability. The ubiquity of biofilms in nature suggests the possibility of additional sources of biomaterial for evaporation-based electricity generation and the possibility of harvesting electricity from diverse aqueous environments.