Photosynthetic bio electrochemical systems: development and possible areas of application

Dr. Paolo Bombelli vísindamaður við University of Cambridge flytur erindi á málstofu á vegum Kerfislíffræðiseturs og námsbrautar í efnaverkfræði. Erindið ber titilinn: Photosynthetic bio electrochemical systems - development and possible areas of application

Ágrip 

Breathing (micro)organisms (both photosynthetic and heterotrophic) are capable to generate electrons that can be harvested by a suitable electrochemical setup and be used as electrical current. This concept forms the basis of bio electrochemical systems (BESs)(1). The electrical output obtained from these bio electrochemical systems has improved considerably over the last few years, with the maximum reported being in the region of ca.4A m-2 and ca.70A m-2, for the systems operated with photosynthetic and heterotrophic (micro)organisms receptively (2,3). A number of aspects have been considered for enhancing the electrical output and make the BESs suitable for actual applications. These include the availability of electrons from the organisms involved, the transfer of electrons outside the cellular body and interface to the electrode, and the nature of the materials used tobuild the electrochemical setup. With the aim to focus on possible areas of application I will present ongoing projects where photosynthetic BES constitute a useful source of electricity in, for example, off-grid locations. I will discuss the use of photosynthetic BES to power camera trap in the Amazonian tropical forest of Peru and to run environmental sensor for wastewater monitoring in Bangalore India. In addition, I will also promote the idea to use Bio Electrochemical Systems as educational toolkit for disseminating knowledge related with energy and sustainability in schools. This was done by promoting the creation of open-source algal-BES prototypes (4). 
[1] Energy Environ. Sci., 2015, 8: 1092-1109. 
[2] Nature Energy, 2018, 3: 75–81. 
[3] Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5 : 9769–9772. 
[4] http://www.iaacblog.com/programs/bio-bottle-voltaic-bbv/

Nánari upplýsingar um Dr. Paolo Bombelli má finna hér: https://www.bioc.cam.ac.uk/howe/members/paolo-bombello-postdoctoral-researcher-1