Electrochemical insight into the mechanism of electron transport in biofilms of Geobacter sulfurreducens

Abstract

Electroactive bacterial biofilms can be produced on a polarized electrode by forcing its use as the final electron acceptor for bacterial respiration. This strategy offers the researcher the unique possibility to control the respiration process with extreme precision. The production of current, the accumulation of charge and the conducting properties of electroactive biofilms has been interrogated in this work through very basic electrochemical techniques including chronopotentiometry, chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry. Presented results indicate that charge can be accumulated in the biofilm conductive network, that network conductivity does not represent a limit for current production and that both the steady state current and the amount of accumulated charge depend on the redox state of cytochromes wiring the cells to the electrode. A model of biofilm conduction is presented as well.