(May 8, 2012) Researchers
from the University of Leeds are studying how to make electricity from
electrodes coated in bacteria, and other living cells, using light or hydrogen
as the fuel.
The aim of
the research long-term is to develop more efficient biofuel cells, seen as the
future of electronics. Because biofuel cells are powered by readily available
biological materials, they have the potential to be used indefinitely when
electricity is required at places where is it not possible to replace a battery
or recharge them.
Most
biofuel cells create electricity using enzymes that process glucose, but the
Leeds research will focus on bacterial enzymes that can harness light or
hydrogen gas to create energy. The work is funded by a £1.42m grant from the
European Research Council.
Lead
researcher, Dr Lars Jeuken, from the University's Faculty of Biological
Sciences, says: "Technology that creates an electrical signal from a
biochemical reaction is already in commercial use, for example in blood glucose
biosensors. However, developing an efficient biofuel cell that can create
sufficient electricity for general use has proved much more difficult. This is
mainly because the systems developed to date have only limited control of how
inorganic materials and biological molecules interact.