Bacteria found feeding on MAGNETS create natural rechargeable batteries

March 28, 2015  20:29

Bacteria growing on particles of magnetic crystal may form natural rechargeable batteries, according to new research.

Scientists at the University of Tübingen in Germany have found that colonies of two types of bacteria can grow on a mineral called magnetite.

They found one species of bacteria could dump electrons onto the crystals while another harvested the electrons from them depending on the amount of sunlight they received.


The scientists said that in the wild this may allow the magnetite crystals to act like natural rechargeable batteries for the bacteria.

The findings has raised hopes that these 'batteries' could be used to help develop new sources of energy, although the charge they currently hold is minute.

Dr James Byrne, who led the work at the University of Tübingen, said bacteria could be genetically engineered to increase this activity.

'In our study we only looked at iron metabolising bacteria, but we speculate that it might be possible for other non-iron metabolising organisms to use magnetite as a battery as well - or if they can be made to use it, through genetic engineering,' he said.

'Could engineering the bacteria increase the energy production or is it limited by the magnetite itself? 

'The magnetite itself will only hold a maximum number of electrons, which is one of the limiting factors. 

'However, the bacteria access these electrons through specialized enzymes known as cyctochromes. 

'In principle, if the bacteria could be engineered with more of these electron carriers, then it could increase the speed at which they use the magnetite as a battery. 

'It is probably not something that could be used for an application in the immediate future though.'

The researchers, whose work is published in the journal Science, incubated a species of purple bacteria called Rhodopseudomonas palustris, which is found in soil, and another bacterium called Geobacter sulfurreducens.

These were grown on nano-sized crystals of magnetite - an iron oxide based mineral found in rock formations that was used to make lodestones.

The research team then varied the light levels to simulate the effect of night and day.

They found that during the 'day time' Rhodopseudomonas bacteria harvested electrons from the magnetite, reducing its electric charge.

During the night, the Geobacter took over and dumped electrons back onto the magnetite crystals, recharging it.

Geobacter adds electrons to the iron in the crystals while metabolising other organic material.

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