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Discovery of Natural Organic Metals for Fuel Cells, Transistors and Supercapacitors. Nikhil S. Malvankar 1,2 , Madeline Vargas 2 , Mark T. Tuominen 1 and Derek R. Lovley 2 Departments of 1 Physics and 2 Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. . Email: nikhil@physics.umass.edu
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Discovery of Natural Organic Metals for Fuel Cells, Transistors and Supercapacitors Nikhil S. Malvankar1,2, Madeline Vargas2, Mark T. Tuominen1 and Derek R. Lovley2 Departments of 1Physics and 2Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Email: nikhil@physics.umass.edu Cell Phone: 413-313-3179 Geobacter sprouts a web of microbial nanowires with metallic-like conductivity Geobacter Bacteria-produced proteins behave as if they are metals
Geobacteruses electrodes as we use oxygen Metal-like conductivity of microbial nanowires Nanowires Biofilm Conductivity (µS/cm) Conductivity increased upon cooling Nanowire networks carry electrons over 10,000 times the size of a single microbe Temperature (K) Nanowires show structural features similar to synthetic organic metals X-ray diffraction revealed highly ordered structure Peak corresponds to pi stacking distance (3.5 Å) Pi stacking gives metallic conductivity Equivalent to humans using oxygen 10 km away
Microbial Nanowires: A new paradigm for biological electron transfer and bioelectronics Protein-based nanomaterials are inexpensive and environmentally-sustainable They can work under unusual aqueous and acidic environments Applications of Microbial Nanowires High-performance Supercapacitors Microbial Fuel Cells with improved current and power density Transistors with 100-fold ON-OFF ratio Gate voltage (Volts) ON Conductivity (µS/cm) OFF Email: nikhil@physics.umass.edu Cell Phone: 413-313-3179