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posted by martyb on Monday July 15 2019, @05:58AM   Printer-friendly
from the gram-negative-graphene dept.

Shewanella Oneidensis is an oxygen tolerant gram-negative anaerobic metal reducing protobacterium discovered in lake Oneida, NY in 1988. Scientists have now shown that this bacterium can be used to produce graphene more cheaply, quickly, and greenly.

When mixed with oxidised graphite, which is relatively easy to produce, the bacterium Shewanella oneidensis removes most of the oxygen groups and leaves conductive graphene behind as a result. It's cheaper, faster, and more environmentally friendly than existing techniques to make the material.

Using this process, we might be able to create graphene at the sort of scale necessary for the next generation of computing and medical devices – utilising graphene's powerful mix of strength, flexibility, and conductivity.

"For real applications you need large amounts," says biologist Anne Meyer from the University of Rochester in New York.

"Producing these bulk amounts is challenging and typically results in graphene that is thicker and less pure. This is where our work came in."

Using Shewanella Oneidensis, researchers produced thinner, more stable, and durable graphene than that produced with current chemical manufacturing approaches. According to Meyer this cheaper, higher quality graphene opens up many possibilities

It could be used in field-effect transistor (FET) biosensors, devices that detect particular biological molecules, such as glucose monitoring for diabetics.

Because the bacteria production process usually leaves behind certain oxygen groups, the resulting graphene is well-suited to being able to bind to specific molecules – exactly what an FET biosensor needs to do.

This kind of graphene material could also be used as a conductive ink in circuit boards, in computer keyboards, or even in small wires to defrost car windshields. If needed, the bacteria process can be tweaked to produce graphene that's only conductive on one side.

This is only a first study investigating this approach, so a great deal more research will be required before they start building laptops out of bacterial byproducts.

Journal Reference
Creation of Conductive Graphene Materials by Bacterial Reduction Using Shewanella Oneidensis Benjamin A. E. Lehner, et al. 04 July 2019


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @07:31AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 15 2019, @07:31AM (#867109)

    Just two more buzzwords: grey goo.