Microbes from Cooum water, a source for electricity!
Cindhu Beulah. M and Priya. R. Iyer Department of Biotechnology Women's Christian College, Chennai - 600 006.
Microbes can produce fuels such as ethanol, methane and hydrogen from organic matter. More recently, it has been reported that microorganisms can also convert organic matter into electricity using Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs).
Water samples from Cooum river and sea were taken and subjected to bacteriological analysis. Three bacterial species namely Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Enterobacter were selected and examined for electricity generation using Cooum water as substrate by MFC technology. Electricity was produced only by Psuedomonas spp. and Bacillus spp. Current generation from Pseudomonas, for resistance 1kΩ, 10kΩ and 100kΩ were found to be 1.1, 1.7 and 1.6 microamperes respectively. Current production from Bacillus, for resistance 1kΩ, 10kΩ, and 100kΩ were found to be 0.5, 0.6, and 1.1 microamperes respectively. Changes in temperature and pH showed no current production. Enterobacter was found to be nil in the current production. By means of molecular analysis, electrochemically active species of Bacillus have been shown to produce electricity.
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