Ambient-Energy Harvesters

摘要

The most effective energy-harvesting processes are in nature, such as in microorganisms that must perform this task to survive. Derek R. Lovley of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and his colleagues, for instance, have reported that a marine organism, Desulfuromonas acetoxidans, can transfer electrons to a graphite electrode from acetate produced in sea sediments by other organisms. The result is an electric current that flows through water to another electrode. Such "sediment batteries" might be used for bioremediation of toxic wastes, for example. Similarly, the catalytic action of microorganisms can produce electrical output from different carbohydrates and substrates.