Bacterial 'wires' an electronic dream

摘要

The hair-like threads sticking out of some species of bacteria may hold the secret to more powerful electronics and circuits that will work underwater. Bacteria use pili, as the threads are known, to connect with other bacteria, and they also conduct electricity, says microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Lovley's team sheared some from Ceobacter bacteria to study their properties in isolation. They found that conductivity increases with pH and as temperatures fall -just as in metals.