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  • Design of Optimized PEDOT‐B...
    Reggente, Melania; Politi, Sara; Antonucci, Alessandra; Tamburri, Emanuela; Boghossian, Ardemis A.

    Advanced materials technologies, March 2020, Volume: 5, Issue: 3
    Journal Article

    Living photovoltaics represent a growing class of microbial devices that are based on whole cell–electrode interactions. The limited charge transfer at the cell–electrode interface represents a significant bottleneck in realizing an efficient technology. This study focuses on the development of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT)‐based electrodes that are electrosynthesized in the presence of a sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) dopant. Potentiodynamic and potentiostatic electrochemical techniques, as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), Raman spectroscopy, and theoretical modelling of the electropolymerization transient, are employed to create and characterize PEDOT electrodes under various conditions. The electrodes are able to capture photosynthetically derived current under multiple light–dark cycles when interfaced with Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. In the presence of the Synechocystis, the PEDOT electrodes show a sixfold and twofold enhancement over conventional graphite electrodes for both mediatorless and K3Fe(CN)6‐mediated conditions, respectively. The ability of these electrodes to enhance extracted photocurrent for both direct and indirect electron transfer mechanisms provides a versatile platform for improving various microbial devices. Living photovoltaics are photovoltaics based on living organisms, such as light‐harvesting bacteria. Current microbial devices suffer from low efficiencies due to poor charge extraction from the living cell. This article discusses the engineering of electrodes based on conductive polymers that are able to increase charge extraction from living photosynthetic cells and improve device efficiency.