PH, redox potential and local biofilm potential microenvironments within Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms and their roles in electron transfer.

ABSTRACT: The limitation of pH inside electrode-respiring biofilms is a well-known concept. However, little is known about how pH and redox potential are affected by increasing current inside biofilms respiring on electrodes. Quantifying the variations in pH and redox potential with increasing current is needed to determine how electron transfer is tied to proton transfer within the biofilm. In this research, we quantified pH and redox potential variations in electrode-respiring Geobacter sulfurreducens biofilms as a function of respiration rates, measured as current. We also characterized pH and redox potential at the counter electrode. We concluded that (1) pH continued to decrease in the biofilm through different growth phases, showing that the pH is not always a limiting factor in a biofilm and

SUBMITTER: Babauta JT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3551578 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature