IJMS, Vol. 23, Pages 15001: Direct Electricity Production from Nematostella and Arthemia’s Eggs in a Bio-Electrochemical Cell (International Journal of Molecular Sciences)

In recent years, extensive efforts have been made to develop clean energy technologies to replace fossil fuels to assist the struggle against climate change. One approach is to exploit the ability of bacteria and photosynthetic organisms to conduct external electron transport for electricity production in bio-electrochemical cells. In this work, we first show that the sea anemones Nematostella vectensis and eggs of Artemia (brine shrimp) secrete redox-active molecules that can reduce the electron acceptor Cytochrome C. We applied 2D fluorescence spectroscopy and identified NADH or NADPH as secreted species. Finally, we broaden the scope of living organisms that can be integrated with a bio-electrochemical cell to the sea anemones group, showing for the first time that Nematostella and eggs of Artemia can produce electrical current when integrated into a bio-electrochemical cell.