Enhancing Extracellular Electron Transfer of a 3D-Printed Shewanella Bioanode with Riboflavin-Modified Carbon Black Bioink

Abstract

3D printing of a living bioanode holds the potential for the rapid and efficient production of bioelectrochemistry systems. However, the ink (such as sodium alginate, SA) that formed the matrix of the 3D-printed bioanode may hinder extracellular electron transfer (EET) between the microorganism and conductive materials. Here, we proposed a biomimetic design of a 3D-printed Shewanella bioanode, wherein riboflavin (RF) was modified on carbon black (CB) to serve as a redox substance for microbial EET. By introducing the medicated EET pathways, the 3D-printed bioanode obtained a maximum power density of 252 ± 12 mW/m 2 , which was 1.7 and 60.5 times higher than those of SA-CB (92 ± 10 mW/m 2 ) and a bare carbon cloth anode (3.8 ± 0.4 mW/m 2 ). Adding RF reduced the charge-transfer resistance of a 3D-printed bioanode by 75% (189.5 ± 18.7 vs 47.3 ± 7.8 Ω), indicating a significant acceleration in the EET efficiency within the bioanode. This work provided a fundamental and instrumental concept for constructing a 3D-printed bioanode.