Cable Bacteria Skeletons as Catalytically Active Electrodes.

Cable bacteria are multicellular, filamentous bacteria that use internal conductive fibers to transfer electrons over centimeter distances from donors within anoxic sediment layers to oxygen at the surface. We extracted the fibers and used them as free-standing bio-based electrodes to investigate their electrocatalytic behavior. The fibers catalyzed the reversible interconversion of oxygen and water, and an electric current was running through the fibers even when the potential difference was generated solely by a gradient of oxygen concentration. Oxygen reduction as well as oxygen evolution were confirmed by optical measurements. Within living cable bacteria, oxygen reduction by direct electrocatalysis on the fibers and not by membrane-bound proteins readily explains exceptionally high cell-specific oxygen consumption rates observed in the oxic zone, while electrocatalytic water oxidation may provide oxygen to cells in the anoxic zone.

Cooperative Chemotaxis of Magnesium Microswimmers for Corrosion Spotting.

Numerous artificial micro- and nanomotors, as well as various swimmers have been inspired by living organisms that are able to move in a coordinated manner. Their cooperation has also gained a lot of attention because the resulting clusters are able to adapt to changes in their environment and to perform complex tasks. However, mimicking such a collective behavior remains a challenge. In the present work, magnesium microparticles are used as chemotactic swimmers with pronounced collective features, allowing the gradual formation of macroscopic agglomerates. The formed clusters act like a single swimmer able to follow pH gradients. This dynamic behavior can be used to spot localized corrosion events in a straightforward way. The autonomous docking of the swimmers to the corrosion site leads to the formation of a local protection layer, thus increasing corrosion resistance and triggering partial self-healing.