Electricity-powered artificial root nodule.

ABSTRACT: Root nodules are agricultural-important symbiotic plant-microbe composites in which microorganisms receive energy from plants and reduce dinitrogen (N₂) into fertilizers. Mimicking root nodules using artificial devices can enable renewable energy-driven fertilizer production. This task is challenging due to the necessity of a microscopic dioxygen (O₂) concentration gradient, which reconciles anaerobic N₂ fixation with O₂-rich atmosphere. Here we report our designed electricity-powered biological|inorganic hybrid system that possesses the function of root nodules. We construct silicon-based microwire array electrodes and replicate the O₂ gradient of root nodules in the array. The wire array compatibly accommodates N₂-fixing s

SUBMITTER: Lu S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7083970 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature