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Updated: May 16, 2026

Characterizing Electron Transport through Living Biofilms
Published on: June 1, 2018
Microscale gradients and their role in electron-transfer mechanisms in biofilms
Haluk Beyenal1, Jerome T Babauta
1The Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99163, USA. beyenal@wsu.edu
Abstract:
The chemical and electrochemical gradients in biofilms play a critical role in electron-transfer processes between cells and a solid electron acceptor. Most of the time, electron-transfer processes have been investigated in the bulk phase, for a biofilm electrode or for an isolated component of a biofilm. Currently, the knowledge of chemical and electrochemical gradients in living biofilms respiring on a solid surface is limited. We believe the chemical and electrochemical gradients are critical for explaining electron-transfer mechanisms. The bulk conditions, an isolated part of a biofilm or a single cell cannot be used to explain electron-transfer mechanisms in biofilm systems. In addition, microscale gradients explain how the reactor configuration plays a critical role in electron-transfer processes.
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