Glucose-Sensitive Biohybrid Roots for Supercapacitive Bioanodes.

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Sustainable Energy
• Plant Science

Background:

• Plants offer sustainable technological development potential through their biological components and processes.
• Previous work established plant electronic functionality via enzymatic polymerization and developed biohybrid circuits and energy storage.
• This research extends plant biohybrids to energy harvesting applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop plant-based energy-harvesting devices using modified plant roots.
• To demonstrate the conversion of root exudates, specifically glucose, into electricity.
• To explore the integration of energy generation and storage within a single plant biohybrid system.

Main Methods:

• Living plant roots were modified in a one-step process by dipping them in a solution containing a conjugated trimer (ETE-S) and glucose dehydrogenase flavin adenine dinucleotide (GDH-FAD).
• This created glucose-sensitive electrodes capable of electrochemical reactions.
• The performance was compared against traditional mediator-based glucose biosensor functionalization methods.

Main Results:

• The developed plant biohybrid devices successfully converted glucose into electrical current.
• The devices exhibited sensitivity to glucose concentrations as low as 100 μM, saturating at 100 mM.
• The novel method demonstrated superior sensitivity compared to conventional approaches, with less root structural damage.
• Glucose oxidation was successfully combined with volumetric capacitance for simultaneous current generation and storage.

Conclusions:

• Plant biohybrid devices offer a novel pathway for biologically integrated technology.
• Modified plant roots can function as efficient glucose-to-electricity converters.
• These biohybrid systems hold promise for powering low-power sensors in agriculture and environmental monitoring applications.