The charge transport mechanism in cable bacteria

Abstract

In this dissertation, the charge transport mechanism in the conductive fibres of cable bacteria is investigated. In Chapter 1, the research field of bacterial electricity is introduced. Three kinds of bacterial nanowires are discussed: Shewenella nanowires, Geobacter nanowires and the conductive fibres fromcable bacteria. Even though the three types of protein wires are all conductive, the cable bacteria’s protein wires stand out because their activation energy of conductance is much lower than that of the other nanowires and because they transport electrons over centimeter instead of micrometer distances. These differences suggest they have a distinct charge transport mechanism. To put different transport mechanisms in more context, metallic conduction, semiconduction, and hopping conduction are treated side by side and emphasis is placed on the temperature dependence of conductivity....