Preconditioned microbial communities in electrochemical sensing: initial assessment of detection capabilities and durability
Abstract
This study explores the role of pre-colonized microbial cultures in enhancing the long-term effectiveness of microbial electrochemical sensors for water quality monitoring. Microbial electrochemical sensors rely on specific functional microorganisms to detect and signal changes in environmental water quality. Pre-colonization of these cultures on the sensor's electrode can promote sustained detection sensitivity. This study investigates how specific microbial groups-Geobacter species, sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), and acetogen microbes-affect sensor performance when initially enriched and transferred to the biosensor. In the pre-enrichment phase, microbes were incubated in three defined media: Geobacter medium, SRB medium, and acetogen medium. Each culture was cycled through three 48 h incubation periods to establish dominant microbial populations and then introduced to independent biosensors. A control sensor was seeded with natural inoculum from Tasek Kejuruteraan UKM. The results showed that Geobacter-enriched biosensors quickly generated strong electrical signals by oxidizing substrates at the anode, marking them as the most effective at facilitating electron transfer. SRB-enriched sensors produced negative signals, as SRB consumed electrons and thrived at the cathode. Acetogen-enriched biosensors exhibited slower, indirect electron transfer, with lower electrochemical activity. In contrast, the control sensor displayed only minimal increases in signal strength over…
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