Shewanella-mediated synthesis of reduced graphene oxide film for enhanced extracellular electron transfer

A novel route was developed to prepare reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films through reduction of graphene oxide (GO) by Shewanella loihica PV-4 (S. loihica PV-4) in a single-chamber, three-electrode system. Molecular structures of GO and rGO were characterized by X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that GO film was effectively reduced to rGO by S. loihica PV-4. The obtained rGO film was used as a work electrode to improve the extracllular electron transfer (EET) of S. loihica PV-4. Compared to ITO electrode, the anode current of rGO electrode with a film thickness of 111 nm increased by 13%, and the electric quantity increased by 90%. The Shewanella-mediated reducing method may offer a simple and mild route to prepare electrode material for high performance microbial fuel cell.