Characteristics and Microbial Activity of Shewanella and Escherichia coli under a Direct-Current Electric Field

The effects of a direct-current electric field on cell viability and physicochemical properties of exoelectrogens and non-exoelectrogens, e.g., Shewanella and Escherichia coli, were studied. The results obtained through the analysis of differences in growth patterns and growth rates for Shewanella and Escherichia coli under electric fields with varying intensity showed that the direct-current electric field accelerated the growth of microbes. More Escherichia coli grew in the cathode, and more shewanella grew in the anode. When Shewanella and Escherichia coli were used as the culture, the activation resistance accounted for a large proportion of the total resistance, and the activation resistance with Shewanella was much less than that with Escherichia coli. The anode capacitance with Shewanella was higher than that with Escherichia coli, indicating that the anode capacitance is negatively correlated with the resistance.