As students, we have learned in class that there are various ways to conduct electricity, especially since it is essential to our everyday lives.
Now, a team of scientists from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, have discovered an enzyme that can convert air into electricity.
This hydrogen-consuming enzyme found in a common soil bacterium was observed to generate electrical current by using the atmosphere as an energy source.
It was also a breakthrough discovery for the team because now they understand how bacteria survive through various biodiversities such as Antarctic soil or volcano craters.
The enzyme—called ‘Huc’—was proved stable because it efficiently creates energy from thin air.
Experiments have also proven that purified Huc can be stored for an extended period within a freezing temperature or up to 80 degrees Celsius. It won’t even lose its power to generate electricity.
Huc has already been tested through small-air-powered devices. The full details of this discovery were published in the Nature journal titled “Structural basis for bacterial energy extraction from atmospheric hydrogen.”