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Asked by Stone to Keegan on 25 Apr 2016.
Question: What atoms and electrons in the mud makes it so you can create electricity.
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Keegan Cooke answered on 25 Apr 2016:
Great question! In the MudWatt, some bacteria munch up sugars and nutrients in the soil and “poop” out molecules that have an extra electron on them. So the MudWatt sucks up that extra electron into its circuit to power things.
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Clay commented on :
Starting with Keegan’s answer, these bacteria are called anaerobic, meaning that they can function in environments that have little oxygen present such as mud, since water fills most of the spaces among the soil particles.
So when oxygen is not available to receive the electron released in decomposition, these anaerobic bacteria use nitrogen or sulfur compounds, or iron or manganese. Since bacteria are so small and cannot ingest (eat) the organic materials (sugars and starches and the like), the decomposition occurs outside the cells, and the electrons are released into the solution as the extra electron Keegan mentioned. Nature always seeks a balance, so if the right compounds or elements are present, with enough time, other compounds will form. But the MudWatt’s electrodes can intercept these electrons before those reactions can occur, creating a flow of electrons, which is the electricity that powers the microbial battery.