Biological approaches to electrical conduction in non-metallic materials for engineered products

The use of electricity is so pervasive that life without it is unimaginable today. The scope of electricity is even widening to encompass wearables and draperies in domestic and professional surroundings. The typical way of conducting electricity is through metallic wires and conduits, which often are integrated permanently into engineered products. This means that we have more and more products with mixed materials that are difficult to recycle, thereby creating a major bottleneck towards the achievement of sustainable urban and rural environments. If electricity could be conducted in another way, new design options would become possible. The bioworld offers ways for conducting electricity without metallic interconnects. Examples range from electric discharges by electric eels to electrolocation by fish to bacterial protein networks that conduct electrons. A review of electrical conduction mechanisms in the bioworld suugests the feasibility of incorporating the underlying bioworld principles in engineered products.