EK-GPS: Driving bacteria in heterogeneous porous media

Porous media are everywhere: as biological tissues, materials like ceramics, textiles and paper, as well as soils and rocks. Bacteria transport in such media is of fundamental importance both in natural systems and for a wide range of industrial, agricultural, medical and technological applications. The key point is that we might have very specialized bacteria, with unique metabolic capabilities and able to mediate important transformation processes, but their targeted delivery in porous media is a formidable challenge due to the complexity of transport processes in porous domains, the 3-D structure of the interconnected pore space, as well as the physical, chemical and electrostatic heterogeneity. This project will demonstrate the possibility to drive bacteria in porous media towards established targets in multidimensional systems by using external electric fields as a GPS and by understanding and controlling the charge interactions at surface/solution interfaces and within the pore water.