Investigation shows graphene influences bacterial metabolism in oil reservoirs, suggesting new technology for oil recovery.
The study aims to investigate the ways to utilize unique properties of graphene in oil microbial biotechnology in order to develop more efficient oil recovery methods. This paper is the first evidence that the presence of graphene in a nutrient medium can both stimulate and inhibit the growth and metabolic characteristics of hydrocarbon-oxidizing (HOB) and sulfate-reducing (SRB) bacteria isolated from oil reservoirs. The direction of the effect was found to depend on various parameters, including the concentration and dispersion of the graphene additive, as well as the microbial species. Conditions for introducing graphene additives that enhance HOB metabolism and alleviate the negative effects of SRB were identified. This could form the basis for development of a new, effective microbial technology for the oil industry.
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Babich et al. (2025) studied this question.
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