Liquid Metal Nanoparticle‐Coated Endospores as Dormant‐to‐Active Bioelectrocatalysts for Microbial Power

ABSTRACT A central ambition of engineered living materials is to exploit the dynamic behaviors of living cells, yet the synthetic interfaces that make them useful are typically static. When a cell changes shape and physiological state, rigid coatings crack while weakly bound ones detach, forcing a trade‐off between biological robustness and sustained electrical function. Here, we resolve this conflict with an adaptive conductive interface, demonstrated during the dormancy‐to‐active transition of weakly exoelectrogenic bacterial spores—among the most demanding such tests. Individual Bacillus subtilis endospores are coated with dopamine‐functionalized liquid‐metal nanoparticle (LMNP) shells, in which catechol chemistry anchors deformable, conductive nanoparticles to each spore. Because each is wrapped individually, the conductive shell survives germination and maximizes biotic–abiotic contact, substantially enhancing extracellular electron transfer. Functionalization is essential: dopamine‐coated LMNPs remain distributed across the emerging vegetative cells, whereas bare particles largely fail to anchor and scatter into the surrounding matrix. Infrared spectroscopy and electron microscopy confirm that liquid‐metal and biological signatures persist after activation, and the bioanode delivers approximately eighteen‐fold higher peak power density than LMNP‐free controls while retaining over 96% of its output after five days of storage. This establishes a broadly transferable strategy for durable, high‐performance, activation‐ready living energy materials.