A team from Okayama, Kyoto and Tokyo University around Jun Takada has found that bacteria living in iron-rich freshwater and wetlands such as Leptothrix ochracea form iron-oxide nanoparticles. By embedding these nanoparticles into a suitable silicium and phosphorous-based matrix, good anode materials for lithium-ion batteries were formed.

China Bio news release, August 4, 2014