Bacteria-photocatalyst sheet for sustainable carbon capture and utilisation
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Journal Title
Nature Catalysis
ISSN
2520-1158
Publisher
Nature Research
Type
Article
This Version
AM
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Wang, Q., Kalathil, S., Pornrungroj, C., Sahm, C., & Reisner, E. Bacteria-photocatalyst sheet for sustainable carbon capture and utilisation. Nature Catalysis https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.85418
Abstract
The clean conversion of carbon dioxide and water to a single multicarbon product and O2 using sunlight via photocatalysis without the assistance of organic additives or electricity remains an unresolved challenge. Here we report a bio-abiotic hybrid system with the nonphotosynthetic, CO2-fixing acetogenic bacterium, Sporomusa ovata (S. ovata) grown on a scalable and cost-effective photocatalyst sheet consisting of a pair of particulate semiconductors (La and Rh co-doped SrTiO3 (SrTiO3:La,Rh) and Mo-doped BiVO4 (BiVO4:Mo)). The biohybrid effectively produces acetate (CH3COO–) and oxygen (O2) using only sunlight, CO2 and H2O, achieving a solar-to-acetate conversion efficiency of 0.7%. The photocatalyst sheet oxidises water to O2 and provides electrons and hydrogen (H2) to S. ovata for the selective synthesis of CH3COO– from CO2. To demonstrate the utility in a closed carbon cycle, the solar-generated acetate was used directly as feedstock in a bioelectrochemical system for electricity generation. These semi-biological systems thus offer a promising strategy for sustainably and cleanly fixing CO2 and closing the carbon cycle.
Relationships
Is supplemented by: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.84871
Sponsorship
European Research Council (682833)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) Marie Sk?odowska-Curie actions (744317)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) Marie Sk?odowska-Curie actions (793996)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/S025308/1)
Embargo Lift Date
2025-06-10
Identifiers
This record's DOI: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.85418
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/338013
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