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Bacteria–photocatalyst sheet for sustainable carbon dioxide utilization

Nature Catalysis volume 5, pages 633–641 (2022)Cite this article

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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 03 August 2022

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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 non-photosynthetic, CO2-fixing acetogenic bacterium Sporomusa 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% at ambient conditions (298 K, 1 atm). The photocatalyst sheet oxidizes water to O2 and provides electrons and hydrogen (H2) to S. ovata for the selective synthesis of CH3COO– from CO2. To demonstrate 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 approaches thus offer a promising strategy for sustainably and cleanly fixing CO2 and closing the carbon cycle.

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Fig. 1: S. ovata|sheet hybrid system.
Fig. 2: Photosynthetic activity of S. ovata|sheet hybrids.
Fig. 3: Morphology of S. ovata|sheet hybrids.
Fig. 4: Viability of S. ovata|sheet hybrids.
Fig. 5: Electricity production by G. sulfurreducens|IO-ITO electrode.

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Data availability

All source data that support the findings of this study are available from the University of Cambridge data repository: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.84871.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Rahaman, L. Su and M. Miller (University of Cambridge) for helpful discussions, and H. Greer at the University of Cambridge for assisting in the collection of SEM–EDX element-mapping images. This work was supported by the European Research Council Consolidator Grant ‘MatEnSAP’ (no. 682833 to E.R.), the UK Research and Innovation Cambridge Creative Circular Plastics Centre (grant no. EP/S025308), European Marie Sklodowska-Curie individual Fellowships (nos. GAN 793996 to Q.W. and GAN 744317 to S.K.), Research England’s Expanding Excellence in England (E3) Fund (to S.K.), the Cambridge Trust (Cambridge Thai Foundation Award to C.P.) and a Trinity-Henry Barlow Scholarship (to C.P.).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Qian Wang, Shafeer Kalathil.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Qian Wang, Shafeer Kalathil, Chanon Pornrungroj, Constantin D. Sahm & Erwin Reisner

  2. Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment, Department of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Shafeer Kalathil

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Contributions

Q.W., S.K. and E.R. conceived the idea and designed the project. Q.W. prepared the photocatalyst sheet and photoelectrodes and conducted physical characterization of semiconductors. S.K. and Q.W. carried out bacterial culture. S.K. quantified proteins and performed microbial electrogenesis. C.P. recorded SEM and SEM–EDX element-mapping images. Q.W. and C.P. carried out H2 and O2 quantification. S.K., C.D.S. and C.P. quantified acetate. The O2 tolerance ability of bacteria was investigated by C.D.S. and S.K. C.D.S., S.K. and Q.W. conducted isotopic labelling experiments. All authors analysed the data and discussed the results. Q.W., S.K. and E.R. wrote the manuscript with assistance from the co-authors. E.R. supervised the project.

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Correspondence to Erwin Reisner.

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Wang, Q., Kalathil, S., Pornrungroj, C. et al. Bacteria–photocatalyst sheet for sustainable carbon dioxide utilization. Nat Catal 5, 633–641 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-022-00817-z

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