3D-printed hierarchical pillar array electrodes for high-performance semi-artificial photosynthesis

Chen, Xiaolong; Lawrence, Joshua M.; Wey, Laura T.; Schertel, Lukas; Jing, Qingshen; Vignolini, Silvia; Howe, Christopher J.; Kar‐Narayan, Sohini; Zhang, Jenny

doi:10.1038/s41563-022-01205-5

Cited by 65 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…This work is also an advancement in the field of sustainable Nature/bio-derived materials [43-48]. It can dramatically accelerate the development of renewable and sustainable algal for CO 2 fixation and biosynthesis and related systems for advanced sustainable energy, food, pharmacy, and agriculture with enormous social and ecological benefits [9, 10, 26, 27, 49-55].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Microalgae, primitive plant which are called thallophytes, are one of the oldest life forms on the earth. Without any development beyond cells, algae structures still serve their primarily goals of sustainable energy conversion [7][8][9] and biomedical applications [10,11]. They could convert the green house gas and sun light into chemical energy through their conventional physiological pathway, part of which is what we used as biodiesel (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Microfluidic chemostatic bioreactor for high-throughput screening and sustainable co-harvesting of biomass and biodiesel in microalgae

Zheng

Cui

Lü

et al. 2022

Preprint

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As a renewable and sustainable source for energy, environment, and biomedical applications, microalgae and microalgal biodiesel have attracted great attention. However, their applications are confined due to the cost-efficiency of microalgal mass production. One-step strategy and continuous culturing systems could be solutions. However, current studies for optimization throughout microalgae-based biofuel production pipelines are generally derived from the batch culture process. Better tools are needed to study algal growth kinetics in continuous systems. A microfluidics chemostatic bioreactor array was presented, providing low-adhesion cultivation for algae in the gas, nutrition, and temperature (GNT) well-controlled environment with high throughput. The chip wasused to mimic the continuous culture environment of bioreactors. It allowed simultaneously studying of 8×8 different chemostatic conditions on algal growth and oil production in parallel on a 7×7 cm2 footprint. On-chip experiments of batch and continuous cultures of Chlorella. sp. were performed to study growth and lipid accumulation under different nitrogen concentrations. The results demonstrated that microalgal cultures can be regulated to grow and accumulate lipids concurrently, thus enhancing lipid productivity in one step. The developed on-chip culturing condition screening, which was more suitable for continuous bioreactor, was achieved at a half shorter time, 64-times higher throughput, and less reagent consumption. It could be used to establish chemostat cultures in continuous bioreactors which can dramatically accelerate the development of renewable and sustainable algal for CO2 fixation and biosynthesis and related systems for advanced sustainable energy, food, pharmacy, and agriculture with enormous social and ecological benefits.TEASERSustainable microfluidic bioreactor for 64 times higher-throughput screening CO2 fixation and biomass and biodiesel production in microalgae.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic chemostatic bioreactor for high-throughput screening and sustainable co-harvesting of biomass and biodiesel in microalgae

Zheng

Cui

Lü

et al. 2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, they can benefit from redox cycle absorption difference measurements similar to what was presented above, in operandum rather than in solution 7,19,20 . In case of more intact systems, where entire cells are employed for photocurrent generation 16,36 , a combination of these approaches could be used. For example, in a biohybrid that rewired the natural electron transfer pathway from PSII to drive exogenous quinone reduction directly from QA in vivo 37 , the efficiency can be simultaneously probed with interfacial electrochemistry, but as well 'upstream' QA with fluorescence yield measurements, and 'downstream' by assessing the decrease in P700 + re-reduction rate due to the added auxiliary electron route.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In situ Time-Resolved Spectroelectrochemistry Reveals Limitations of Biohybrid Photoelectrode Performance

Nawrocki

Jones

Frese

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Photosynthetic reaction centres catalyse the majority of solar energy conversion on Earth. These pigment proteins achieve this goal with a near-unity quantum efficiency, transducing the energy of almost every absorbed photon into that of a charge separated state. Capturing the high efficiency of these natural proteins with man-made electrodes is the goal of biohybrid technologies such as biophotovoltaics, biofuel cells and biosensors. However, the removal of reaction centres from their natural cellular environment and their integration into an abiotic biohybrid architecture invariably introduces loss channels that compromise energy conversion efficiency. Here, we developed the combined use of spectroscopy and analytical electrochemistry to identify electron transfer bottlenecks, back-reactions and short-circuits that affect the performance of a bacterial reaction centre-based biophotoelectrode. We determined that the system was over 90% efficient under low intensity light but dropped to ~10% efficiency under intense continuous illumination. Limitations and loss processes included bottlenecks in electron transfer that rendered 62% of reaction centres inactive, as well as a short-circuiting of 73% of the photochemical product from active reaction centres. These findings will help shape rational design strategies for improving the performance of biohybrid devices and may be more broadly applied to other donor-acceptor type photocatalysts.

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“…Nanostructured ITO electrodes with different architectures can be made using polymer spheres as templates, either with preformed ITO particles or In and Sn precursors. 244−246 Pillartype ITO structures have been synthesized by 3D-printing, 247 glancing angle deposition, 248 or by templating using porous polycarbonate membranes. 249 5.2.3.…”

Section: Construction and Characterization Of A Porous Ito Electrodementioning

confidence: 99%

From Protein Film Electrochemistry to Nanoconfined Enzyme Cascades and the Electrochemical Leaf

et al. 2022

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Protein film electrochemistry (PFE) has given unrivalled insight into the properties of redox proteins and many electron-transferring enzymes, allowing investigations of otherwise ill-defined or intractable topics such as unstable Fe–S centers and the catalytic bias of enzymes. Many enzymes have been established to be reversible electrocatalysts when attached to an electrode, and further investigations have revealed how unusual dependences of catalytic rates on electrode potential have stark similarities with electronics. A special case, the reversible electrochemistry of a photosynthetic enzyme, ferredoxin-NADP+ reductase (FNR), loaded at very high concentrations in the 3D nanopores of a conducting metal oxide layer, is leading to a new technology that brings PFE to myriad enzymes of other classes, the activities of which become controlled by the primary electron exchange. This extension is possible because FNR-based recycling of NADP(H) can be coupled to a dehydrogenase, and thence to other enzymes linked in tandem by the tight channelling of cofactors and intermediates within the nanopores of the material. The earlier interpretations of catalytic wave-shapes and various analogies with electronics are thus extended to initiate a field perhaps aptly named “cascade-tronics”, in which the flow of reactions along an enzyme cascade is monitored and controlled through an electrochemical analyzer. Unlike in photosynthesis where FNR transduces electron transfer and hydride transfer through the unidirectional recycling of NADPH, the “electrochemical leaf” (e-Leaf) can be used to drive reactions in both oxidizing and reducing directions. The e-Leaf offers a natural way to study how enzymes are affected by nanoconfinement and crowding, mimicking the physical conditions under which enzyme cascades operate in living cells. The reactions of the trapped enzymes, often at very high local concentration, are thus studied electrochemically, exploiting the potential domain to control rates and direction and the current–rate analogy to derive kinetic data. Localized NADP(H) recycling is very efficient, resulting in very high cofactor turnover numbers and new opportunities for controlling and exploiting biocatalysis.

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3D-printed hierarchical pillar array electrodes for high-performance semi-artificial photosynthesis

Cited by 65 publications

References 43 publications

Microfluidic chemostatic bioreactor for high-throughput screening and sustainable co-harvesting of biomass and biodiesel in microalgae

Microfluidic chemostatic bioreactor for high-throughput screening and sustainable co-harvesting of biomass and biodiesel in microalgae

In situ Time-Resolved Spectroelectrochemistry Reveals Limitations of Biohybrid Photoelectrode Performance

From Protein Film Electrochemistry to Nanoconfined Enzyme Cascades and the Electrochemical Leaf

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