Research Topic: Unbiased Photo-bioelectrochemical Configuration for Formate Production
Abstract: ** Lecture will be given in English**
The high energy demands and the extensive use of fossil fuels have led to a rising amount of CO2 emissions, which in turn contribute to the greenhouse effect. Thus, methods that may reuse the emitted CO2 and regenerate fuels are needed. Formate Dehydrogenases (FDHs) facilitate the reduction or oxidation of CO2 or formic acid, respectively. Specifically, metal-dependent FDH enzymes offer exceptional catalytic performance toward the reduction of CO2 into formate.
The latter has great potential to be used as fuel in fuel cells or as an H2 carrier that can be liquefied. Toward that, we cloned the gene encoding to the FDH enzyme from the bacteria of Clostridium Carboxidivorans P7 inside pET21a(+) plasmid under T7 promotor and expressed it in Escherichia coli BL21. Further utilized the enzyme for the development of a bio-electrochemical configuration that can generate formate from CO2. We further integrated the developed FDH-based cathode
with a photoanode to enable a novel unbiased light-induced CO2-to-formate production.
The developed configuration couples FDH-based biocathode for formic acid bio-fuel production with a solar-driven photoanode for the degradation urea that presents in black water waste. Urea is an abundant nitrogen-containing compound that can be found in urine waste. The developed system aims to simultaneously eliminate waste, minimize CO2 emissions, and generate fuels in a one-pot PEC. In my talk, I will present the different methodologies used, the results, and the challenges ahead toward real-world applications
