‘Hydrogen nanoreactors’ can create breakthrough in green hydrogen
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Bio-engineering bacteria to become ‘hydrogen nanoreactors’, could open the way towards a cost-effective, zero carbon method of generating hydrogen fuels
Researchers at the University of Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science have made major advances towards realising green hydrogen – the production of hydrogen by splitting water, powered by renewable energy.
Hydrogen could play a key role in helping us achieve net-zero emissions, since this burns cleanly without releasing CO2. However, current industrial hydrogen production depends heavily on fossil fuels, generating approximately 11.5–13.6 kilograms of CO2 emissions per kilogram of hydrogen produced.
In the new study, the researchers used a synthetic biology approach to convert a species of bacteria into a cellular ‘bionanoreactor’ to split water and produce hydrogen using sunlight. By generating a highly-efficient, stable and cost-effective catalyst, this overcomes one of the critical challenges that has been holding back green hydrogen to date.
First author of the study Weiming Tu, a DPhil candidate in Oxford’s Department of Engineering Science, said, ‘The natural periplasm of S. oneidensis offers an optimal nano-environment for hydrogen production, as it effectively ‘squeezes’ protons and electrons, thereby increasing the likelihood of their interactions within nanoscale spaces. Thermodynamically, this design results in a lower energy requirement for hydrogen production. This work is a good demonstration of engineering biology.’
According to the researchers, the system could be scaled up to produce ‘artificial leaves’, with the engineered cells printed onto carbon fibre cloth. When these artificial leaves are exposed to sunlight, they would immediately begin producing hydrogen.
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