Enhanced Light‐Driven Hydrogen Production by Self‐Photosensitized Biohybrid Systems

Abstract

Storage of solar energy as hydrogen provides aplatform towards decarbonizing our economy.One emerging strategy for the production of solar fuels is to use photocatalytic biohybrid systems that combine the high catalytic activity of non-photosynthetic microorganisms with the high light-harvesting efficiency of metal semiconductor nanoparticles.However,few such systems have been tested for H 2 production. We investigated light-driven H 2 production by three novel organisms,D esulfovibrio desulfuricans,C itrobacter freundii, and Shewanella oneidensis,s elf-photosensitized with cadmium sulfide nanoparticles,a nd compared their performance to Escherichia coli. All biohybrid systems produced H 2 from light, with D. desulfuricans-CdS demonstrating the best activity overall and outperforming the other microbial systems even in the absence of am ediator.W itht his system, H 2 was continuously produced for more than 10 days with as pecific rate of 36 mmol g dcw À1 h À1 .High apparent quantum yields of 23 %and 4% were obtained, with and without methyl viologen, respectively,exceeding values previously reported.

Whole‐Cell‐Based Photosynthetic Biohybrid Systems for Energy and Environmental Applications

“…Lately, Martins and co‐workers researched three novel biohybrid systems consisting of Gram‐negative bacteria organisms ( i. e ., Desulfovibrio desulfuricans , Citrobacter freundii , and Shewanella oneidensis ), self‐photosensitized with CdS nanoparticles for light‐driven H 2 production. Comparing their hydrogen‐producing performance with that of E. coli ‐CdS biohybrid system, the D. desulfuricans ‐CdS was far superior to other microbial systems and showed the best synthetic activity (Figure 3d) [19] . Considering its excellent biocatalysis ability and photostability, the application value of D. desulfuricans as a building block in biohybrids is worthy of further exploration.…”

“…Comparing their hydrogen-producing performance with that of E. coli-CdS biohybrid system, the D. desulfuricans-CdS was far superior to other microbial systems and showed the best synthetic activity (Figure 3d). [19] Considering its . thermoacetica-CdS model system for light-driven CO 2 conversion to acetic acid, characterized by TA and TRIR spectroscopy, i. e., (b) non-H 2 ase-mediated pathway predominant and (c) membrane-bound H 2 ase mediated pathway.…”

“…Reproduced from Ref. [19] with permission from Wiley-VCH. (e) Schematic diagram of the construction of S. cerevisiae-InP inorganic-biohybrid system.…”