Geoelectrochemical CO production: Implications for the autotrophic origin of life

Kitadai, Norio; Nakamura, Ryuhei; Yamamoto, Masahiro; Takai, Ken; Li, Yamei; Yamaguchi, Akira; Gilbert, Alexis; Ueno, Yuichiro; Yoshida, Naohiro; Oono, Yoshitsugu

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aao7265

Cited by 52 publications

(103 citation statements)

References 69 publications

(102 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Actually, Ni‐doped iron‐sulfide electrodes promote the reduction of carbon dioxides in the presence of proton gradient . Also, cadmium sulfide can electrochemically reduce carbon dioxides to carbon monoxide at the faraday efficiency of ∼40 % . Carbon monoxide is highly reactive, and various organic compounds including amino acids are synthesized from carbon monoxide using sulfide catalysts .…”

Section: Spin‐off Studies Based On Deep‐sea Electricity Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Fields as Natural Power Plants

2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Deep‐sea hydrothermal vents are hot springs on the seafloor. In recent years, electricity generation in deep‐sea hydrothermal vents has been reported. Electricity can be generated through the sulfide minerals that form in seafloor hydrothermal deposits, and these minerals can convert the redox and heat energy between hydrothermal fluids and seawater into electric power. The physical and chemical phenomena of generating electricity from natural minerals provide key insights into development of deep‐sea power plants and novel electricity‐conversion materials with earth abundant elements. In addition, the new findings have established a novel concept of life, e. g., existence of electricity‐sustained life in hydrothermal vents and widespread occurrence of electron‐uptake ecosystems on the seafloor, together with a new hypothesis about the origin of life.

show abstract

Section: Spin‐off Studies Based On Deep‐sea Electricity Generationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Fields as Natural Power Plants

2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[10] This driving force can be obtained if we also consider the elevated temperature of the hydrothermal fluid (~500 K), as the H + /H 2 redox potential is shifted even more negatively to À 780 mV ( Figure 4B, red line). [10,18] As to how this driving force is used to reduce CO 2 , it is worth noting that the thermodynamics become more favorable upon transferring more electrons (Table 1). [10,18] As to how this driving force is used to reduce CO 2 , it is worth noting that the thermodynamics become more favorable upon transferring more electrons (Table 1).…”

Section: Use Of 3d Structures For Driving Co 2 Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[18,23,24] The reactivity trends across different materials have been rationalized largely based on the d-band theory and the Sabatier principle. Up to this date, there have been many studies in the field of electrocatalysis, where the catalyst has been shown to markedly influence the selectivity and activity (overpotentials) of this reaction.…”

Section: Usage Of Sequential Proton-electron Transfer (Spet) To Regulmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[16] This has resulted in the emergence of unique and sophisticated strategies to utilize other energy sources, such as chemical and thermal energy. [10,18,19] Previously, these reactions were considered to be driven primarily based on the enormous reductive energy discharged from the hydrothermal vents, such as from H 2 and H 2 S. [8,20] However, at least in terms of standard electrochemical potentials, the thermodynamic driving force derived from these reducing agents alone is insufficient, [22,23] and the lack of driving force must be somehow supplemented by other energy sources. [10,18,19] Previously, these reactions were considered to be driven primarily based on the enormous reductive energy discharged from the hydrothermal vents, such as from H 2 and H 2 S. [8,20] However, at least in terms of standard electrochemical potentials, the thermodynamic driving force derived from these reducing agents alone is insufficient, [22,23] and the lack of driving force must be somehow supplemented by other energy sources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[22][23][24][25][26] Understanding how this may become possible based on the laws of physical chemistry would yield critical insight into how life had originated from inorganic molecules (i. e., autotrophic innovation), which is one of the vital questions of natural science. This will be followed by section 2.2, where we will highlight how these strategies are actually implemented on metal sulfide minerals [10,18] similar to those obtained from deep sea hydrothermal vents. In section 2.1, we will highlight how the electrically conductive yet thermally insulative nature of the chimney wall can sufficiently decrease the electrochemical potential negatively such that CO 2 reduction, which would otherwise be thermodynamically unfavorable, may proceed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Electrochemistry at Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Vents: Utilization of the Thermodynamic Driving Force towards the Autotrophic Origin of Life

2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Temperature gradients are an under-utilized source of energy with which to drive chemical reactions. Here, we review our past efforts to understand how deep-sea hydrothermal vents may harness thermal energy to promote difficult chemical reactions such as CO 2 reduction. Strategies to amplify the driving force using temperature will be covered first, followed by a discussion on how spatially separated thermodynamic gradients can be used to regulate reaction selectivity. Although desirable material properties of hydrothermal vent walls have been inferred previously from the bioenergetic membranes of modern cells, strategies based on fundamental laws of physical chemistry allow naturally occurring chimney minerals to circumvent the lack of structural and catalytic optimization. The principles that underlie both the establishment and the utilization of the thermodynamic driving force at hydrothermal vents can be employed in abiotic systems such as the modern chemical industry, yielding insight into carbon fixation reactions important today and possibly at the autotrophic origin of life.

show abstract

Unravelling the Structural Development of Peptide‐Coordinated Iron‐Sulfur Clusters: Prebiotic Evolution and Biosynthetic Strategies

2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins are among the most common type of natural metalloproteins that participate in a large range of key metabolic processes. To date, enormous research works on the exploration of protein structures and catalytic mechanisms have revealed that the active sites are generally composed of a Fe-S cluster and a highly conserved coordination environment. Accordingly, people are enlightened by the prebiotic evolution of ancient clusters and are dedicated to the development of biosynthetic methods for modern clusters. This review aims to systemically summarize the structural development of peptide-coordinated iron-sulfur clusters from two perspectives: "bottom-up" approaches involving evolution of prebiotic chemical synthesis for natural proteins and "top-down" analyses of biosynthesis in modern biological systems for artificial metalloproteins. Moreover, current challenges and the direction of future development are also presented to provide new perspectives of developing enzyme mimics and further mechanistic studies.

show abstract

Geoelectrochemical CO production: Implications for the autotrophic origin of life

Abstract: Efficient CO production realizing Wächtershäuser’s scenario was demonstrated in simulated early ocean hydrotherm systems.

Cited by 52 publications

References 69 publications

Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Fields as Natural Power Plants

Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Fields as Natural Power Plants

Electrochemistry at Deep‐Sea Hydrothermal Vents: Utilization of the Thermodynamic Driving Force towards the Autotrophic Origin of Life

Unravelling the Structural Development of Peptide‐Coordinated Iron‐Sulfur Clusters: Prebiotic Evolution and Biosynthetic Strategies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About