Hybrid bio-photo-electro-chemical cells for solar water splitting

Pinhassi, Roy I.; Kallmann, Dan; Saper, Gadiel; Dotan, Hen; Linkov, Artyom; Kay, Asaf; Liveanu, Varda; Schuster, Gadi; Adir, Noam; Rothschild, Avner

doi:10.1038/ncomms12552

Cited by 85 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Bioelectricity from thylakoid membrane isolated from the cell apparatus has been achieved in response to light. [4][5][6] However, whole microbes have the advantage of being a self-sustained and self-repairing, which greatly impacts the durability of the bioelectrochemical cell.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tapping into cyanobacteria electron transfer for higher exoelectrogenic activity by imposing iron limited growth

et al. 2018

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The exoelectrogenic capacity of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 was studied in iron limited growth in order to establish conditions favouring extracellular electron transfer in cyanobacteria for photo-bioelectricity generation. Investigation into extracellular reduction of ferricyanide by Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 demonstrated enhanced capability for the iron limited conditions in comparison to the iron sufficient conditions. Furtheremore, the significance of pH showed that higher rates of ferricyanide reduction occurred at pH 7, with a 2.7-fold increase with respect to pH 9.5 for iron sufficient cultures and 24-fold increase for iron limited cultures. The strategy presented induced exoelectrogenesis driven mainly by photosynthesis and an estimated redirection of the 28% of electrons from photosynthetic activity was achieved by the iron limited conditions. In addition, ferricyanide reduction in the dark by iron limited cultures also presented a significant improvement, with a 6-fold increase in comparison to iron sufficient cultures. Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 ferricyanide reduction rates are unprecedented for cyanobacteria and they are comparable to those of microalgae. The redox activity of biofilms directly on ITO-coated glass, in the absence of any artificial mediator, was also enhanced under the iron limited conditions, implying that iron limitation increased exoelectrogenesis at the outer membrane level. Cyclic voltammetry of Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 biofilms on ITO-coated glass showed a midpoint potential around 0.22 V vs. Ag/ AgCl and iron limited biofilms had the capability to sustain currents in a saturated-like fashion. The present work proposes an iron related exoelectrogenic capacity of Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 and sets a starting point for the study of this strain in order to improve photo-bioelectricity and darkbioelectricity generation by cyanobacteria, including more sustainable mediatorless systems.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tapping into cyanobacteria electron transfer for higher exoelectrogenic activity by imposing iron limited growth

et al. 2018

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“…[24] Our approach to enhance current and power generation by IR radiation is independent of such optimizations. The results reported in this work could provide a viable route to increase the efficiency and power output of BPVCs relying on mobile RMs as converters of energy.…”

Section: Sixfold Increase In Power Of Bpvcs Upon Ir Irradiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[22] Put in perspective, 47 PW is approximately 1700 times the projected global energy consumption in 2050. [24] However, the bandgap of Si (E g = 1.1 eV) renders this technology insensitive to radiation for λ > 1100 nm, thus excluding potential harvesting of 21% of the AM1.5 solar radiation. In a recent work performed by Pinhassi et al, a beneficial tandem combination of a SiSC and a TM-based BPVC was demonstrated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solar Heat‐Enhanced Energy Conversion in Devices Based on Photosynthetic Membranes and PEDOT:PSS‐Nanocellulose Electrodes

Méhes

Vagin

Mulla

et al. 2019

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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convert solar energy into electricity by leveraging the complex process of photosynthesis, useful both as energy generators and sensors for various physical inputs. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] With accelerating climate change and growing demand for energy, such bio-based methods have been identified as a promising route toward "green" energy. [10] Thylakoid membranes (TMs), the compartments inside chloroplasts, algae, and cyanobacteria in which the light-dependent reactions of the photosynthetic energy conversion are initiated, constitute an interesting model system for biohybrid light-harvesting. Indeed, broad-spectrum light absorption, efficient water splitting, a near-unity light-to-charge conversion efficiency, optimized excitation energy and electron transport, photo damage protection, and self-organization and selfrepair, all being properties of TMs, are strongly desired attributes of future intelligent solar energy harvesting technology. However, integration of TMs and isolated photoprotein complexes with technology poses several challenges, including complex preparation, poor stability, and limited photocurrents. [11][12][13] To address these challenges, promising and novel biohybrid devices and electrodes have been demonstrated by wiring/coupling TMs to electrodes via oligoelectrolytes, [14] carbon nanotubes, [15] conducting polymers, [16] Energy harvesting from photosynthetic membranes, proteins, or bacteria through bio-photovoltaic or bio-electrochemical approaches has been proposed as a new route to clean energy. A major shortcoming of these and solar cell technologies is the underutilization of solar irradiation wavelengths in the IR region, especially those in the far IR region. Here, a biohybrid energyharvesting device is demonstrated that exploits IR radiation, via convection and thermoelectric effects, to improve the resulting energy conversion performance. A composite of nanocellulose and the conducting polymer system poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is used as the anode in biohybrid cells that includes thylakoid membranes (TMs) and redox mediators (RMs) in solution. By irradiating the conducting polymer electrode by an IR light-emitting diode, a sixfold enhancement in the harvested bio-photovoltaic power is achieved, without compromising stability of operation.Investigation of the output currents reveals that IR irradiation generates convective heat transfer in the electrolyte bulk, which enhances the redox reactions of RMs at the anode by suppressing diffusion limitations. In addition, a fast-transient thermoelectric component, originating from the PEDOT:PSSnanocellulose-electrolyte interphase, further increases the bio-photocurrent. These results pave the way for the development of energy-harvesting biohybrids that make use of heat, via IR absorption, to enhance energy conversion efficiency.

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“…In natural photosynthesis, NADPH (reducing equivalent) and ATP (chemical energy) are produced via electron transport chain reactions initiated by photo‐induced charge separation, resulting in reductive fixation of carbon dioxide. Recently, photo‐bioelectrochemical cells in which photosynthetic electrons are introduced into an electrochemical circuit have attracted attention for solar energy harvesting and basic research on photosynthesis . For photo‐bioelectrochemical cells, biocatalysts including photosynthetic reaction centers, thylakoid membranes, and photosynthetic microbial cells need to be electrically wired to an anode indirectly via electron mediators or directly .…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Specific Interaction between Redox Phospholipid Polymers and Plastoquinone in Photosynthetic Electron Transport Chain

et al. 2017

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Redox phospholipid polymers added in culture media are known to be capable of extracting electrons from living photosynthetic cells across bacterial cell membranes with high cytocompatibility. In the present study, we identify the intracellular redox species that transfers electrons to the polymers. The open-circuit electrochemical potential of an electrolyte containing the redox polymer and extracted thylakoid membranes shift to positive (or negative) under light irradiation, when an electron transport inhibitor specific to plastoquinone is added upstream (or downstream) in the photosynthetic electron transport chain. The same trend is also observed for a medium containing living photosynthetic cells of Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942. These results clearly indicate that the phospholipid redox polymers extract photosynthetic electrons mainly from plastoquinone.

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Hybrid bio-photo-electro-chemical cells for solar water splitting

Cited by 85 publications

References 42 publications

Tapping into cyanobacteria electron transfer for higher exoelectrogenic activity by imposing iron limited growth

Tapping into cyanobacteria electron transfer for higher exoelectrogenic activity by imposing iron limited growth

Solar Heat‐Enhanced Energy Conversion in Devices Based on Photosynthetic Membranes and PEDOT:PSS‐Nanocellulose Electrodes

Specific Interaction between Redox Phospholipid Polymers and Plastoquinone in Photosynthetic Electron Transport Chain

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