Abstract
Artificial photosynthesis represents a promising solution for energy issues, however, the efficiency, robustness, and scalability does not meet the requirements of industrial applications. We proposed and demonstrated a sun-powered biofilm-interfaced artificial hydrogen-producing system, Solar Hunter, that could potentially solve the issues above. Biofilm-anchored nanorods can efficiently convert photons to electrons, which seamlessly tap into the electron chain of engineered strain carrying FeFe hydrogenase gene cluster, thereby achieving high-efficiency hydrogen production. Furthermore, the intrinsic adherence of biofilms towards various interfaces allows us to grow biofilms on easy-separation micro-beads, therefore facilitating recyclable usage of the biofilm-anchored NRs and endowing this whole system with recyclability. Notably, our hydrogen production has shown great stability compared to some precursors using hydrogenase. Practically speaking, the system comprising E. Coli and biofilms are both amenable for scalable operation, rendering itself a great potential for large-scale industrial applications. Such system can also be adapted to other energy-oriented applications by utilizing engineered new strains with a diverse spectrum of enzymes or metabolic pathways. The efficiency, recyclability, stability, scalability, and versatility makes our system a design that is truly applicable.
