Microbial Electrosynthesis: Feeding Microbes Electricity To Convert Carbon Dioxide and Water to Multicarbon Extracellular Organic Compounds

By Kelly P. Nevin, T. Woodard, Ashley E. Franks, Z. Summers, Derek R. Lovley. mBio, 2010

929 citations recorded by the source corpus.

ABSTRACT The possibility of providing the acetogenic microorganism Sporomusa ovata with electrons delivered directly to the cells with a graphite electrode for the reduction of carbon dioxide to organic compounds was investigated. Biofilms of S. ovata growing on graphite cathode surfaces consumed electrons with the reduction of carbon dioxide to acetate and small amounts of 2-oxobutyrate. Electrons appearing in these products accounted for over 85% of the electrons consumed. These results demonstrate that microbial production of multicarbon organic compounds from carbon dioxide and water with electricity as the energy source is feasible. IMPORTANCE Reducing carbon dioxide to multicarbon organic chemicals and fuels with electricity has been identified as an attractive strategy to convert solar energy that is harvested intermittently with photovoltaic technology and store it as covalent chemical bonds. The organic compounds produced can then be distributed via existing infrastructure. Nonbiological electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has proven problematic. The results presented here suggest that microbiological catalysts may be a robust alternative, and when coupled with photovoltaics, current-driven microbial carbon dioxide reduction represents a new form of photosynthesis that might convert solar energy to organic products more effectively than traditional biomass-based strategies. Reducing carbon dioxide to multicarbon organic chemicals and fuels with electricity has been identified as an attractive strategy to convert solar energy that is harvested intermittently with photovoltaic technology and store it as covalent chemical bonds. The organic compounds produced can then be distributed via existing infrastructure. Nonbiological electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has proven problematic. The results presented here suggest that microbiological catalysts may be a robust alternative, and when coupled with photovoltaics, current-driven microbial carbon dioxide reduction represents a new form of photosynthesis that might convert solar energy to organic products more effectively than traditional biomass-based strategies.

Subfields: Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Environmental Engineering, Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/749a35c52320647d2db33508cf3733250093d36f

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Citations in the corpus

Microbial electrosynthesis — revisiting the electrical route for microbial production (2010, methodology): “Recently, the term microbial electrosynthesis was used to describe the electricity-driven reduction of CO 2 (Ref”
Microbial electron transport and energy conservation – the foundation for optimizing bioelectrochemical systems (2015, background): “This feature put the bacteria into focus of the research community trying to establish an artificial ‘photo’synthesis process by using CO2 and electrons from an electrode (Nevin et al., 2010).”
Water splitting–biosynthetic system with CO2 reduction efficiencies exceeding photosynthesis (2016, neutral): “07 % g 460 f (14) Sporomusa ovata – 2 no 200 acetate – – ~270 (11)”
A comprehensive review of microbial electrochemical systems as a platform technology. (2013, background): “…— in general Organic, hydrogen sulfide, water Acetic acid or other organics, carbon dioxide Ethanol, acetate, 2-oxobutyrate, formate Gong et al. (2013), Nevin et al. (2010), Nevin et al. (2011), Rabaey and Rozendal (2010), Rabaey et al. (2011), Steinbusch et al. (2010) 35 Microbial carbon capture…”
Biogas upgrading and utilization: Current status and perspectives. (2018, background): “Furthermore, Nevin et al. (2010) reported the production of acetate and 2-oxobutyrate from CO 2 in a MEC with Sporomusa Ovata growing on the cathode, and enriched mixed culture grown on the cathode was also feasible for acetate production from CO 2 in MEC (Xiang et al., 2017).”
Electrosynthesis of Organic Compounds from Carbon Dioxide Is Catalyzed by a Diversity of Acetogenic Microorganisms (2011, background): “Microbial electrosynthesis powered by solar energy is an artificial form of photosynthesis with the same net overall reaction as plant-based photosynthesis: carbon dioxide and water are converted to organic compounds and oxygen (30).”