Microbial photoelectric reduction of CO2 to acetate and its response mechanism to external applied voltage
ZHOU Mei-zhou1, LUO Hai-ping1, ZENG Cui-ping2, LIU Guang-li1, ZHANG Ren-duo1
1. Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control and Remediation Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China; 2. Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
Abstract:For evaluating the performance of microbial photoelectric synthesis (MPES) to reduce CO2 to synthesize acetic acid and its limiting factors, this study tried to construct a novel double-chamber microbial photo-electrosynthesis system (MPES)by coupling TiO2 photoanode with biocathode and using solar energy as main energy. The replacement of pure electrochemical anodes by photoanodes significantly reduced the external voltage requirements of MPES biocathodes, and MPES could continue to operate stably, with an average acetic acid production rate of (1.18 ±0.11) mmol/(L·d) and a Faraday efficiency of 45.75% ±3.97%. The photoanode drives the cathode to produce hydrogen, suggesting that the cathodic microorganisms tend to use H2-mediated electron transfer. The external voltage influenced the performance of the MPES significantly by affecting the electron donating ability of the photoanode. When the external voltage was increased from 0.4~0.6V, the MPES current, acetate production and Faraday efficiency were significantly improved, and the performance of the MPES was mainly limited by the photoanode. When the external voltage was higher than 0.6V, the system current and the output of acetic acid increased mildly, and Faraday efficiency reached the maximum value at 0.8V, and then declined, indicating that the electron-acceptting ability of biocathode was saturated at 0.8V and the performance of the MPES was mainly limited by the biocathode. As an electron intermiate, H2 was incompletely utilized during the operation of MPES, explaining why the Faraday efficiency was not further improved with an increase in external voltage.
周美洲, 骆海萍, 曾翠平, 刘广立, 张仁铎. 微生物光电还原CO2合成乙酸对外电压的响应机制[J]. 中国环境科学, 2022, 42(2): 907-913.
ZHOU Mei-zhou, LUO Hai-ping, ZENG Cui-ping, LIU Guang-li, ZHANG Ren-duo. Microbial photoelectric reduction of CO2 to acetate and its response mechanism to external applied voltage. CHINA ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCECE, 2022, 42(2): 907-913.
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