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From CO 2 to Bioplastic – Coupling the Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction with a Microbial Product Generation by Drop‐in Electrolysis
Author(s) -
Stöckl Markus,
Harms Svenja,
Dinges Ida,
Dimitrova Steliyana,
Holtmann Dirk
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.202001235
Subject(s) - electrolyte , electrochemistry , formate , electrolysis , faraday efficiency , bioconversion , chemical engineering , chemistry , drop (telecommunication) , polyhydroxybutyrate , bioreactor , bioplastic , inorganic chemistry , materials science , electrode , fermentation , organic chemistry , catalysis , bacteria , telecommunications , ecology , biology , computer science , engineering , genetics
Abstract CO 2 has been electrochemically reduced to the intermediate formate, which was subsequently used as sole substrate for the production of the polymer polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by the microorganism Cupriavidus necator . Faradaic efficiencies (FE) up to 54 % have been reached with Sn‐based gas‐diffusion electrodes in physiological electrolyte. The formate containing electrolyte can be used directly as drop‐in solution in the following biological polymer production by resting cells. 56 mg PHB L −1 and a ratio of 34 % PHB per cell dry weight were achieved. The calculated overall FE for the process was as high as 4 %. The direct use of the electrolyte as drop‐in media in the bioconversion enables simplified processes with a minimum of intermediate purification effort. Thus, an optimal coupling between electrochemical and biotechnological processes can be realized.