Artificial photosynthesis uses sunlight to make biodegradable plastic

Fumaric acid synthesis from CO2 using solar energy. Using sunlight to power the photoredox system pyruvic acid and CO2 are converted into fumaric acid, by malate dehydrogenase and fumarase. — Fumaric acid synthesis from CO₂ using solar energy. Using sunlight to power the photoredox system pyruvic acid and CO₂ are converted into fumaric acid, by malate dehydrogenase and fumarase.

In recent years, environmental problems caused by global warming have become more apparent due to greenhouse gases such as CO₂. In natural photosynthesis, CO₂ is not reduced directly, but is bound to organic compounds which are converted to glucose or starch. Mimicking this, artificial photosynthesis could reduce CO₂ by combining it into organic compounds to be used as raw materials, which can be converted into durable forms such as plastic.

A research team led by Professor Yutaka Amao from the Research Center for Artificial Photosynthesis and graduate student Mika Takeuchi, from the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science, have succeeded in synthesizing fumaric acid from CO₂, a raw material for plastics, powered—for the first time—by sunlight. Their findings were published in Sustainable Energy & Fuels.

Fumaric acid is typically synthesized from petroleum, to be used as a raw material for making biodegradable plastics such as polybutylene succinate, but this discovery shows that fumaric acid can be synthesized from CO₂ and biomass-derived compounds using renewable solar energy.

“Toward the practical application of artificial photosynthesis, this research has succeeded in using visible light—renewable energy—as the power source,” explained Professor Amao. “In the future, we aim to collect gaseous CO₂ and use it to synthesize fumaric acid directly through artificial photosynthesis.”

Funding

This work was partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (22H01872) and Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research (B)) (19KK0144).

Reference

Journal: Sustainable Energy & Fuels; Author: Mika Takeuchi and Yutaka Amao; Title: Visible-light driven fumarate production from CO₂ and pyruvate by the photocatalytic system with dual biocatalysts; DOI: 10.1039/D2SE01533A

Contact

Research Center for Artificial Photosynthesis
Prof. Yutaka AMAO
E-mail: amao@omu.ac.jp

Source

Osaka Metropolitan University, press release, 2023-01-25.

Supplier

Osaka Metropolitan University

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