The work was published in the Sept. 28 edition of the journal\u00a0Chem<\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The research was a collaboration of Texas A&M AgriLife<\/a> researcher Susie Dai, associate professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, and Joshua Yuan<\/a>, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor and chair of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis\u2019 McKelvey School of Engineering. Yuan was formerly with the Texas A&M Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers and their laboratory scientists worked for almost two years to develop an integrated system that uses CO2<\/sub> as a feedstock for bacteria to grow in a nutrient chamber solution and produce bioplastics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe technology\u2019s benefits are multifaceted,\u201d Yuan<\/strong> said. \u201cIt is carbon negative and can certainly mitigate global climate change while at the same time producing degradable plastics that can replace nondegradable petrochemical plastics.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n They team\u2019s platform also has a much faster reaction rate than photosynthesis, which also captures CO2<\/sub>, and has a higher energy efficiency. And if the technology is successful enough to produce bioplastics at an economic scale, industries could replace traditional plastic products with ones that have fewer negative environmental impacts. In addition, mitigating CO2<\/sub> emissions from energy sectors such as gas and electric facilities would also be a benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe key was to convert CO2<\/sub>\u00a0to something that microbes can use,\u201d Yuan<\/strong> said. \u201cWe choose acetate and ethanol as the intermediates. These water-soluble molecules enabled rapid electron, energy and mass transfer and allowed the whole system to run fast.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/source.wustl.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Joshua-Yuan-2022RECORD.jpg\")