GAMES - Gas diffusion electrodes for coupled microbial-electrochemical syntheses from CO2

Motivation

Electrochemical synthesis starting from CO₂ offers the opportunity to store temporary or local excess energy originating from renewable resources as chemical energy. In this conversion, different carbon-based compounds can be obtained from CO₂. Currently, economically viable products include only C1 compounds such as carbon monoxide. Another product is formic acid/formate. In order to follow up the storage of electrical energy by CO₂ reduction with a value-added synthesis of more complex compounds, electrochemically produced formate can be converted further by microorganisms. The coupling of electrochemical formate production and a direct microbial conversion to PHB (Polyhydroxybutyrate), so-called bioplastic, was already demonstrated exemplarily on a laboratory scale in a previous project (microbial electrosynthesis).^[1]

Summary

In the GAMES project, five partners are pursuing the industrial implementation of electrochemical CO₂ reduction to formate with subsequent microbial conversion to industrially relevant compounds. To this end, the electrochemical as well as the microbiological subprocesses are to be optimized from a process engineering point of view while being coordinated with each other to achieve the most energy- and carbon-efficient overall process possible. For this purpose, the components of the electrolysis cell, such as the gas diffusion electrode at which the CO₂ reduction to formate takes place, as well as the electrolysis conditions, are being adapted at the DECHEMA Research Institute to establish a biocompatible drop-in electrolysis. Ultimately, the electrochemically produced formate should be suitable to use directly in a subsequent biotechnological step.

[1] M. Stöckl, S. Harms, I. Dinges, S. Dimitrova, D. Holtmann, From CO2 to Bioplastic – Coupling the Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction with a Microbial Product Generation by Drop‐in Electrolysis, ChemSusChem 2020, 13, 4086-4093.

Finanziert von der Europäischen Union – NextGenerationEU