Capturing electricity from bugs that eat "dirty" gases
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Sch of Biosciences
Abstract
Capturing electricity from bugs that eat "dirty" gases
| Description | Primary objective of expressing a SNAP-tag protein on the surface of C. necator H16, with a novel surface diplay technology, was successful. This allows to control the attachment of the bacteria on an electrode functionalized with the substrate complementary to the SNAP-tag. This achievement generated the need to fine-tune the functionalization of an electrode. The study for the synthesis of mixed self assembled monolayers with user-defined characteristics, using a mathematical modelling tool based on a design of experiment approach, was successful in predicting the properties of the functionalization. It is currently being confirmed and optimised. Genetic engineering on C. necator H16 is currently ongoing, for optimising the bacteria to increase the rate of external electrons coupled with its energy metabolism. Initially, a set of enzymes derived from another microorganism, S. oneidensis MR-1, have been engineered into the C. necator strain. This part has been put on hold since it was partially unsuccessful because of the limited amount of time and resources due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, another strategy involving the expression of conductive "protein nanowires" derived from G. metallireducens has been adopted. The expression was successful and the new strain's properties are currently ongoing characterisation. A modular electrosynthesis reactor has been designed to achieve the efficient and scalable production of butanediols, an industrially relevant molecule which is currently produced from raw fossil feedstocks. This allows flexibility in changing the conditions for the electrosynthesis reaction to optimise and tailor the process for scalability. The industrial partner Johnson Matthey is collaborating in this endeavour, to manufacture different electrodes and conduct a techno-economical study. This system is being tested and an initial optimisation is ongoing. So far, we were able to successfully carry on a regular autotrophic continuous fermentation, with CO2 and H2. After this initial phase, we are preparing to setup the system for the electro-fermentation and carry on with the testing. |
| Exploitation Route | The envisaged output from the project will be novel processes for the production of butanediols, which are key intermediates in the production of polymers, solvents and numerous specialty chemicals. Technoeconomic outputs will include a comparison of BES approaches with conventional manufacturing. Wider impact includes the provision of a framework (reactor, electrodes, engineered microbial strains) which could be applied to the environmentally and economically sustainable production of a much broader range of chemicals and fuels. In addition, the assembled BES will be made available to other members of the CCNet to test and exemplify other production strains/platforms. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Energy,Environment,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
| Description | CCNet-PoC-Electroautotrophic production of butanediols from CO2 using engineered Cupriavidus necator H16 |
| Organisation | Johnson Matthey |
| Department | Johnson Matthey Technology Centre |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | we aim to develop a bioelectrochemical process for microbial reduction of CO2 to the industrially-important C4 butanediols solely powered by electricity using a well-characterized chemolithoautotrophic organism, Cupriavidus necator H16 as biocatalyst. We have previously engineered the wild type C. necator strain to produce butanediols and have shown that the engineered strains are able to produce these from CO2 and H2, as sole sources of carbon and energy (up to 30g/l). To take advantage of the high conversion efficiency (up to 80%) of electricity to complex molecules using bioelectrochemical systems (BES), here we aim to engineer a flexible BES to enable efficient and scalable production of butanediols from CO2 as a feedstock and electricity as source of energy. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Electrodes will be manufactured with tailored properties by the industrila collaborator, JM. The electrodes will be characterized electrochemically in use as well as ex-situ using techniques such as TEM and XPS available at JM. They will also provide technoeconomic analysis (TEA) of butanediol production from CO2 and electricity in a BES compared with conventional manufacturing. |
| Impact | No output to date, the project will commence in March 2020. |
| Start Year | 2020 |