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Wet chemistry
By wrapping photosynthetic algae in sugar water droplets, scientists are building organic mini-factories that produce hydrogen that could be used as a carbon-neutral energy source.
Under finely tuned conditions inside the water droplet, the algae will stop producing oxygen and give off energy-laden hydrogen instead, according to a study published in the journal Wednesday. Nature communications. While tiny factories are far too small at the moment to power our homes or cars, research indicates a possible source of sustainable clean energy if the process increases.
Alternative route
Typically, photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. But the scientists behind the study, at the University of Bristol and the Harbin Institute of Technology in China, have learned that algae compressed together in a water droplet produces hydrogen instead. This is because there aren’t enough oxygen atoms for the typical photosynthetic reactions to occur, which means that the hydrogen-producing enzymes take over instead.
To take it a step further, scientists coated their biological factories with oxygen-consuming bacteria, which prompted more algae to reliably produce hydrogen.
Fuel tanks
Once again, factories the size of water droplets will not end our energy crisis or stop greenhouse gas emissions on their own. But scientists expect the idea to work on a larger scale, which could lower the cost of hydrogen fuel cells.
“The use of single droplets as vectors to control algal cell organization and photosynthesis in synthetic micro-spaces offers a potentially environmentally friendly approach to hydrogen production that we hope to develop in future work” Stephen Mann, study co-author and Bristol biologist, said in a press. Release.
READ MORE: Research creates living hydrogen-producing droplets, paving the way for a future alternative energy source [University of Bristol]
Learn more about hydrogen: Cheap hydrogen was a broken promise. But his time may have come.
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