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  • Review Article
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Photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids for solar-driven biocatalysis

Nature Catalysis volume 3, pages 245–255 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids integrate the best attributes of biological whole-cell catalysts and semiconducting nanomaterials. Enzymatic machinery enveloped in its native cellular environment offers exquisite product selectivity and low substrate activation barriers while semiconducting nanomaterials harvest light energy stably and efficiently. In this Review Article, we illustrate the evolution and advances of photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids focusing on the conversion of CO2 to value-added chemicals. We begin by considering the potential of this nascent field to meet global energy challenges while comparing it to alternate approaches. This is followed by a discussion of the advantageous coupling of electrotrophic organisms with light-active electrodes for solar-to-chemical conversion. We detail the dynamic investigation of photosensitized microorganisms creating direct light harvesting within unicellular organisms while describing complementary developments in the understanding of charge transfer mechanisms and cytoprotection. Lastly, we focus on trends and improvements needed in photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids in order to address future challenges and enhance their widespread adoption for the production of solar chemicals.

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Fig. 1: Photoelectrochemical semiconductor biohybrids.
Fig. 2: Methods for visualization of light-active nanoparticles on cells.
Fig. 3: Map of photosensitized microorganisms.
Fig. 4: Exploration of charge transfer mechanisms in microbial cells.
Fig. 5: Cytoprotective strategies for unicellular organisms.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NASA, Center for the Utilization of Biological Engineering in Space, under award NNX17AJ31G. S.C.-B. acknowledges a fellowship from the Philomathia Foundation. H.Z. is supported by the Suzhou Industry Park Fellowship and J.M.K. is supported by the Kwanjeong Educational Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Stefano Cestellos-Blanco, Ji Min Kim & Peidong Yang

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Hao Zhang, Yue-xiao Shen & Peidong Yang

  3. Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Peidong Yang

  4. Kavli Energy NanoSciences Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Peidong Yang

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  1. Stefano Cestellos-Blanco
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Cestellos-Blanco, S., Zhang, H., Kim, J.M. et al. Photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrids for solar-driven biocatalysis. Nat Catal 3, 245–255 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-020-0428-y

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