Biodegradable plastics from CO2 with artificial photosynthesis

Researchers at the Berkeley Lab USA have developed a system that can capture CO2 emissions before they are vented into the atmosphere and then, powered by solar energy, convert the CO2 into valuable chemical products, including biodegradable plastics.
They created a hybrid system of semiconducting nanowires and bacteria that mimics the natural photosynthetic process by which plants use the energy in sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from CO2 and water. However, this new system synthesizes the combination of CO2 and water into acetate, the most common building block today for biosynthesis. An article about the research is published in NANO Letters (News Item Berkely Lab, 16 April 2015).
Click here for the news item.
Click here for an abstract of the published article.

If you have any questions about this subject, please contact us: info@nvc.nl, +31-(0)182-512411. This item is also included in our monthly overview, the NVC Members-only Update.