Efficient solar-to-fuels production from a hybrid microbial-water-splitting catalyst system.

ABSTRACT: Photovoltaic cells have considerable potential to satisfy future renewable-energy needs, but efficient and scalable methods of storing the intermittent electricity they produce are required for the large-scale implementation of solar energy. Current solar-to-fuels storage cycles based on water splitting produce hydrogen and oxygen, which are attractive fuels in principle but confront practical limitations from the current energy infrastructure that is based on liquid fuels. In this work, we report the development of a scalable, integrated bioelectrochemical system in which the bacterium Ralstonia eutropha is used to efficiently convert CO2, along with H2 and O2 produced from water splitting, into biomass and fusel alcohols. Water-splitting catalysis was performed using catalysts that are m

SUBMITTER: Torella JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4345567 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature