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Artificial photosynthesis uses sunlight to make biodegradable plastic
by Staff Writers
Osaka, Japan (SPX) Jan 26, 2023

Using sunlight to power the photoredox system pyruvic acid and CO2 are converted into fumaric acid, by malate dehydrogenase and fumarase.

In recent years, environmental problems caused by global warming have become more apparent due to greenhouse gases such as CO2. In natural photosynthesis, CO2 is not reduced directly, but is bound to organic compounds which are converted to glucose or starch. Mimicking this, artificial photosynthesis could reduce CO2 by combining it into organic compounds to be used as raw materials, which can be converted into durable forms such as plastic.

A research team led by Professor Yutaka Amao from the Research Center for Artificial Photosynthesis and graduate student Mika Takeuchi, from the Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science, have succeeded in synthesizing fumaric acid from CO2, a raw material for plastics, powered-for the first time-by sunlight. Their findings were published in Sustainable Energy and Fuels.

Fumaric acid is typically synthesized from petroleum, to be used as a raw material for making biodegradable plastics such as polybutylene succinate, but this discovery shows that fumaric acid can be synthesized from CO2 and biomass-derived compounds using renewable solar energy.

"Toward the practical application of artificial photosynthesis, this research has succeeded in using visible light-renewable energy-as the power source," explained Professor Amao. "In the future, we aim to collect gaseous CO2 and use it to synthesize fumaric acid directly through artificial photosynthesis."

Research Report:Visible-light driven fumarate production from CO2 and pyruvate by the photocatalytic system with dual biocatalysts


Related Links
Osaka Metropolitan University
Bio Fuel Technology and Application News


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M2X Energy partners with UCF to convert greenhouse gases into low-carbon methanol
Cocoa FL (SPX) Jan 24, 2023
Most people realize the climate impacts of carbon dioxide. Not many people, however, know that methane, the main component of natural gas, is much more potent than carbon dioxide. While methane doesn't remain in the atmosphere as long as CO2 (which can linger for thousands of years), it is 84 times more potent at trapping heat over a 20-year time horizon, according to the sixth annual assessment report of the International Panel on Climate Change. And in 2021, the emission of methane rose to recor ... read more

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