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Biological photovoltaics

September 01, 2023

Biological photovoltaics, also called biophotovoltaics[1] or BPV, is an energy-generating technology which uses oxygenic photoautotrophic organisms, or fractions thereof, to harvest light energy and produce electrical power.[2] Biological photovoltaic devices are a type of biological electrochemical system, or microbial fuel cell, and are sometimes also called photo-microbial fuel cells or “living solar cells”.[3] In a biological photovoltaic system, electrons generated by photolysis of water are transferred to an anode.[4] A relatively high-potential reaction takes place at the cathode, and the resulting potential difference drives current through an external circuit to do useful work. It is hoped that using a living organism (which is capable of self-assembly and self-repair) as the light harvesting material, will make biological photovoltaics a cost-effective alternative to synthetic light-energy-transduction technologies such as silicon-based photovoltaics.

Principle of operation Edit

 
An illustration of how a biological photovoltaic system operates.

Like other fuel cells, biological photovoltaic systems are divided into anodic and cathodic half-cells.

Oxygenic photosynthetic biological material, such as purified photosystems or whole algal or cyanobacterial cells, are employed in the anodic half-cell. These organisms are able to use light energy to drive the oxidation of water, and a fraction of the electrons produced by this reaction are transferred to the extracellular environment, where they can be used to reduce an anode. No heterotrophic organisms are included in the anodic chamber - electrode reduction is performed directly by the photosynthetic material.

The higher electrode potential of the cathodic reaction relative to the reduction of the anode drives current through an external circuit. In the illustration, oxygen is being reduced to water at the cathode, though other electron acceptors can be used. If water is regenerated there is a closed loop in terms of electron flow (similar to a conventional photovoltaic system), i.e. light energy is the only net input required for production of electrical power. Alternatively, electrons can be used at the cathode for electrosynthetic reactions that produce useful compounds, such as the reduction of protons to hydrogen gas.[5]

Distinctive properties Edit

Similar to microbial fuel cells, biological photovoltaic systems which employ whole organisms have the advantage over non-biological fuel cells and photovoltaic systems of being able to self-assemble and self-repair (i.e. the photosynthetic organism is able to reproduce itself). The ability of the organism to store energy allows for power generation from biological photovoltaic systems in the dark, circumventing the grid supply and demand problems sometimes faced by conventional photovoltaics.[6] Additionally, the use of photosynthetic organisms that fix carbon dioxide means the 'assembly' of the light harvesting material in a biological photovoltaic system could have a negative carbon footprint.

Compared to microbial fuel cells, which use heterotrophic microorganisms, biological photovoltaic systems need no input of organic compounds to supply reducing equivalents to the system. This improves the efficiency of light-to-electricity conversion by minimising the number of reactions separating the capture of light energy and reduction of the anode. A disadvantage of using oxygenic photosynthetic material in bioelectrochemical systems is that the production of oxygen in the anodic chamber has a detrimental effect on the cell voltage.

Types of biological photovoltaic system Edit

Biological photovoltaic systems are defined by the type of light harvesting material that they employ, and the mode of electron transfer from the biological material to the anode.

Light harvesting materials Edit

The light harvesting materials employed in biological photovoltaic devices can be categorised by their complexity; more complex materials are typically less efficient but more robust.

Isolated photosystems Edit

Isolated photosystems offer the most direct connection between water photolysis and anode reduction. Typically, photosystems are isolated and adsorbed to a conductive surface.[7] A soluble redox mediator (a small molecule capable of accepting and donating electrons) may be required to improve the electrical communication between photosystem and anode.[8] Because other cellular components required for repair are absent, biological photovoltaic systems based on isolated photosystems have relatively short lifetimes (a few hours) and often require low temperatures to improve stability.

Sub-cellular fractions Edit

Sub-cellular fractions of photosynthetic organisms, such as purified thylakoid membranes, can also be used in biological photovoltaic systems.[2] A benefit of using material that contains both photosystem II and photosystem I is that electrons extracted from water by photosystem II can be donated to the anode at a more negative redox potential (from the reductive end of photosystem I). A redox mediator (e.g. ferricyanide) is required to transfer electrons between the photosynthetic components and the anode.[9]

Whole organisms Edit

 
This biological photovoltaic system uses cyanobacterium growing in suspension, with an indium tin oxide anode.

Biological photovoltaic systems that employ whole organisms are the most robust type, and lifetimes of multiple months have been observed.[10] The insulating outer membranes of whole cells impedes electron transfer from the sites of electron generation inside the cell to the anode.[4] As a result, conversion efficiencies are low unless lipid-soluble redox mediators are included in the system.[11] Cyanobacteria are typically used in these systems because their relatively simple arrangement of intracellular membranes compared to eukaryotic algae facilitates electron export. Potential catalysts such as platinum can be used to increase permeability of the cellular membrane.

Electron transfer to the anode Edit

Reduction of the anode by the photosynthetic material can be achieved by a direct electron transfer, or via a soluble redox mediator. Redox mediators may be lipid-soluble (e.g. vitamin K2), allowing them to pass through cell membranes, and can either be added to the system or produced by the biological material.

Inherent electrode reduction activity Edit

Isolated photosystems and sub-cellular photosynthetic fractions may be able to directly reduce the anode if the biological redox components are close enough to the electrode for electron transfer to occur.[7] In contrast to organisms such as dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria, algae and cyanobacteria are poorly adapted for extracellular electron export - no molecular mechanisms enabling direct reduction of an insoluble extracellular electron acceptor have been conclusively identified. Nevertheless, a low rate of anode reduction has been observed from whole photosynthetic organisms without the addition of exogenous redox-active compounds.[10][12] It has been speculated that electron transfer occurs through the release of low concentrations of endogenous redox mediator compounds. Improving the electron export activity of cyanobacteria for use in biological photovoltaic systems is a topic of current research.[13]

Artificial electron mediators Edit

Redox mediators are often added to experimental systems to improve the rate of electron export from the biological material and/or electron transfer to the anode, especially when whole cells are employed as the light harvesting material. Quinones, phenazines, and viologens have all been successfully employed to increase current output from photosynthetic organisms in biological photovoltaic devices.[14] Adding artificial mediators is considered an unsustainable practice in scaled-up applications,[15] so most modern research is on mediator-free systems.

Efficiency Edit

The conversion efficiency of biological photovoltaic devices is presently too low for scaled-up versions to achieve grid parity. Genetic engineering approaches are being employed to increase the current output from photosynthetic organisms for use in biological photovoltaic systems.[13]

References Edit

  1. ^ Tschörtner, Jenny; Lai, Bin; Krömer, Jens O. (2019). "Biophotovoltaics: Green Power Generation From Sunlight and Water". Frontiers in Microbiology. 10: 866. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2019.00866. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 6503001. PMID 31114551.
  2. ^ a b Bombelli, Paolo; Bradley, Robert W.; Scott, Amanda M.; Philips, Alexander J.; McCormick, Alistair J.; Cruz, Sonia M.; Anderson, Alexander; Yunus, Kamran; Bendall, Derek S.; Cameron, Petra J.; Davies, Julia M.; Smith, Alison G.; Howe, Christopher J.; Fisher, Adrian C. (2011). "Quantitative analysis of the factors limiting solar power transduction by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in biological photovoltaic devices". Energy & Environmental Science. 4 (11): 4690–4698. doi:10.1039/c1ee02531g.
  3. ^ Rosenbaum, Miriam; Schröder, Uwe; Scholz, Fritz (5 February 2005). "Utilizing the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for microbial electricity generation: a living solar cell". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 68 (6): 753–756. doi:10.1007/s00253-005-1915-4. PMID 15696280. S2CID 687908.
  4. ^ a b Bradley, Robert W.; Bombelli, Paolo; Rowden, Stephen J.L.; Howe, Christopher J. (December 2012). "Biological photovoltaics: intra- and extra-cellular electron transport by cyanobacteria". Biochemical Society Transactions. 40 (6): 1302–1307. doi:10.1042/BST20120118. PMID 23176472.
  5. ^ McCormick, Alistair J.; Bombelli, Paolo; Lea-Smith, David J.; Bradley, Robert W.; Scott, Amanda M.; Fisher, Adrian C.; Smith, Alison G.; Howe, Christopher J. (2013). "Hydrogen production through oxygenic photosynthesis using the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in a bio-photoelectrolysis cell (BPE) system". Energy & Environmental Science. 6 (9): 2682–2690. doi:10.1039/c3ee40491a.
  6. ^ "How to lose half a trillion euros; Europe's electricity providers face an existential threat". The Economist. 12 October 2013.
  7. ^ a b Yehezkeli, Omer; Tel-Vered, Ran; Wasserman, Julian; Trifonov, Alexander; Michaeli, Dorit; Nechushtai, Rachel; Willner, Itamar (13 March 2012). "Integrated photosystem II-based photo-bioelectrochemical cells". Nature Communications. 3: 742. Bibcode:2012NatCo...3..742Y. doi:10.1038/ncomms1741. PMID 22415833.
  8. ^ Kato, Masaru; Cardona, Tanai; Rutherford, A. William; Reisner, Erwin (23 May 2012). "Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation with Photosystem II Integrated in a Mesoporous Indium–Tin Oxide Electrode". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 134 (20): 8332–8335. doi:10.1021/ja301488d. PMID 22548478.
  9. ^ Carpentier, Robert; Lemieux, Sylvie; Mimeault, Murielle; Purcell, Marc; Goetze, D.Christopher (December 1989). "A photoelectrochemical cell using immobilized photosynthetic membranes". Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics. 22 (3): 391–401. doi:10.1016/0302-4598(89)87055-2.
  10. ^ a b McCormick, Alistair J.; Bombelli, Paolo; Scott, Amanda M.; Philips, Alexander J.; Smith, Alison G.; Fisher, Adrian C.; Howe, Christopher J. (2011). "Photosynthetic biofilms in pure culture harness solar energy in a mediatorless bio-photovoltaic cell (BPV) system". Energy & Environmental Science. 4 (11): 4699–5710. doi:10.1039/c1ee01965a.
  11. ^ Torimura, Masaki; Miki, Atsushi; Wadano, Akira; Kano, Kenji; Ikeda, Tokuji (January 2001). "Electrochemical investigation of cyanobacteria Synechococcus sp. PCC7942-catalyzed photoreduction of exogenous quinones and photoelectrochemical oxidation of water". Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry. 496 (1–2): 21–28. doi:10.1016/S0022-0728(00)00253-9.
  12. ^ Zou, Yongjin; Pisciotta, John; Billmyre, R. Blake; Baskakov, Ilia V. (1 December 2009). "Photosynthetic microbial fuel cells with positive light response". Biotechnology and Bioengineering. 104 (5): 939–946. doi:10.1002/bit.22466. PMID 19575441. S2CID 24290390.
  13. ^ a b Bradley, Robert W.; Bombelli, Paolo; Lea-Smith, David J.; Howe, Christopher J. (2013). "Terminal oxidase mutants of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 show increased electrogenic activity in biological photo-voltaic systems". Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. 15 (32): 13611–13618. Bibcode:2013PCCP...1513611B. doi:10.1039/c3cp52438h. PMID 23836107.
  14. ^ Ochiai, Hideo; Shibata, Hitoshi; Sawa, Yoshihiro; Shoga, Mitsuru; Ohta, Souichi (August 1983). "Properties of semiconductor electrodes coated with living films of cyanobacteria". Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 8 (4): 289–303. doi:10.1007/BF02779496. S2CID 93836769.
  15. ^ Rosenbaum, Miriam; He, Zhen; Angenent, Largus T (June 2010). "Light energy to bioelectricity: photosynthetic microbial fuel cells". Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 21 (3): 259–264. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2010.03.010. PMID 20378333.

External links Edit

  • An introduction to biological photovoltaics video on YouTube

September 01, 2023
biological, photovoltaics, also, called, biophotovoltaics, energy, generating, technology, which, uses, oxygenic, photoautotrophic, organisms, fractions, thereof, harvest, light, energy, produce, electrical, power, biological, photovoltaic, devices, type, biol. Biological photovoltaics also called biophotovoltaics 1 or BPV is an energy generating technology which uses oxygenic photoautotrophic organisms or fractions thereof to harvest light energy and produce electrical power 2 Biological photovoltaic devices are a type of biological electrochemical system or microbial fuel cell and are sometimes also called photo microbial fuel cells or living solar cells 3 In a biological photovoltaic system electrons generated by photolysis of water are transferred to an anode 4 A relatively high potential reaction takes place at the cathode and the resulting potential difference drives current through an external circuit to do useful work It is hoped that using a living organism which is capable of self assembly and self repair as the light harvesting material will make biological photovoltaics a cost effective alternative to synthetic light energy transduction technologies such as silicon based photovoltaics Contents 1 Principle of operation 1 1 Distinctive properties 2 Types of biological photovoltaic system 2 1 Light harvesting materials 2 1 1 Isolated photosystems 2 1 2 Sub cellular fractions 2 1 3 Whole organisms 2 2 Electron transfer to the anode 2 2 1 Inherent electrode reduction activity 2 2 2 Artificial electron mediators 3 Efficiency 4 References 5 External linksPrinciple of operation Edit nbsp An illustration of how a biological photovoltaic system operates Like other fuel cells biological photovoltaic systems are divided into anodic and cathodic half cells Oxygenic photosynthetic biological material such as purified photosystems or whole algal or cyanobacterial cells are employed in the anodic half cell These organisms are able to use light energy to drive the oxidation of water and a fraction of the electrons produced by this reaction are transferred to the extracellular environment where they can be used to reduce an anode No heterotrophic organisms are included in the anodic chamber electrode reduction is performed directly by the photosynthetic material The higher electrode potential of the cathodic reaction relative to the reduction of the anode drives current through an external circuit In the illustration oxygen is being reduced to water at the cathode though other electron acceptors can be used If water is regenerated there is a closed loop in terms of electron flow similar to a conventional photovoltaic system i e light energy is the only net input required for production of electrical power Alternatively electrons can be used at the cathode for electrosynthetic reactions that produce useful compounds such as the reduction of protons to hydrogen gas 5 Distinctive properties Edit Similar to microbial fuel cells biological photovoltaic systems which employ whole organisms have the advantage over non biological fuel cells and photovoltaic systems of being able to self assemble and self repair i e the photosynthetic organism is able to reproduce itself The ability of the organism to store energy allows for power generation from biological photovoltaic systems in the dark circumventing the grid supply and demand problems sometimes faced by conventional photovoltaics 6 Additionally the use of photosynthetic organisms that fix carbon dioxide means the assembly of the light harvesting material in a biological photovoltaic system could have a negative carbon footprint Compared to microbial fuel cells which use heterotrophic microorganisms biological photovoltaic systems need no input of organic compounds to supply reducing equivalents to the system This improves the efficiency of light to electricity conversion by minimising the number of reactions separating the capture of light energy and reduction of the anode A disadvantage of using oxygenic photosynthetic material in bioelectrochemical systems is that the production of oxygen in the anodic chamber has a detrimental effect on the cell voltage Types of biological photovoltaic system EditBiological photovoltaic systems are defined by the type of light harvesting material that they employ and the mode of electron transfer from the biological material to the anode Light harvesting materials Edit The light harvesting materials employed in biological photovoltaic devices can be categorised by their complexity more complex materials are typically less efficient but more robust Isolated photosystems Edit Isolated photosystems offer the most direct connection between water photolysis and anode reduction Typically photosystems are isolated and adsorbed to a conductive surface 7 A soluble redox mediator a small molecule capable of accepting and donating electrons may be required to improve the electrical communication between photosystem and anode 8 Because other cellular components required for repair are absent biological photovoltaic systems based on isolated photosystems have relatively short lifetimes a few hours and often require low temperatures to improve stability Sub cellular fractions Edit Sub cellular fractions of photosynthetic organisms such as purified thylakoid membranes can also be used in biological photovoltaic systems 2 A benefit of using material that contains both photosystem II and photosystem I is that electrons extracted from water by photosystem II can be donated to the anode at a more negative redox potential from the reductive end of photosystem I A redox mediator e g ferricyanide is required to transfer electrons between the photosynthetic components and the anode 9 Whole organisms Edit nbsp This biological photovoltaic system uses cyanobacterium growing in suspension with an indium tin oxide anode Biological photovoltaic systems that employ whole organisms are the most robust type and lifetimes of multiple months have been observed 10 The insulating outer membranes of whole cells impedes electron transfer from the sites of electron generation inside the cell to the anode 4 As a result conversion efficiencies are low unless lipid soluble redox mediators are included in the system 11 Cyanobacteria are typically used in these systems because their relatively simple arrangement of intracellular membranes compared to eukaryotic algae facilitates electron export Potential catalysts such as platinum can be used to increase permeability of the cellular membrane Electron transfer to the anode Edit Reduction of the anode by the photosynthetic material can be achieved by a direct electron transfer or via a soluble redox mediator Redox mediators may be lipid soluble e g vitamin K2 allowing them to pass through cell membranes and can either be added to the system or produced by the biological material Inherent electrode reduction activity Edit Isolated photosystems and sub cellular photosynthetic fractions may be able to directly reduce the anode if the biological redox components are close enough to the electrode for electron transfer to occur 7 In contrast to organisms such as dissimilatory metal reducing bacteria algae and cyanobacteria are poorly adapted for extracellular electron export no molecular mechanisms enabling direct reduction of an insoluble extracellular electron acceptor have been conclusively identified Nevertheless a low rate of anode reduction has been observed from whole photosynthetic organisms without the addition of exogenous redox active compounds 10 12 It has been speculated that electron transfer occurs through the release of low concentrations of endogenous redox mediator compounds Improving the electron export activity of cyanobacteria for use in biological photovoltaic systems is a topic of current research 13 Artificial electron mediators Edit Redox mediators are often added to experimental systems to improve the rate of electron export from the biological material and or electron transfer to the anode especially when whole cells are employed as the light harvesting material Quinones phenazines and viologens have all been successfully employed to increase current output from photosynthetic organisms in biological photovoltaic devices 14 Adding artificial mediators is considered an unsustainable practice in scaled up applications 15 so most modern research is on mediator free systems Efficiency EditThe conversion efficiency of biological photovoltaic devices is presently too low for scaled up versions to achieve grid parity Genetic engineering approaches are being employed to increase the current output from photosynthetic organisms for use in biological photovoltaic systems 13 References Edit Tschortner Jenny Lai Bin Kromer Jens O 2019 Biophotovoltaics Green Power Generation From Sunlight and Water Frontiers in Microbiology 10 866 doi 10 3389 fmicb 2019 00866 ISSN 1664 302X PMC 6503001 PMID 31114551 a b Bombelli Paolo Bradley Robert W Scott Amanda M Philips Alexander J McCormick Alistair J Cruz Sonia M Anderson Alexander Yunus Kamran Bendall Derek S Cameron Petra J Davies Julia M Smith Alison G Howe Christopher J Fisher Adrian C 2011 Quantitative analysis of the factors limiting solar power transduction by Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 in biological photovoltaic devices Energy amp Environmental Science 4 11 4690 4698 doi 10 1039 c1ee02531g Rosenbaum Miriam Schroder Uwe Scholz Fritz 5 February 2005 Utilizing the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for microbial electricity generation a living solar cell Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 68 6 753 756 doi 10 1007 s00253 005 1915 4 PMID 15696280 S2CID 687908 a b Bradley Robert W Bombelli Paolo Rowden Stephen J L Howe Christopher J December 2012 Biological photovoltaics intra and extra cellular electron transport by cyanobacteria Biochemical Society Transactions 40 6 1302 1307 doi 10 1042 BST20120118 PMID 23176472 McCormick Alistair J Bombelli Paolo Lea Smith David J Bradley Robert W Scott Amanda M Fisher Adrian C Smith Alison G Howe Christopher J 2013 Hydrogen production through oxygenic photosynthesis using the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 in a bio photoelectrolysis cell BPE system Energy amp Environmental Science 6 9 2682 2690 doi 10 1039 c3ee40491a How to lose half a trillion euros Europe s electricity providers face an existential threat The Economist 12 October 2013 a b Yehezkeli Omer Tel Vered Ran Wasserman Julian Trifonov Alexander Michaeli Dorit Nechushtai Rachel Willner Itamar 13 March 2012 Integrated photosystem II based photo bioelectrochemical cells Nature Communications 3 742 Bibcode 2012NatCo 3 742Y doi 10 1038 ncomms1741 PMID 22415833 Kato Masaru Cardona Tanai Rutherford A William Reisner Erwin 23 May 2012 Photoelectrochemical Water Oxidation with Photosystem II Integrated in a Mesoporous Indium Tin Oxide Electrode Journal of the American Chemical Society 134 20 8332 8335 doi 10 1021 ja301488d PMID 22548478 Carpentier Robert Lemieux Sylvie Mimeault Murielle Purcell Marc Goetze D Christopher December 1989 A photoelectrochemical cell using immobilized photosynthetic membranes Bioelectrochemistry and Bioenergetics 22 3 391 401 doi 10 1016 0302 4598 89 87055 2 a b McCormick Alistair J Bombelli Paolo Scott Amanda M Philips Alexander J Smith Alison G Fisher Adrian C Howe Christopher J 2011 Photosynthetic biofilms in pure culture harness solar energy in a mediatorless bio photovoltaic cell BPV system Energy amp Environmental Science 4 11 4699 5710 doi 10 1039 c1ee01965a Torimura Masaki Miki Atsushi Wadano Akira Kano Kenji Ikeda Tokuji January 2001 Electrochemical investigation of cyanobacteria Synechococcus sp PCC7942 catalyzed photoreduction of exogenous quinones and photoelectrochemical oxidation of water Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 496 1 2 21 28 doi 10 1016 S0022 0728 00 00253 9 Zou Yongjin Pisciotta John Billmyre R Blake Baskakov Ilia V 1 December 2009 Photosynthetic microbial fuel cells with positive light response Biotechnology and Bioengineering 104 5 939 946 doi 10 1002 bit 22466 PMID 19575441 S2CID 24290390 a b Bradley Robert W Bombelli Paolo Lea Smith David J Howe Christopher J 2013 Terminal oxidase mutants of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 show increased electrogenic activity in biological photo voltaic systems Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 15 32 13611 13618 Bibcode 2013PCCP 1513611B doi 10 1039 c3cp52438h PMID 23836107 Ochiai Hideo Shibata Hitoshi Sawa Yoshihiro Shoga Mitsuru Ohta Souichi August 1983 Properties of semiconductor electrodes coated with living films of cyanobacteria Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology 8 4 289 303 doi 10 1007 BF02779496 S2CID 93836769 Rosenbaum Miriam He Zhen Angenent Largus T June 2010 Light energy to bioelectricity photosynthetic microbial fuel cells Current Opinion in Biotechnology 21 3 259 264 doi 10 1016 j copbio 2010 03 010 PMID 20378333 External links EditAn introduction to biological photovoltaics video on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Biological photovoltaics amp oldid 1119765805, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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