2. Academic Validation
  3. Enhancing solar-driven biological hydrogen production through a copper-based MXene-polypyrrole and Escherichia coli-integrated semiartificial photosynthetic system

Enhancing solar-driven biological hydrogen production through a copper-based MXene-polypyrrole and Escherichia coli-integrated semiartificial photosynthetic system

  • J Colloid Interface Sci. 2025 Dec 2:706:139606. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139606.
Xingxing Lv 1,  Jing Sun 2,  Zixia Li 3,  Fang Guo 3,  Jing Liu 3,  Danqing Liu 4,  Zhimin Tian 5,  Liangcan He 6,  Yongquan Qu 7,  Shaoqin Liu 8
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 School of Stomatology, Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an 710021, China; Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering and Technology of College of Heilongjiang Province, School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150040, China.
  • 2 Department of Medical Technology, Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an 710021, China.
  • 3 School of Stomatology, Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an 710021, China.
  • 4 Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering and Technology of College of Heilongjiang Province, School of Material Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin University of Science and Technology, Harbin 150040, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 5 Key Laboratory of Special Functional and Smart Polymer Materials of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China; Research & Development Institute of Northwestern Polytechnical University in Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518057, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 6 School of Medicine and Health, Key Laboratory of Micro-systems and Micro-structures Manufacturing of Ministry of Education, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 7 Key Laboratory of Special Functional and Smart Polymer Materials of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 8 School of Medicine and Health, Key Laboratory of Micro-systems and Micro-structures Manufacturing of Ministry of Education, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China.
PMID: 41349200 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139606
Abstract

The biohybrid-mediated semi-artificial photosynthetic system ingeniously combines the superior light-trapping characteristics of photosensitizers with the highly efficient catalytic capabilities of biocatalysts. However, the slow transfer of electrons at the micro-interface between the Photosensitizer and biocatalyst is challenging for the performance of semi-artificial photosynthetic systems. Here, we report a semi-artificial photosynthetic biohybrid system comprising the positively charged hybrids of copper quantum dots/Mxenes encapsulated inside conducting polymer polypyrrole (Cu-MXene-PPY) and negatively charged Escherichia coli (E. coli) via electrostatic interaction. This system achieved an ideal state, wherein the Photosensitizer possesses strong light absorption capability and a positive surface charge, enabling efficient electron transfer with E. coli. The semi-artificial photosynthetic system delivered a high catalytic performance for hydrogen production, with a yield of 2.37 mmol of hydrogen in 5 h (420-780 nm, 2000 W/m2). The mechanistic investigation of the catalysis indicated that the E. coli/Cu-MXenes-PPY biohybrids enabled inhibition of lactate production coupled with acceleration of formic acid production in bacteria under the influence of photoelectrons, which facilitated H+ reduction and H2 production. Overall, this approach enables the construction of a robust semi-artificial photosynthetic system for H2 production.

Keywords

Biological hydrogen; Cu-MXenes-PPY; Escherichia coli; Hydrogen production; Semiartificial photosynthetic system.

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