Dranseike Dalia, Cui Yifan, Ling Andrea S, Donat Felix, Bernhard Stéphane, Bernero Margherita, Areeckal Akhil, Lazic Marco, Qin Xiao-Hua, Oakey John S, Dillenburger Benjamin, Studart André R, Tibbitt Mark W
Macromolecular Engineering Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Digital Building Technologies, Institute of Technology and Architecture, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Nat Commun. 2025 Apr 23;16(1):3832. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58761-y.
Natural ecosystems efficiently sequester CO but containing and controlling living systems remains challenging. Here, we engineer a photosynthetic living material for dual CO sequestration that leverages biomass production and insoluble carbonate formation via microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). To achieve this, we immobilize photosynthetic microorganisms within a printable polymeric network. Digital design and fabrication of the living structures ensure sufficient light access and nutrient supply to encapsulated cyanobacteria, enabling long-term culture for over a year. We showcase that photosynthetic living materials are able to sequester 2.2 ± 0.9 mg of CO per gram of hydrogel material over 30 days and 26 ± 7 mg of CO over 400 days. These findings highlight the potential of photosynthetic living materials for scalable, low-maintenance carbon sequestration with applications in carbon-neutral infrastructure and CO mitigation.
自然生态系统能有效封存二氧化碳，但容纳和控制生物系统仍具有挑战性。在此，我们设计了一种用于双重二氧化碳封存的光合活性材料，该材料通过微生物诱导碳酸钙沉淀（MICP）利用生物质生产和不溶性碳酸盐形成来实现二氧化碳封存。为实现这一目标，我们将光合微生物固定在可打印的聚合物网络中。活性结构的数字设计和制造确保了被封装的蓝细菌有足够的光照和养分供应，从而能够进行长达一年多的长期培养。我们展示了光合活性材料在30天内每克水凝胶材料能够封存2.2±0.9毫克二氧化碳，在400天内能够封存26±7毫克二氧化碳。这些发现凸显了光合活性材料在可扩展、低维护的碳封存方面的潜力，可应用于碳中和基础设施和二氧化碳减排。
