Team:SJTang
According to the Internationl Energy Agency, global hydrogen demand is going to surge in the future. This requires bold moves in both the technological and administrative sectors. Click the link to learn about our research on policies.
Current hydrogen production
pathways rely heavily on
fossil fuels, with significant
CO2 emissions.
Clean hydrogen production methods are hindered by low
yield and high cost, causing the dominance of fossil
fuel-based production. Here, we are seeking to develop a
cheap and environmentally friendly hydrogen production
mechanism. On the left, it is a comparison between popular hydrogen production routes.
We introduced R. palustris
as a chassis for hydrogen
production and modified its
metabolic pathways.
Rhodopseudomonas palustris is a gram-negative bacterium
that can synthesize hydrogen under anaerobic conditions. In
order to increase its hydrogen production, we decided
to knock out two of its genes: uppE and hupS.
A hydrogenase with higher
efficiency is introduced, to-
gether with semiconductors
to enhance light absorbance.
In order to further improve the hydrogen production efficiency
of E. coli, we chose a membrane-binding hydrogenation
enzyme Oxygen-tolerant [NiFe]-hydrogenase from Hydrog-
enovibrio marinus MH-110.
We developed a bioreactor
capapble of dilute and
analyze fermentation
products on-site.
The device will allow researchers to monitor the fermentation
status in time and onsite, empowering them to rapidly opti-
mize the growth conditions. For greenhouse gas emission
sensitive projects, the onsite gas analysis also made carbon
accounting possible.
We have conducted appli-
cation research to study
how and where the solution
can be deployed.
Biohydrogen production is not only restricted in laboratories,
but is also open to a range of applications in the form of fuel
batteries, ranging from industrial use to products in daily
lives. Here, we studied such possibilities.
Wet Lab
R.palustris
Modification
Wet Lab
E.coli
Modification
Hardware
Gas Analysis
Research
Human Practice
Feasibility
Research