Endowing cells with unnatural photocatalytic ability for sustainable chemicals production by bionic minerals-triggering

Abstract

Photobiological chemical production is of great importance for solar energy storage and clean fuel generation. One rising strategy for solar fuel production is to enhance the original catalytic efficiency of non-photosynthetic cells by photosensitization of light-harvesting semiconducting nanomaterials. However, endowing cells with a new photocatalytic property to meet the ever-growing demands for environmentally-friendly processes to synthesize multifarious desirable chemicals is still a huge challenge. Herein, we report that a fungus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with neither photosynthetic properties nor hydrogen production abilities is endowed with efficient and sustainable light-driven hydrogen production (1063.51 μmol g⁻¹_CdS h⁻¹) via the synergistic action of in situ biosynthesized intracellular CdS nanodots (nCdS) and ethanol dehydrogenases (ADH) from yeast. The catalytic mechanism indicates that the photoelectrons from nCdS were transferred to the activated water molecules located in the ADH combined with nCdS, realizing high-efficiency photocatalytic hydrogen production. This finding provides prospective guidance for endowing cells with sustainable and efficient conversion of solar energy by inducing in situ biosynthesized bionic minerals.