Bottom-up chemical construction of photosynthetic cyanobacteria mimics and their controlled assembly into autonomous and self-regulating biofilm-like materials for hydrogen production

Project Information

PROTO-BACT

Grant agreement ID: 101107715

DOI

10.3030/101107715

Project terminated on 30 November 2024

EC signature date 26 July 2023

Start date 1 October 2023

End date 30 September 2025

Funded under

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 172 750,08

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PROTO-BACT (Bottom-up chemical construction of photosynthetic cyanobacteria mimics and their controlled assembly into autonomous and self-regulating biofilm-like materials for hydrogen production)

Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2025-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

This project dealt with the bottom-up synthetic construction of proto-cyanobacteria capable of both H2 production and negative phototaxis, by combining in a synergistic manner inorganic chemistry and supramolecular chemistry. The result was a protocellular material comprising: (i) a membrane composed of a mixture of polymers and a photoactive perovskite oxide, (ii) a coacervate sub-shell and (iii) an aqueous lumen. Irradiation of these proto-cyanobacteria using blue light (405 nm) caused the excitation of the La0.85Fe0.9Cu0.1O3-Pt perovskite and enabled overall water splitting and the subsequent production of H2 and O2. The evolution of gases from the membrane caused the movement of the proto-cyanobacteria away from the light source, thereby endowing our protocell with negative phototaxis capabilities. Overall, this project contributed to closing the gap between living and non-living entities, and moved forward the boundary of how synthetic materials can be designed to behave like living entities.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During this project several actions were undertaken in order to fill the gap between living and non-living matter, approached via a combination of bottom-up synthetic biology, supramolecular chemistry, inorganic chemistry and photochemistry. The work was articulated into 6 different work packages comprising the synthesis and characterization of a photoactive perovskite oxide, their self-assembly into a protocellular material and the testing of their photocatalytic activity towards water splitting, i.e. the production of H2 and O2 from water. The main achievements of this project consisted in the design of an unprecedented protocellular material based on polymers and an inorganic semiconductor that showed directional motility upon irradiation, due to the nucleation of micrometer-sized gas bubbles. This project offered such a fundamentally relevant result that should push the applications of bottom-up synthetic biology.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The results of this project are beyond the sate of the art, because the bottom-up preparation of proto-cyanobacteria mimics using a combination of organic and inorganic materials, and allowing the photochemical production of H2 is unprecedented. Moreover, the ability of such protocell models to escape from a light source as a result of gas-driven motility showed a higher-order and life-like behavior that closes the gap between living and non-living matter.