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Empower C1: Combination of Electrochemistry and Biology to Convert C1 Compounds

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One-Carbon Feedstocks for Sustainable Bioproduction

Part of the book series: Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology ((ABE,volume 180))

Abstract

The idea to somehow combine electrical current and biological systems is not new. It was subject of research as well as of science fiction literature for decades. Nowadays, in times of limited resources and the need to capture greenhouse gases like CO2, this combination gains increasing interest, since it might allow to use C1 compounds and highly oxidized compounds as substrate for microbial production by “activating” them with additional electrons. In this chapter, different possibilities to combine electrochemistry and biology to convert C1 compounds into useful products will be discussed. The chapter first shows electrochemical conversion of C1 compounds, allowing the use of the product as substrate for a subsequent biosynthesis in uncoupled systems, further leads to coupled systems of biology and electrochemical conversion, and finally reaches the discipline of bioelectrosynthesis, where electrical current and C1 compounds are directly converted by microorganisms or enzymes. This overview will give an idea about the potentials and challenges of combining electrochemistry and biology to convert C1 molecules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Evonik Operations GmbH, Technology and Infrastructure, Hanau, Germany

    Franziska Enzmann

  2. DECHEMA Research Institute, Electrochemistry, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Markus Stöckl

  3. Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen, Institute of Bioprocess Engineering and Pharmaceutical Technology, Gießen, Germany

    Marc Pfitzer & Dirk Holtmann

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  4. Dirk Holtmann
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  1. Institute for Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg, Germany

    An-Ping Zeng

  2. Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, WAGENINGEN, The Netherlands

    Nico J. Claassens

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Enzmann, F., Stöckl, M., Pfitzer, M., Holtmann, D. (2021). Empower C1: Combination of Electrochemistry and Biology to Convert C1 Compounds. In: Zeng, AP., Claassens, N.J. (eds) One-Carbon Feedstocks for Sustainable Bioproduction. Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology, vol 180. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/10_2021_171

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