Renewable hydrogen production by photosynthetic water splitting

摘要

This mission-oriented research project is focused on the production of renewable hydrogen. The authors have demonstrated that certain unicellular green algae are capable of sustained simultaneous photoproduction of hydrogen and oxygen by light-activated photosynthetic water splitting. It is the goal of this project to develop a practical chemical engineering system for the development of an economic process that can be used to produce renewable hydrogen. There are several fundamental problems that need to be solved before the application of this scientific knowledge can be applied to the development a practical process: (I) maximizing net thermodynamic conversion efficiency of light energy into hydrogen energy, (2) development of oxygen-sensitive hydrogenase-containing mutants, and (3) development of bioreactors that can be used in a real-world chemical engineering process. The authors are addressing each of these problems here at ORNL and in collaboration with their research colleagues at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Hawaii. This year the authors have focused on item 1 above. In particular, they have focused on the question of how many light reactions are required to split water to molecular hydrogen and oxygen.