Abstract
Water remediation and development of carbon‐neutral fuels are a priority for the evermore industrialized society. The answer to these challenges should be simple, sustainable, and inexpensive. Thus, biomimetic‐inspired circular and holistic processes combing water remediation and biofuel production can be an appealing concept to deal with these global issues. A simple circular approach using helical Spirulina platensis microalgae as biotemplates to synthesize Ni@ZnO@ZnS photocatalysts for efficient solar water decontamination and bioethanol production during the recycling process is presented. Under solar irradiation, the Ni@ZnO@ZnS‐Spirulina photocatalyst exhibits enhanced activity (mineralization efficiency >99%) with minimal photocorrosion and excellent reusability. At the end of its effective lifetime for water remediation, the microalgae skeleton (mainly glycogen and glucose) of the photocatalyst is recycled to directly produce bioethanol by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation process. An outstanding ethanol yield of 0.4 L kg−1, which is similar to the highest yield obtained from oxygenic photosynthetic microorganisms, is obtained. Thus, the entire process allows effective solar photocatalytic water remediation and bioethanol production at room temperature using simple and easily scalable procedures that simultaneously fixes carbon dioxide, thereby constituting a zero‐carbon‐emission circular process.
Highlights
Unsustainable societal development and rapid global industrialization have caused a high stress on water and energy resources, drinking water and carbon fuels
We developed a novel hybrid structure consisting of Spirulina plantensis microalgae plated by Ni@ ZnO@ZnS shells for a high-yield circular process merging water decontamination and biofuel production
The Spirulina acts as the structural support of the magnetic and photocatalytic layers and as biomass reservoir for efficient bioethanol production
Summary
Unsustainable societal development and rapid global industrialization have caused a high stress on water and energy resources, drinking water and carbon fuels. Photo synthetic microorganisms such as microalgae can produce large amounts of biomass by consuming only sunlight, carbon dioxide, and some nutrients, serving as a high-carbon source In this context, microalgae, specially cyanobacteria, are one of the most promising options for bioethanol (third-generation biofuel) production owing to their characteristics such as high biomass productivity, high capacity to fixate carbon dioxide, and possibility of growth in seawater (salt tolerance).[6] Current efforts are concentrated on enhancing bioethanol yield by developing diverse strategies to promote the extraction of intracellular carbohydrates. The hybrid Ni@ZnO@ZnS-Spirulina has enabled, for the first time, the integration of i) highly efficient biomimetic solar photocatalysis for water decontamination, ii) effective bioethanol production by the Spirulina recycled at the end of the photocatalyst’s lifetime, and iii) fixation of carbon dioxide (Scheme 1). An outstanding circular process for integrated CO2 fixation, water decontamination, and bioethanol production has been demonstrated
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