Novel Biofuel Cell Using Hydrogen Generation of Photosynthesis

• Main Authors: Akinari Iwahashi, Takuya Yamada, Yasumitsu Matsuo, Hinako Kawakami
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-11-01
• Series: Journal of Functional Biomaterials
• Subjects: photosynthesis; hydrogen source; fuel cell; photosystem II
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/11/4/81

Energies based on biomaterials attract a lot of interest as next-generation energy because biomaterials are environmentally friendly materials and abundant in nature. Fuel cells are also known as the clean and important next-generation source of energy. In the present study, to develop the fuel cell based on biomaterials, a novel biofuel cell, which consists of collagen electrolyte and the hydrogen fuel generated from photochemical system II (PSII) in photosynthesis, has been fabricated, and its property has been investigated. It was found that the PSII solution, in which PSII was extracted from the thylakoid membrane using a surfactant, generates hydrogen by the irradiation of light. The typical hydrogen-generating rate is approximately 7.41 × 10¹⁴ molecules/s for the light intensity of 0.5 mW/cm² for the PSII solution of 5 mL. The biofuel cell using the PSII solution as the fuel exhibited approximately 0.12 mW/cm². This result indicates that the fuel cell using the collagen electrolyte and the hydrogen fuel generated from PSII solution becomes the new type of biofuel cell and will lead to the development of the next-generation energy.